Raising the Bar Act of 2019
This bill establishes an exercise program to flag online terrorist content. Specifically, the bill directs the Department of Homeland Security to designate a lead institution to administer a voluntary online terrorist content moderation exercise program to test how well participating technology companies (e.g., social media platforms) adhere to their own content moderation policies and procedures.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5209 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5209
To direct the Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the
Department of Homeland Security to design and administer a voluntary
online terrorist content moderation exercise program, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 21, 2019
Mr. Rose of New York (for himself, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms.
Clarke of New York, Miss Rice of New York, Ms. Underwood, Mr. Payne,
and Ms. Slotkin) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Homeland Security
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the
Department of Homeland Security to design and administer a voluntary
online terrorist content moderation exercise program, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Raising the Bar Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. HOMELAND SECURITY VOLUNTARY ONLINE TERRORIST CONTENT MODERATION
EXERCISE PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment of Exercise Program.--The Under Secretary for
Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security, in
consultation with the Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans,
the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and the Privacy
Officer of the Department of Homeland Security, shall design and
administer a voluntary online terrorist content moderation exercise
program. Under such program, the Under Secretary for Science and
Technology shall--
(1) enter into an agreement with the lead institution
designated under subsection (b), under which the lead
institution shall carry out not fewer than three four-week
voluntary online terrorist content moderation exercises during
each calendar year; and
(2) establish objective criteria for how the lead
institution should use information submitted by trusted
flaggers and participating technology companies during an
exercise conducted under the program to rate each participating
technology company on--
(A) the adherence of the participating technology
company to the written online terrorist content
moderation policies and procedures of that company;
(B) the compliance of the participating technology
company with the requirement to conduct assessments and
provide notice of such assessments under subsection
(d)(2); and
(C) such other factors relating to a participating
technology company's performance in the exercise as the
Under Secretary for Science and Technology determines
appropriate.
(b) Lead Institution.--
(1) In general.--For purposes of the program established
under subsection (a), the Under Secretary for Science and
Technology, in consultation with the Under Secretary for
Strategy, Policy, and Plans, shall seek to enter into an
agreement with a qualified institution that agrees to be
designated as the lead institution for purposes of the program.
(2) Qualified institution.--For purposes of this section,
an institution is qualified for designation as the lead
institution pursuant to paragraph (1) if such institution is an
institution of higher education or nonprofit institution that
possesses demonstrated expertise in at least two of the
following areas:
(A) Domestic terrorism.
(B) International terrorism.
(C) Cybersecurity.
(D) Computer or information technology.
(E) Privacy, civil rights, civil liberties, or
human rights.
(3) Responsibilities.--Pursuant to an agreement under this
subsection, the lead institution shall agree to carry out the
following responsibilities:
(A) To identify and conduct outreach to technology
companies and potential trusted flaggers to encourage
the participation of such companies and potential
trusted flaggers in the exercise program under this
section.
(B) To establish criteria, in consultation with
participating technology companies, for qualified
trusted flaggers.
(C) To schedule and carry out three four-week
exercises during each calendar year to evaluate the
adherence of each participating technology company to
the written online terrorist content moderation
policies and procedures of the company during the
period for which the exercise is conducted, which shall
include notifying participating technology companies
and trusted flaggers of the commencement of the
exercise 24 hours before the commencement of the
exercise and may include providing nominal payments to
trusted flaggers for participating in such exercise.
(D) To develop a letter rating system based on the
objective criteria established pursuant to subsection
(a)(2), in collaboration with participating technology
companies, to be used to assign a letter rating to each
participating technology company upon the conclusion of
an exercise.
(E) To establish a process under which a trusted
flagger can anonymously notify a participating
technology company of content that the trusted flagger
identifies during an exercise because the trusted
flagger believes such content is online terrorist
content that violates a written online terrorist
content moderation policy or procedure of the company.
(F) To design a template for trusted flaggers to
use to submit to the lead institution each notification
communicated pursuant to the process under subparagraph
(E) together with the following information:
(i) The name of the trusted flagger
communicating the notification and the name of
the participating technology company receiving
such notification.
