Title: World Press Freedom Protection and Reciprocity Act
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
World Press Freedom Protection and Reciprocity Act
This bill establishes requirements related to the protection and support of journalists and media personnel abroad.
Specifically, the President must establish a plan to (1) negotiate access for U.S. news and media organizations and their employees globally, and (2) work to enhance reciprocity for news and media organizations operating in the United States. The President must impose visa-blocking sanctions on any foreign person who is responsible for the jailing, killing, or torture 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.
Identification statements required to be placed on informational materials distributed in the United States by an agent of a foreign principal on behalf of such principal must be labeled, marked, or stamped conspicuously at the top of the first page of such materials.
The annual country reports on human rights and development assistance and human rights and security assistance must include an assessment of freedom of expression with respect to electronic information in foreign countries.
Lastly, the bill establishes the Global Press Freedom Defense Fund to provide assistance to foreign journalists and media personnel who are victims of restrictions on the internationally recognized right to freedom of expression, including assistance to pay for legal and other related expenses.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7001 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7001

       To protect and promote the freedom of the press globally.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 22, 2020

  Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. Suozzi) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 
 and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
       To protect and promote the freedom of the press globally.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``World Press Freedom Protection and 
Reciprocity Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means an 
        individual who is not--
                    (A) a United States citizen; or
                    (B) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent 
                residence to the United States.
            (2) Internationally-recognized right to the freedom of 
        expression.--The term ``internationally-recognized right to the 
        freedom of expression'' means those rights described in Article 
        19 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and 
        Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
        Rights.
            (3) Knowingly.--The term ``knowingly'' means, with respect 
        to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, that a person has 
        actual knowledge, or should have known, of the conduct, the 
        circumstance, or the result.
            (4) Major non-nato ally.--The term ``major non-NATO ally'' 
        means a country designated as a major non-NATO ally under 
        section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 
        2321k).

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Freedom of the press is a critical component of 
        democratic governance and enhances transparency, 
        accountability, and participation of civil society.
            (2) United States Government efforts to protect and expand 
        freedom of the press and free expression, including online, is 
        in the national interests of the United States by supporting 
        democracy, promoting good governance and public health, 
        mitigating conflict, and encouraging transparency and civil 
        society development around the world.
            (3) Globally, journalists and media personnel that receive 
        and impart information and ideas, online and offline, face 
        increasing restrictions, threats, censorship, arbitrary 
        detention, torture, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial 
        killings, and other violence for exercising their right to 
        freedom of expression in accordance with Article 19 of both the 
        Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International 
        Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
            (4) Impunity for attacks on journalists and media personnel 
        is an acute problem globally and a primary challenge to 
        protecting freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
            (5) According to the press freedom rankings issued annually 
        by Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders, countries with 
        the most restrictive media and information environments include 
        Burma, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, the Philippines, Saudi 
        Arabia, Dijbouti, Syria, Laos, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam.
            (6) The Government of Turkey, since a failed coup attempt 
        in 2016, has used terrorism and national security laws to 
        shutter hundreds of media outlets and jail dozens of 
        journalists, compounding the effects of more than a decade of 
        expanding ruling party influence over the ownership of 
        mainstream media in the country at the expense of independent 
        outlets.
            (7) The Government of China maintains one of the most 
        restrictive media and information environments in the world and 
        seeks to control free speech inside and outside the country 
        through censorship, onerous media organization registration 
        requirements, harassment, imprisonment, conditioning of press 
        credential renewals for foreign journalists and media personnel 
        and visa issuance for foreign journalists and media personnel 
        on ``positive'' coverage of China, and the operation of a 
        digital surveillance system so pervasive that both routine and 
        sensitive reporting activities and many aspects of daily life 
        are subject to government monitoring.
            (8) Russia has continued to use sophisticated tools to 
        block and control information online and employ draconian laws 
        to pressure independent media.
            (9) Expansion and export of new technologies used for 
        censorship and digital surveillance represents a notable threat 
        to human rights, including press freedoms, transparency, and 
        democratic governance globally, and constitute a critical 
        challenge to United States national interests.
            (10) Other countries' restrictions on the activities of 
        United States journalists and media personnel, other countries' 
        censorship and blocking of websites of United States news and 
        media organizations, 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 decisions; and
                    (B) should be considered a restriction of trade and 
                creating an unfair competitive advantage benefitting 
                State-owned or controlled news and media organizations.
    (b) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States--
            (1) to advocate for detained and targeted journalists and 
        media personnel in foreign countries, including citizen 
        journalists and bloggers;
            (2) to call on foreign governments, in both bilateral 
        discussions and through multilateral organizations, 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 transparently 
        investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of attacks 
        against journalists and media personnel;
            (4) to halt efforts to censor or block access to news from 
        United States journalists and media personnel 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 Reports 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;
            (6) to seek as part of bilateral diplomatic negotiations 
        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 relationships 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 economic, diplomatic, educational, religious, and in 
        the free flow of news and information; and
            (9) to clearly differentiate, in official statements, media 
        communications, and messaging, between 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 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 responsible for, complicit in, or 
having directly or indirectly engaged in serious restrictions of the 
internationally-recognized right to the freedom of expression, among 
these arbitrary detention, imprisonment, enforced disappearance, 
torture, fines, extrajudicial killing, and other substantial threats to 
the life and liberty of a person, as having 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 purposes of 
        imposing sanctions with respect to such officials 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.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of State, acting through the 
        Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, to 
        the extent and in such amounts as are provided in advance in 
        appropriations Acts, shall--
                    (A) provide assistance to foreign journalists and 
                media personnel who are victims of severe restrictions 
                on the internationally-recognized 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 International 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 ``Global Press Freedom Defense Fund''.

