I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4250 
To maintain the free flow of information to the public by establishing appro-
priate limits on the federally compelled disclosure of information obtained 
as part of engaging in journalism, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 21, 2023 
Mr. KILEY (for himself, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. ISSA, Mr. LIEU, Mr. MOORE of Ala-
bama, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To maintain the free flow of information to the public by 
establishing appropriate limits on the federally compelled 
disclosure of information obtained as part of engaging 
in journalism, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Reporters from 
Exploitative State Spying Act’’ or the ‘‘PRESS Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) COVERED JOURNALIST.—The term ‘‘covered 
journalist’’ means a person who regularly gathers, 
prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, 
edits, reports, investigates, or publishes news or in-
formation that concerns local, national, or inter-
national events or other matters of public interest 
for dissemination to the public. 
(2) COVERED SERVICE PROVIDER.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 
service provider’’ means any person that, by an 
electronic means, stores, processes, or transmits 
information in order to provide a service to cus-
tomers of the person. 
(B) 
INCLUSIONS.—The 
term 
‘‘covered 
service provider’’ includes— 
(i) a telecommunications carrier and a 
provider of an information service (as such 
terms are defined in section 3 of the Com-
munications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153)); 
(ii) a provider of an interactive com-
puter service and an information content 
provider (as such terms are defined in sec-
tion 230 of the Communications Act of 
1934 (47 U.S.C. 230)); 
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(iii) a provider of remote computing 
service (as defined in section 2711 of title 
18, United States Code); and 
(iv) a provider of electronic commu-
nication service (as defined in section 2510 
of title 18, United States Code) to the 
public. 
(3) DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘document’’ means 
writings, recordings, and photographs, as those 
terms are defined by Federal Rule of Evidence 1001 
(28 U.S.C. App.). 
(4) FEDERAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘Federal en-
tity’’ means an entity or employee of the judicial or 
executive branch or an administrative agency of the 
Federal Government with the power to issue a sub-
poena or issue other compulsory process. 
(5) 
JOURNALISM.—The 
term 
‘‘journalism’’ 
means 
gathering, 
preparing, 
collecting, 
photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, 
investigating, or publishing news or information that 
concerns local, national, or international events or 
other matters of public interest for dissemination to 
the public. 
(6) PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF A COVERED JOUR-
NALIST.—The term ‘‘personal account of a covered 
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journalist’’ means an account with a covered service 
provider used by a covered journalist that is not pro-
vided, administered, or operated by the employer of 
the covered journalist. 
(7) PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY DEVICE OF A COV-
ERED JOURNALIST.—The term ‘‘personal technology 
device of a covered journalist’’ means a handheld 
communications device, laptop computer, desktop 
computer, or other internet-connected device used by 
a covered journalist that is not provided or adminis-
tered by the employer of the covered journalist. 
(8) 
PROTECTED
INFORMATION.—The 
term 
‘‘protected information’’ means any information 
identifying a source who provided information as 
part of engaging in journalism, and any records, 
contents of a communication, documents, or infor-
mation that a covered journalist obtained or created 
as part of engaging in journalism. 
(9) SPECIFIED OFFENSE AGAINST A MINOR.— 
The term ‘‘specified offense against a minor’’ has 
the meaning given that term in section 111(7) of the 
Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 
2006 (34 U.S.C. 20911(7)). 
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SEC. 3. LIMITS ON COMPELLED DISCLOSURE FROM COV-
ERED JOURNALISTS. 
In any matter arising under Federal law, a Federal 
entity may not compel a covered journalist to disclose pro-
tected information, unless a court in the judicial district 
in which the subpoena or other compulsory process is, or 
will be, issued determines by a preponderance of the evi-
dence, after providing notice and an opportunity to be 
heard to the covered journalist, that— 
(1) disclosure of the protected information is 
necessary to prevent, or to identify any perpetrator 
of, an act of terrorism against the United States; or 
(2) disclosure of the protected information is 
necessary to prevent a threat of imminent violence, 
significant bodily harm, or death, including specified 
offenses against a minor. 