(ii) The grounds for the notification,
including a specific identification of the
written online terrorist content moderation
policy or procedure of the participating
technology company that was violated by the
identified content and the terrorist ideology
or ideologies associated with such content.
(iii) The location, including the uniform
resource locator, where the identified content
was found, including a screen shot of the
content that does not include any personally
identifiable information.
(iv) The date and time when the
participating technology company was notified
of such content pursuant to the process under
subparagraph (E).
(v) Any other information the lead
institution determines is appropriate.
(G) To establish requirements for an assessment as
required pursuant to subsection (d)(2).
(H) To issue a report pursuant to subsection (f) on
each exercise after sharing a draft of the report and
providing participating technology companies and
trusted flaggers who participated in the exercise with
the opportunity to comment on the report.
(I) Not later than 60 days after issuing a report
pursuant to subsection (f) on an exercise, to convene a
virtual or in-person meeting with participating
technology companies and trusted flaggers who
participated in the exercise to discuss the exercise
and other related matters, as identified by the lead
institution, in consultation with the participating
technology companies and trusted flaggers.
(4) Consortium.--An agreement entered into under subsection
(a)(1) may provide that the lead institution may execute
agreements with other institutions of higher education or
nonprofit institutions to establish a consortium of such
institutions to assist in carrying out the responsibilities of
the lead institution under the agreement. To the extent that
the Under Secretary for Science and Technology identifies
institutions of higher education or nonprofit institutions for
participation in such a consortium, the Under Secretary shall
seek to ensure the participation of historically Black colleges
and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and Tribally
controlled colleges and universities.
(c) Trusted Flaggers.--
(1) In general.--For purposes of the program under this
section, a trusted flagger is an individual or entity that--
(A) is selected by the lead institution, in
coordination with participating technology companies,
on the basis of criteria established by the institution
for such purpose; and
(B) enters into an agreement with the lead
institution and the participating technology companies
that participate in an exercise carried out under the
program to perform the responsibilities specified in
paragraph (2) for the duration of the exercise.
(2) Responsibilities.--The responsibilities specified in
this paragraph are the following:
(A) To monitor public-facing areas of the
participating technology companies for online terrorist
content that may violate a written online terrorist
content moderation policy or procedure of the
participating technology company.
(B) To provide timely notification of any online
terrorist content identified on the online platform of
a participating technology company to such company
pursuant to the process under subsection (b)(3)(E).
(C) To carry out other activities requested by the
lead institution, in consultation with participating
technology companies.
(d) Responsibilities of Participating Technology Companies.--
(1) Agreements.--To participate in the voluntary online
terrorist content moderation exercise program under this
section, a technology company shall enter into an agreement
with the lead institution to carry out the responsibilities
under this subsection.
(2) Assessments.--Each participating technology company
shall agree--
(A) to conduct an assessment of each notification
communicated by a trusted flagger pursuant to the
process established under subsection (b)(3)(E) within
24 hours of receipt; and
(B) to provide notice to the lead institution of
the completion of each assessment conducted under this
paragraph, including--
(i) whether such assessment was completed
within 24 hours of receipt of the notification;
and
(ii) whether such assessment caused the
participating technology company to decide to
take or not take a certain action and the
grounds for such action or in action.
(3) Provision of information to lead institution.--Each
participating technology company shall agree to provide to the
lead institution--
(A) the written online terrorist content moderation
policies and procedures of the company with respect to
responding to identified online terrorist content,
including any rule or community standard of the company
that prohibits terrorist content and information
regarding any system that the company uses to review
online terrorist content that is reported that violates
any such rule or standard, including--
(i) guidance about what online terrorist
content is prohibited, including examples of
permissible and impermissible content and the
guidelines used internally to enforce rules or
community standards that prohibit online
terrorist content; and
(ii) information on the use of automated
detection on the platform of the company; and
(B) a point of contact for use by trusted flaggers
to report online terrorist content pursuant to the
process under subsection (b)(3)(E).
(4) Disclosure and notice requirements.--
(A) Disclosure of participation.--Each such
participating technology company shall agree to
disclose the participation of the company in the
voluntary online terrorist content moderation exercise
program on the online platform of the company.
