employ draconian laws to pressure independent 
media. 
(9) Expansion and export of new technologies 
used for censorship and digital surveillance rep-
resents a notable threat to human rights, including 
press freedoms, transparency, and democratic gov-
ernance globally, and constitute a critical challenge 
to United States national interests. 
(10) Other countries’ restrictions on the activi-
ties of United States journalists and media per-
sonnel, other countries’ censorship and blocking of 
websites of United States news and media organiza-
tions, and other restrictions on the cross-border flow 
of information— 
(A) damages the competitiveness of such 
organizations and limits access to information 
critical for United States investors, consumers, 
and others making market and financial deci-
sions; and 
(B) should be considered a restriction of 
trade and creating an unfair competitive advan-
tage benefitting State-owned or controlled news 
and media organizations. 
(b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 
United States— 
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(1) to advocate for detained and targeted jour-
nalists and media personnel in foreign countries, in-
cluding citizen journalists and bloggers; 
(2) to call on foreign governments, in both bi-
lateral discussions and through multilateral organi-
zations, to end restrictions on the internationally- 
recognized right to freedom of expression and to 
abide by international commitments stipulated in 
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant 
on Civil and Political Rights; 
(3) to urge foreign governments to trans-
parently investigate and bring to justice the per-
petrators of attacks against journalists and media 
personnel; 
(4) to halt efforts to censor or block access to 
news from United States journalists and media per-
sonnel and the websites of United States news and 
media organizations; 
(5) to highlight threats to freedom of the press 
in the Department of State’s Annual Country Re-
ports on Human Rights Practices, as required under 
section 116(d)(12) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)(12)), and other public 
statements by senior Department of State officials; 
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(6) to seek as part of bilateral diplomatic nego-
tiations globally conditions for a free flow of news 
and information, internet freedom, and an end to 
visas restrictions for United States journalists and 
media personnel; 
(7) to link expansion of the free flow of news 
and information with ongoing and future trade 
agreements, and other bilateral agreements and 
communiques, by seeking language eliminating any 
and all limitations on market access for news agency 
services and the elimination of any restrictions on 
cross-border data flows involving journalists and 
media personnel, including via the internet; 
(8) to ensure that pursuing bilateral relation-
ships with foreign governments, particularly those 
with restrictive press and information environments, 
is based on the principles of reciprocity across many 
sectors of the bilateral relationship, including eco-
nomic, diplomatic, educational, religious, and in the 
free flow of news and information; and 
(9) to clearly differentiate, in official state-
ments, media communications, and messaging, be-
tween the citizens of a country and the government 
of the country, for example, the people and culture 
of China on the one hand and the Government of 
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the People’s Republic of China and the Communist 
Party of China on the other. 
SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF FOREIGN JOURNALISTS AND 
MEDIA PERSONNEL GLOBALLY. 
(a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 
United States to consider foreign government officials re-
sponsible for, complicit in, or having directly or indirectly 
engaged in serious restrictions of the internationally-rec-
ognized right to the freedom of expression, among these 
arbitrary detention, imprisonment, enforced disappear-
ance, torture, fines, extrajudicial killing, and other sub-
stantial threats to the life and liberty of a person, as hav-
ing committed— 
(1) gross violations of internationally recognized 
human rights for purposes of imposing sanctions 
with respect to such officials under the Global 
Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (22 
U.S.C. 2656 note); and 
(2) gross violations of human rights for pur-
poses of imposing sanctions with respect to such of-
ficials under section 7031(c) of division F of the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (Public Law 
116–6; 133 Stat. 319; 8 U.S.C. 1182 note). 
(b) ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, act-
ing through the Assistant Secretary for Democracy, 
Human Rights and Labor, to the extent and in such 
amounts as are provided in advance in appropria-
tions Acts, shall— 
(A) provide assistance to foreign journal-
ists and media personnel who are victims of se-
vere restrictions on the internationally-recog-
nized right to the freedom of expression and to 
their families, including assistance to pay for 
legal and other related expenses; and 
(B) support training for foreign journalists 
and media personnel globally, including training 
to expand the internationally-recognized right 
to the freedom of expression and defend the 
civil and political freedoms found in the Inter-
national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 
(2) REFERENCE.—Amounts authorized to be 
appropriated or otherwise made available to carry 
out this subsection may be referred to as the ‘‘Glob-
al Press Freedom Defense Fund’’. 
SEC. 5. PLAN TO NEGOTIATE RECIPROCAL ACCESS FOR 
UNITED STATES NEWS AND MEDIA ORGANI-
ZATIONS GLOBALLY. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) United States news and media organizations 
and information portals are blocked or censored by 
certain foreign governments while the United States 
market remains open to websites of foreign news 
and media organizations and information portals, in-
cluding State-owned propaganda organizations. 
(2) The stark lack of reciprocity in market ac-
cess for United States news and media organizations 
and country access for United States journalists and 
media personnel limits constructive contacts between 
the United States and the world and allows some 
foreign governments unbalanced influence over their 
people’s views of the United States and perceptions 
in the United States of their policies and programs. 