SEC. 4. LIMITS ON COMPELLED DISCLOSURE FROM COV-
ERED SERVICE PROVIDERS. 
(a) CONDITIONS FOR COMPELLED DISCLOSURE.—In 
any matter arising under Federal law, a Federal entity 
may not compel a covered service provider to provide testi-
mony or any document consisting of any record, informa-
tion, or other communications stored by a covered provider 
on behalf of a covered journalist, including testimony or 
any document relating to a personal account of a covered 
journalist or a personal technology device of a covered 
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journalist, unless a court in the judicial district in which 
the subpoena or other compulsory process is, or will be, 
issued determines by a preponderance of the evidence that 
there is a reasonable threat of imminent violence unless 
the testimony or document is provided, and issues an 
order authorizing the Federal entity to compel the disclo-
sure of the testimony or document. 
(b) NOTICE TO COURT.—A Federal entity seeking to 
compel the provision of testimony or any document de-
scribed in subsection (a) shall inform the court that the 
testimony or document relates to a covered journalist. 
(c) NOTICE TO COVERED JOURNALIST AND OPPOR-
TUNITY TO BE HEARD.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—A court may authorize a 
Federal entity to compel the provision of testimony 
or a document under this section only after the Fed-
eral entity seeking the testimony or document pro-
vides the covered journalist on behalf of whom the 
testimony or document is stored pursuant to sub-
section (a)— 
(A) notice of the subpoena or other com-
pulsory request for such testimony or document 
from the covered service provider not later than 
the time at which such subpoena or request is 
issued to the covered service provider; and 
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(B) an opportunity to be heard before the 
court before the time at which the provision of 
the testimony or document is compelled. 
(2) EXCEPTION TO NOTICE REQUIREMENT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Notice and an oppor-
tunity to be heard under paragraph (1) may be 
delayed for not more than 45 days if the court 
involved determines there is clear and con-
vincing evidence that such notice would pose a 
clear and substantial threat to the integrity of 
a criminal investigation, or would present an 
imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm, 
including specified offenses against a minor. 
(B) EXTENSIONS.—The 45-day period de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) may be extended 
by the court for additional periods of not more 
than 45 days if the court involved makes a new 
and independent determination that there is 
clear and convincing evidence that providing no-
tice to the covered journalist would pose a clear 
and substantial threat to the integrity of a 
criminal investigation, or would present an im-
minent risk of death or serious bodily harm, in-
cluding specified offenses against a minor, 
under current circumstances. 
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SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON CONTENT OF INFORMATION. 
The content of any testimony, document, or protected 
information that is compelled under sections 3 or 4 shall— 
(1) not be overbroad, unreasonable, or oppres-
sive, and, as appropriate, be limited to the purpose 
of verifying published information or describing any 
surrounding circumstances relevant to the accuracy 
of such published information; and 
(2) be narrowly tailored in subject matter and 
period of time covered so as to avoid compelling the 
production of peripheral, nonessential, or speculative 
information. 
SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to— 
(1) apply to civil defamation, slander, or libel 
claims or defenses under State law, regardless of 
whether or not such claims or defenses, respectively, 
are raised in a State or Federal court; or 
(2) prevent the Federal Government from pur-
suing an investigation of a covered journalist or or-
ganization that is— 
(A) suspected of committing a crime; 
(B) a witness to a crime unrelated to en-
gaging in journalism; 
(C) suspected of being an agent of a for-
eign power, as defined in section 101 of the 
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Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 
(50 U.S.C. 1801); 
(D) an individual or organization des-
ignated under Executive Order 13224 (50 
U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property 
and prohibiting transactions with persons who 
commit, threaten to commit, or support ter-
rorism); 
(E) a specially designated terrorist, as that 
term is defined in section 595.311 of title 31, 
Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 
thereto); or 
(F) a terrorist organization, as that term 
is defined in section 212(a)(3)(B)(vi)(II) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1182(a)(3)(B)(vi)(II)). 
Æ 
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