(B) Notice to users.--Each such participating
technology company shall agree to provide notice to
each user whose content is removed or account is
suspended or terminated as a result of an exercise
conducted under this section. Such notice shall
include--
(i) the specific provision in the written
online terrorist content moderation policies or
procedures of the participating technology
company that such online terrorist content was
found to violate; and
(ii) an explanation of the process through
which the user can appeal, pursuant to
paragraph (5), the decision to remove the
content or suspend or terminate the account.
(C) Form of notice.--Each such participating
technology company shall agree to provide the notice
required under subparagraph (B) in both human- and
machine-readable formats that are accessible even if a
user's account is suspended or terminated.
(5) Appeals process.--Each participating technology company
shall agree to provide for a timely appeal process under which
a user may challenge a content removal or account suspension or
termination. Such process shall include--
(A) the review of the decision to remove content or
suspend an account by a person or panel of persons who
was not involved in the initial decision;
(B) the provision to the user of an opportunity to
present additional information that will be considered
in the review; and
(C) the provision to the user of notice of the
decision made in the appeals process, including a
statement of the reasoning sufficient to allow the user
to understand the decision.
(e) Transparency.--The Under Secretary for Science and Technology
shall ensure that agreements under this section shall require that
before engaging in an exercise under this section, the lead
institution, an institution participating in a consortium under
subsection (b)(4), and each trusted flagger agree to disclose to the
Under Secretary any fiduciary or business relationship between such
institution or trusted flagger and any participating technology company
during the two-year period preceding the date of the exercise.
(f) Reports.--
(1) Report required.--Not later than 60 days after the last
day of any voluntary online terrorist content moderation
exercise conducted under this section, the lead institution, in
consultation with the participating technology companies and
trusted flaggers, shall--
(A) produce a report on the voluntary online
terrorist content moderation exercise;
(B) publish such report on the public website of
the lead institution; and
(C) transmit a copy of such report to--
(i) the Under Secretary for Science and
Technology for publication on the public
website of the Department of Homeland Security;
and
(ii) the Comptroller General of the United
States.
(2) Contents of report.--Each report under paragraph (1)
shall include each of the following with respect to the
exercise covered by the report:
(A) A rating based on the letter rating system
developed pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(D), for each
participating technology company that participated in
the exercise.
(B) Information about--
(i) the total number of notifications
communicated to each participating technology
company during the exercise;
(ii) the number of notifications that were
assessed by each participating technology
company within 24 hours of receipt as violating
or not violating an online terrorist content
moderation policy or procedure of the company
and the basis for each notification, including
the violation of the written online terrorist
content moderation policies or procedures and
ideology or ideologies associated with the
content, for such assessment; and
(iii) the number of notifications that were
assessed after 24 hours of receipt as violating
or not violating an online terrorist content
moderation policy or procedure of the company
and the basis for each notification, including
the violation of the written online terrorist
content moderation policies or procedures and
ideology or ideologies associated with the
content, for such assessment.
(C) Information about any online terrorist content
that a participating technology company removes from a
platform of the company for violating an online
terrorist content moderation policy or procedure of the
company during the exercise, including--
(i) the number of posts deleted and
accounts suspended or terminated by a
participating technology company for violating
a written online terrorist content moderation
policy or procedure of the company,
disaggregated by whether flagged by a trusted
flagger, internally within the technology
company by an employee, by a contractor, by a
law enforcement official, by a user, or through
automated detection;
(ii) the number of discrete posts and
accounts flagged, and the number of discrete
posts removed and accounts suspended or
terminated, by a participating technology
company for violating the written online
terrorist content moderation policies or
procedures of the company, disaggregated by
information on the specific violation
identified in the written online terrorist
content moderation policies or procedures and
the terrorist ideology or ideologies associated
with the post or account, disaggregated by
whether flagged by a trusted flagger,
internally within the participating technology
company by an employee or contractor, by a law
enforcement official, by a user, or through
automated detection;
(iii) the number of discrete posts and
accounts flagged, and number of discrete posts
removed and accounts suspended or terminated by
a participating technology company for
violating the written online terrorist content
moderation policies or procedures of the
company, disaggregated by the format of the
content, such as text, audio, image, video, or
live stream; and
(iv) in the case of each exercise after the
initial exercise, an evaluation of changes over
time with respect to each category of
information referred to in clauses (i) through
(iii).