(3) Foreign governments with a sizable media 
and information footprint in the United States have 
a distinct interest in maintaining that footprint. 
(4) Greater quotients of reciprocity in the flow 
of news and information will be mutually advan-
tageous in United States relations with countries 
such as China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Russia, Viet-
nam, and Turkmenistan by fostering interactions 
that will create greater understanding, trust, and 
transparency. 
(b) PLANS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish 
a plan to negotiate access for United States news 
and media organizations and their employees glob-
ally and work to enhance reciprocity for news and 
media organizations operating in the United States. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of State shall submit to the appropriate congres-
sional committees a report that summarizes the plan 
required under paragraph (1). 
(3) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that, in the interest of increasing access 
for United States news and media organizations and 
their employees globally and otherwise expanding 
press freedoms globally, the President should 
proactively pursue bilateral agreements with govern-
ments of foreign countries to enhance reciprocity for 
news and media organizations operating in the 
United States. 
(c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congres-
sional committees’’ means— 
(1) the Committee on Armed Services, the 
Committee on Financial Services, the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Homeland Secu-
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rity, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives; and 
(2) the Committee on Armed Services, the 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af-
fairs, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Com-
mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af-
fairs, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
Senate. 
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the 
sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to any 
foreign person the President determines, based on credible 
evidence— 
(1) is responsible for the jailing, killing, or tor-
ture of journalists or media personnel or significant 
efforts to harass or restrict the activities, terminate 
the visas, or threaten the safety of journalists or 
media personnel, including United States journalists 
or media personnel; 
(2) acted as an agent, or on behalf, of a foreign 
person in a matter relating to an activity described 
in paragraph (1); or 
(3) is a government official, or a senior asso-
ciate of such an official, that is responsible for or 
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complicit in, ordering, controlling, or otherwise di-
recting an activity described in paragraph (1). 
(b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions to be 
imposed with respect to a foreign person under subsection 
(a) are the following: 
(1) The foreign person is— 
(A) inadmissible to the United States; 
(B) ineligible to receive a visa or other doc-
umentation to enter the United States; and 
(C) otherwise ineligible to be admitted or 
paroled into the United States or to receive any 
other benefit under the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.). 
(2) The foreign person is subject to the fol-
lowing: 
(A) Revocation of any visa or other entry 
documentation regardless of when the visa or 
other entry documentation is or was issued. 
(B) A revocation under subparagraph (A) 
shall— 
(i) take effect immediately; and 
(ii) automatically cancel any other 
valid visa or entry documentation that is in 
the foreign person’s possession. 
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(c) EXCEPTIONS.—Sanctions under subsection (b) 
shall not apply to a foreign person if admitting or paroling 
the person into the United States— 
(1) is necessary to permit the United States to 
comply with the Agreement regarding the Head-
quarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Suc-
cess June 26, 1947, and entered into force Novem-
ber 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the 
United States, or any other applicable international 
obligation of the United States; or 
(2) is necessary to carry out or assist law en-
forcement activity in the United States. 
(d) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica-
tion of sanctions imposed with respect to a foreign person 
under subsection (b) if the President— 
(1) determines that such a waiver is in the na-
tional interest of the United States; and 
(2) not later than the date on which such waiv-
er will take effect, submits a notice of and justifica-
tion for such waiver to the appropriate congressional 
committees. 
(e) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The President may termi-
nate the application of sanctions under subsection 
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(b) with respect to a foreign person if the President 
makes a determination that— 
(A) credible information exists that the 
person did not engage in the activity for which 
visa ineligibility was imposed; 
(B) the person has been prosecuted appro-
priately for the activity for which visa ineligi-
bility was imposed; 
(C) the person has— 
(i) credibly demonstrated a significant 
change in behavior; 
(ii) been subject to an appropriate 
consequence for the activity for which visa 
ineligibility was imposed; and 
(iii) credibly committed to not engage 
in an activity described in that subsection 
in the future; or 
(D) the termination of the application of 
sanctions is in the national security interests of 
the United States. 
(2) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 15 days be-
fore the date on which the application of sanctions 
is terminated under paragraph (1) with respect to a 
foreign person, the Secretary of State shall submit 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Com-
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mittee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committee on Foreign Relations and 
the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate a re-
port that— 
(A) describes the evidence and justification 
for the necessity of the termination; and 
(B) explains how the termination of the 
application of sanctions is in the national secu-
rity interests of the United States. 
(f) REPORT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an-
nually thereafter for 5 years, the President shall 
submit to the congressional committees specified in 
subsection (e)(2) a report that identifies the exact 
number of foreign persons with respect to which 
sanctions have been imposed under subsection (b) 
during the preceding year and the exact number of 
foreign persons with respect to which sanctions that 
have been terminated under subsection (c) during 
the preceding year, including their country of origin 
and the dates on which such sanctions were imposed 
or terminated, as the case may be. 
