Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should: (1) denounce governments that restrict, censor, ban, and block access to information on the Internet; (2) direct the U.S. Representative to the United Nations to submit a resolution condemning such actions; and (3) deploy technologies aimed at defeating state-directed Internet censorship and the persecution of those who use the Internet.
[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 48 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 48
To develop and deploy technologies to defeat Internet jamming and
censorship.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 7, 2003
Mr. Cox (for himself, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Cunningham, Mr.
Pomeroy, Mr. Weller, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, and Mr. Schiff) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To develop and deploy technologies to defeat Internet jamming and
censorship.
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 ``Global Internet Freedom Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of
association are fundamental characteristics of a free society.
The first amendment to the Constitution of the United States
guarantees that ``Congress shall make no law . . . abridging
the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble.'' These constitutional provisions
guarantee the rights of Americans to communicate and associate
with one another without restriction, including unfettered
communication and association via the Internet. Article 19 of
the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights
explicitly guarantees the freedom to ``receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers''.
(2) All people have the right to communicate freely with
others, and to have unrestricted access to news and
information, on the Internet.
(3) With nearly 10 percent of the world's population now
online, and more gaining access each day, the Internet stands
to become the most powerful engine for democratization and the
free exchange of ideas ever invented.
(4) Unrestricted access to news and information on the
Internet is a check on repressive rule by authoritarian regimes
around the world.
(5) The governments of Burma, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, the
People's Republic of China, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Vietnam,
among others, are taking active measures to keep their citizens
from freely accessing the Internet and obtaining international
political, religious, and economic news and information.
(6) Intergovernmental, nongovernmental, and media
organizations have reported the widespread and increasing
pattern by authoritarian governments to block, jam, and monitor
Internet access and content, using technologies such as
firewalls, filters, and ``black boxes''. Such jamming and
monitoring of individual activity on the Internet includes
surveillance of e-mail messages, message boards, and the use of
particular words; ``stealth blocking'' individuals from
visiting websites; the development of ``black lists'' of users
that seek to visit these websites; and the denial of access to
the Internet.
(7) The Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, as well as
hundreds of news sources with an internet presence, are
routinely being jammed by repressive governments.
(8) Since the 1940s, the United States has deployed anti-
jamming technologies to make Voice of America and other United
States Government sponsored broadcasting available to people in
nations with governments that seek to block news and
information.
(9) The United States Government has thus far commenced
only modest steps to fund and deploy technologies to defeat
Internet censorship. To date, the Voice of America and Radio
Free Asia have committed a total of $1,000,000 for technology
to counter Internet jamming by the People's Republic of China.
This technology, which has been successful in attracting
100,000 electronic hits per day from the People's Republic of
China, has been relied upon by Voice of America and Radio Free
Asia to ensure access to their programming by citizens of the
People's Republic of China, but United States Government
financial support for the technology has lapsed. In most other
countries there is no meaningful United States support for
Internet freedom.
(10) The success of United States policy in support of
freedom of speech, press, and association requires new
initiatives to defeat totalitarian and authoritarian controls
on news and information over the Internet.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to adopt an effective and robust global Internet
freedom policy;
(2) to establish an office within the International
Broadcasting Bureau with the sole mission of countering
Internet jamming and blocking by repressive regimes;
(3) to expedite the development and deployment of
technology to protect Internet freedom around the world;
(4) to authorize the commitment of a substantial portion of
United States international broadcasting resources to the
continued development and implementation of technologies to
counter the jamming of the Internet;
(5) to utilize the expertise of the private sector in the
development and implementation of such technologies, so that
the many current technologies used commercially for securing
business transactions and providing virtual meeting space can
be used to promote democracy and freedom; and
(6) to bring to bear the pressure of the free world on
repressive governments guilty of Internet censorship and the
intimidation and persecution of their citizens who use the
Internet.
SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES TO DEFEAT INTERNET
JAMMING AND CENSORSHIP.
(a) Establishment of Office of Global Internet Freedom.--There is
established in the International Broadcasting Bureau the Office of
Global Internet Freedom (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the
``Office''). The Office shall be headed by a Director who shall develop
and implement a comprehensive global strategy to combat state-sponsored
and state-directed Internet jamming, and persecution of those who use
the Internet.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Office $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years
2003 and 2004.
(c) Cooperation of Other Federal Departments and Agencies.--Each
department and agency of the United States Government shall cooperate
fully with, and assist in the implementation of, the strategy developed
by the Office and shall make such resources and information available
to the Office as is necessary to the achievement of the purposes of
this Act.
(d) Report to Congress.--On March 1 following the date of the
enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Director of the
Office shall submit to the Congress a report on the status of state
interference with Internet use and of efforts by the United States to
counter such interference. Each report shall list the countries that
pursue policies of Internet censorship, blocking, and other abuses;
provide information concerning the government agencies or quasi-
governmental organizations that implement Internet censorship; and
describe with the greatest particularity practicable the technological
means by which such blocking and other abuses are accomplished. In the
discretion of the Director, such report may be submitted in both a
classified and nonclassified version.
(e) Limitation on Authority.--Nothing in this Act shall be
interpreted to authorize any action by the United States to interfere
with foreign national censorship in furtherance of legitimate law
enforcement aims that is consistent with the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of the Congress that the United States should--
(1) publicly, prominently, and consistently denounce
governments that restrict, censor, ban, and block access to
information on the Internet;
(2) direct the United States Representative to the United
Nations to submit a resolution at the next annual meeting of
the United Nations Human Rights Commission condemning all
governments that practice Internet censorship and deny freedom
to access and share information; and
(3) deploy, at the earliest practicable date, technologies
aimed at defeating state-directed Internet censorship and the
persecution of those who use the Internet.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on International Relations.
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