SEC. 5. PLAN TO NEGOTIATE RECIPROCAL ACCESS FOR UNITED STATES NEWS AND 
              MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS GLOBALLY.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (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, including State-owned propaganda 
        organizations.
            (2) The stark lack of reciprocity in market access 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 advantageous in United States 
        relations with countries such as China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, 
        Russia, Vietnam, and Turkmenistan by fostering interactions 
        that will create greater understanding, trust, and 
        transparency.
    (b) Plans.--
            (1) In general.--The President shall establish a plan to 
        negotiate access for United States news and media organizations 
        and their employees globally 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 congressional 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 governments of 
        foreign countries to enhance reciprocity for news and media 
        organizations operating in the United States.
    (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on 
        Financial Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 
        Committee on Homeland Security, 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 Affairs, the Committee on Foreign 
        Relations, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
        Affairs, 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 torture 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 associate of such 
        an official, that is responsible for or complicit in, ordering, 
        controlling, or otherwise directing 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 
                documentation 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 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                1101 et seq.).
            (2) The foreign person is subject to the following:
                    (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.
    (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 Headquarters of the United Nations, 
        signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force 
        November 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 enforcement 
        activity in the United States.
    (d) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of sanctions 
imposed with respect to a foreign person under subsection (b) if the 
President--
            (1) determines that such a waiver is in the national 
        interest of the United States; and
            (2) not later than the date on which such waiver will take 
        effect, submits a notice of and justification for such waiver 
        to the appropriate congressional committees.
    (e) Termination of Sanctions.--
            (1) In general.--The President may terminate the 
        application of sanctions under subsection (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 appropriately 
                for the activity for which visa ineligibility 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 before 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 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives 
        and the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on the 
        Judiciary of the Senate a report 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 security 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 annually 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.
            (2) Form.--The report required under paragraph (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 MATERIALS 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.''.

SEC. 8. ANNUAL COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES.

    (a) Report Relating to Economic Assistance.--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 respect to electronic 
information in each foreign country. Such assessment shall consist of 
the following:
            ``(A) An assessment of the extent to which government 
        authorities in each country attempt to filter, 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 government 
        authorities in each country have persecuted or otherwise 
        punished an individual or group for the nonviolent expression 
        of political, religious, or ideological opinion or belief via 
        the internet, including electronic mail.
            ``(C) An assessment of the extent to which government 
        authorities in each country have sought to collect, request, 
        obtain, or disclose personally identifiable information of a 
        person in connection with such person's nonviolent expression 
        of political, religious, or ideological opinion or belief, 
        including expression 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 privacy, 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 Communications Act of 1934 (47 
        U.S.C. 231(e)(3));
            ``(C) the term `personally identifiable information' means 
        data in a form that identifies a particular 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 subsection:
    ``(k)(1) The report required by subsection (b) shall include an 
assessment of freedom of expression with respect to electronic 
information in each foreign country. Such assessment shall consist of 
the following:
            ``(A) An assessment of the extent to which government 
        authorities in each country attempt to filter, 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 government 
        authorities in each country have persecuted or otherwise 
        punished an individual or group for the nonviolent expression 
        of political, religious, or ideological opinion or belief via 
        the internet, including electronic mail.
            ``(C) An assessment of the extent to which government 
        authorities in each country have sought to collect, request, 
        obtain, or disclose personally identifiable information of a 
        person in connection with such person's nonviolent expression 
        of political, religious, or ideological opinion or belief, 
        including expression 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 privacy, 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, the terms `electronic communication', 
`internet', `personally identifiable information', and `wire 
communication' have the meanings given such terms in section 
116(h)(3).''.
                                 <all>