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(2) FORM.—The report required under para-
graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 
but may include a classified annex. 
(3) EXCLUSION OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE 
INFORMATION.—The President may not include any 
personally identifiable information of any United 
States citizen in any of the reports submitted under 
paragraph (1). 
(4) PRIVACY ACT.—Any information obtained 
by the President to complete the report required 
under paragraph (1) shall be subject to section 552a 
of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as 
the ‘‘Privacy Act’’). 
SEC. 7. CLEAR LABELING FOR INFORMATIONAL MATE-
RIALS DISTRIBUTED ON BEHALF OF FOREIGN 
PRINCIPALS. 
Section 4(b) of the Foreign Agents Registration Act 
of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 614(b)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new sentence: ‘‘Informational materials 
which are required to be labeled under this subsection 
shall be labeled, marked, or stamped conspicuously at the 
top of the first page of such materials with a statement 
in the language or languages used therein, setting forth 
such information as is required under this subsection.’’. 
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SEC. 8. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS 
PRACTICES. 
(a) REPORT
RELATING
TO
ECONOMIC
ASSIST-
ANCE.—Section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(h)(1) The report required by subsection (d) shall 
include an assessment of freedom of expression with re-
spect to electronic information in each foreign country. 
Such assessment shall consist of the following: 
‘‘(A) An assessment of the extent to which gov-
ernment authorities in each country attempt to fil-
ter, censor, or otherwise block or remove nonviolent 
expression of political or religious opinion or belief 
via the internet, including electronic mail, as well as 
a description of the means by which such authorities 
attempt to block or remove such expression. 
‘‘(B) An assessment of the extent to which gov-
ernment authorities in each country have persecuted 
or otherwise punished an individual or group for the 
nonviolent expression of political, religious, or ideo-
logical opinion or belief via the internet, including 
electronic mail. 
‘‘(C) An assessment of the extent to which gov-
ernment authorities in each country have sought to 
collect, request, obtain, or disclose personally identi-
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fiable information of a person in connection with 
such person’s nonviolent expression of political, reli-
gious, or ideological opinion or belief, including ex-
pression that would be protected by the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights and the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 
‘‘(D) An assessment of the extent to which wire 
communications and electronic communications are 
monitored without regard to the principles of pri-
vacy, human rights, democracy, and rule of law, to 
the extent these practices are known. 
‘‘(2) In compiling data and making assessments for 
the purposes of paragraph (1), United States diplomatic 
personnel shall consult with human rights organizations, 
technology and internet companies, and other appropriate 
nongovernmental organizations. 
‘‘(3) In this subsection— 
‘‘(A) the term ‘electronic communication’ has 
the meaning given such term in section 2510 of title 
18, United States Code; 
‘‘(B) the term ‘internet’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 231(e)(3) of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 231(e)(3)); 
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‘‘(C) the term ‘personally identifiable informa-
tion’ means data in a form that identifies a par-
ticular person; and 
‘‘(D) the term ‘wire communication’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 2510 of title 18, 
United States Code.’’. 
(b) REPORT RELATING TO SECURITY ASSISTANCE.— 
Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
U.S.C. 2304) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating the second subsection (i) 
(relating to child marriage status) as subsection (j); 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(k)(1) The report required by subsection (b) shall 
include an assessment of freedom of expression with re-
spect to electronic information in each foreign country. 
Such assessment shall consist of the following: 
‘‘(A) An assessment of the extent to which gov-
ernment authorities in each country attempt to fil-
ter, censor, or otherwise block or remove nonviolent 
expression of political or religious opinion or belief 
via the internet, including electronic mail, as well as 
a description of the means by which such authorities 
attempt to block or remove such expression. 
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‘‘(B) An assessment of the extent to which gov-
ernment authorities in each country have persecuted 
or otherwise punished an individual or group for the 
nonviolent expression of political, religious, or ideo-
logical opinion or belief via the internet, including 
electronic mail. 
‘‘(C) An assessment of the extent to which gov-
ernment authorities in each country have sought to 
collect, request, obtain, or disclose personally identi-
fiable information of a person in connection with 
such person’s nonviolent expression of political, reli-
gious, or ideological opinion or belief, including ex-
pression that would be protected by the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights and the International 
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 
‘‘(D) An assessment of the extent to which wire 
communications and electronic communications are 
monitored without regard to the principles of pri-
vacy, human rights, democracy, and rule of law, to 
the extent these practices are known. 
‘‘(2) In compiling data and making assessments for 
the purposes of paragraph (1), United States diplomatic 
personnel shall consult with human rights organizations, 
technology and internet companies, and other appropriate 
nongovernmental organizations. 
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‘‘(3) In this subsection, the terms ‘electronic commu-
nication’, ‘internet’, ‘personally identifiable information’, 
and ‘wire communication’ have the meanings given such 
terms in section 116(h)(3).’’. 
Æ 
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