I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5830 
To protect American workers and enterprises from Chinese and other foreign 
efforts to extraterritorially censor free speech and inhibit lawful advocacy, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 10, 2020 
Ms. CLARKE of New York (for herself, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. 
GALLAGER, and Mr. BANKS) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To protect American workers and enterprises from Chinese 
and other foreign efforts to extraterritorially censor free 
speech and inhibit lawful advocacy, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Preventing Foreign 
CENSORSHIP in America Act’’ or the ‘‘Preventing the 
Foreign Coercive Export of Non-consensual Speech and 
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Orwellian Restrictions by Superpowers Hoping to Intimi-
date People in America Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Foreign governments have increasingly 
sought to extraterritorially intimidate American and 
non-American companies into policing media content 
and the free speech rights of staff, employees, and 
other associated persons. 
(2) Because the extraterritorial advocacy for 
human rights abroad is a core tenet of American 
foreign policy and central to American national secu-
rity, the growing extraterritorial suppression of 
speech of persons and companies represents a long- 
term threat to American interests. 
(3) Self-censorship by American companies and 
other nongovernmental entities in accordance with 
the stated or unstated wishes of foreign geopolitical 
rivals will only encourage more of the same. 
(4) While China’s economic weight affords it 
unique leverage to seek to compel corporate self-cen-
sorship or retaliation against staff expressing con-
trary views, including the manager of a basketball 
team expressing support for human rights, other 
countries such as North Korea have also sought to 
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stifle free speech through malign measures, includ-
ing conducting cyberattacks against a motion picture 
studio that distributed comedic content regarding its 
leadership. 
(5) The United States Congress not only de-
fends, but encourages, American persons and per-
sons within the United States to be outspoken de-
fenders of the rights of those around the world 
standing up against repression and persecution. 
SEC. 3. PROTECTING FREE SPEECH OF AMERICAN WORK-
ERS FROM FOREIGN CENSORSHIP. 
(a) PROHIBITION ON RETALIATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (3), a domestic entity may not discharge, sus-
pend, cease contracting with, or fail to pursue future 
contracts with, any existing employee or contractor, 
or take any other adverse action against any such 
employee or contractor with respect to his or her 
compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of em-
ployment or contract, on the basis of protected activ-
ity, in the case that such an adverse action was un-
dertaken— 
(A) because a designated foreign govern-
ment or entity explicitly or implicitly requests 
that the domestic entity take such an adverse 
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action, or the domestic entity presumes that a 
designated foreign authority would prefer such 
an adverse action; 
(B) because the protected activity resulted 
in, or has the potential to result in— 
(i) financial, reputational, or other 
damage to the domestic entity’s profit-
ability or organizational prospects in a 
country governed by a designated foreign 
authority with which the protected activity 
relates; or 
(ii) economic retaliation by such coun-
try; or 
(C) in response to a protected activity 
which constitutes protected inaction. 
(2) GOOD FAITH CLAIMS.—A domestic entity 
may not discharge, suspend, cease contracting with, 
or fail to pursue future contracts with, any existing 
employee or contractor, or take any other adverse 
action against any such employee or contractor with 
respect to his or her compensation, terms, condi-
tions, or privileges of employment or contract, on the 
basis of such employee or contractor’s actual or con-
templated assertion of any protection under this Act, 
provided such protection was asserted in good faith. 
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(3) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibition under para-
graph (1) does not apply if— 
(A) the protected activity of the employee 
or contractor was conducted in such employee 
or contractor’s official employment or contrac-
tual capacity; 
(B) a reasonable person, considering the 
context or content of the protected activity, 
would believe such activity was conducted in 
such employee or contractor’s official employ-
ment or contractual capacity, and such activity, 
if conducted in an official capacity, would have 
been contrary to an official policy or the finan-
cial or organizational interests of the domestic 
entity; or 
(C) the protected activity occurred— 
(i) in the territory of a country gov-
erned by a designated foreign authority 
which seeks to restrict such activity; and 
(ii) during an overseas trip or assign-
ment such employee or contractor under-
took on behalf of the domestic entity. 
(4) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION
ON
SOCIAL 
MEDIA.—For the purpose of determining whether 
protected activity was conducted in an employee or 
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contractor’s official capacity, protected activity on a 
social media account or other analogous medium of 
communication which is used both in an official and 
unofficial capacity, shall be presumed to be used in 
an unofficial capacity, absent clear and convincing 
evidence to the contrary. 
(b) PROHIBITION ON CONTRACTUAL LIMITATIONS.— 
A domestic entity may not require, as a condition of em-
ployment, contract, or any compensation, benefit, or privi-
lege related to such employment or contract, a prospective, 
existing, or former employee or contractor to— 
(1) limit a protected activity conducted in an 
unofficial capacity, provided such protected activity 
would reasonably be expected to trigger the prohibi-
tion on retaliation described in subsection (a); or 
(2) waive or abridge any right or cause of ac-
tion under this Act, including requiring an employee 
or contractor to pursue any claims under this Act in 
a nonpublic or otherwise confidential manner. 
(c) NONPREEMPTION.—Nothing in this section shall 
preempt any Federal or State law (including any local law 
or ordinance), contract, agreement, policy, plan, or prac-
tice that establishes a right or benefit that is more bene-
ficial to, or is in addition to, a right or benefit provided 
to employees or contractors under this Act. 
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mail to the Secretary or Commission. 
The Secretary or Commission shall 
promptly certify and file in such court 
the record upon which the penalty was 
imposed. If any domestic entity fails 
to pay an assessment after it has be-
come a final and unappealable order, 
or after the court has entered final 
judgment in favor of the agency or 
commission, the Secretary or Commis-
sion shall refer the matter to the At-
torney General, who shall recover the 
amount assessed by action in the ap-
propriate United States district court. 
(III) PAYMENT
OF
PENALTY.— 
All penalties collected under authority 
of this section shall be paid into the 
Treasury of the United States. 
(2) 
FEDERAL
ENFORCEMENT
ACCOUNT-
ABILITY.—On an annual basis, the President shall 
make publicly available a report, which may contain 
a classified annex, containing a list of all Federal 
enforcement actions undertaken pursuant to this Act 
in the prior year by— 
(A) the Department of Labor; 
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