(D) Information on the exercise, including the
dates of the exercise and names of the trusted flaggers
that participated, together with information on how
many notifications each such trusted flagger submitted
during the exercise.
(E) The written online terrorist content moderation
policies and procedures of each of the participating
technology companies, together with the corresponding
definition for online terrorist content adopted by each
of the participating technology companies, and a
description of the appeals process of each such company
as required pursuant to subsection (d)(5).
(F) Any identifiable trends and analysis developed
from conducting the exercise, as determined appropriate
by the lead institution, in consultation with
participating technology companies and trusted
flaggers.
(G) Any information provided by a participating
technology company regarding efforts of the company
to--
(i) counter terrorist narratives and
enhance technological capabilities to identify
and counter online terrorism content;
(ii) maintain policies or procedures within
the company that--
(I) prioritize the mental health of
individuals working within the company
who participate in the efforts to
implement the written online terrorist
content moderation policies or
procedures of the company; and
(II) make available voluntary
mental health support, as needed, to
such employees and to contractors and
trusted flaggers; and
(iii) any other information determined
appropriate by the lead institution.
(3) Format.--Each report under this subsection shall be
made available in both a human- and a machine-readable format.
(4) Briefings.--Not later than 30 days after receiving a
report under paragraph (1)(C)(i), the Under Secretary for
Science and Technology, in consultation with the Under
Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans, shall provide to the
Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
of the Senate a briefing on the voluntary online terrorist
content moderation exercise program under this section.
(g) Public-Private Partnership.--
(1) In general.--The Under Secretary for Science and
Technology is authorized to enter into--
(A) an agreement using other transactional
authority with the lead institution for purposes of
carrying out this section; and
(B) public-private partnerships with participating
technology companies in which participating technology
companies agree provide at least 80 percent of the
funding to carry out this section.
(2) Other transactional authority.--In this subsection, the
term ``other transactional authority'' means the authority
under section 831 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6
U.S.C. 391).
(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this Act--
(1) $300,000 for fiscal year 2020; and
(2) $150,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2026.
(i) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in the Act shall be construed
as--
(1) requiring participating technology companies to adopt
standards for the moderation of online terrorist content;
(2) authorizing the Department of Homeland Security to
participate in decision making regarding the removal of content
by participating technology companies;
(3) requiring participating technology companies to provide
user content to the Department of Homeland Security, any
institution participating in the exercise program, or any other
Federal, State, local, tribal, or territorial government or
international body; or
(4) authorizing the Department of Homeland Security to
allow subjective judgments regarding the treatment of online
content by a participating technology company in the objective
criteria established pursuant to subsection (a)(2).
(j) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) The term ``Hispanic-serving institution'' has the
meaning given such term in section 502(a) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)).
(2) The term ``historically Black colleges and
universities'' means a part B institution described in section
322(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)).
(3) The term ``institution of higher education'' has the
meaning given such term in section 101 of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).
(4) The term ``online terrorist content'' shall be defined
by each technology company participating in an exercise under
this section with respect to a platform of the company in the
community guidelines, terms of service, or relevant policy
applicable to such platform.
(5) The term ``personally identifiable information'' means
any information about an individual elicited, collected,
stored, or maintained by an agency or owner or operator of a
participating technology company, including the following:
(A) Any information that can be used to distinguish
or trace the identity of an individual, such as a name,
social security number, date or place of birth,
mother's maiden name, telephone number, or biometric
records.
(B) Any other information that is linked or
linkable to an individual, such as medical,
educational, financial, or employment information.
(6) The term ``participating technology company'' means a
business entity that owns or operates any public-facing
website, web application, or digital application, including a
mobile application, social network, advertising network, search
engine, or email service that participates in the voluntary
online terrorist content moderation exercise program under this
Act.
(7) The term ``Tribally controlled college or university''
has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Tribally
Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act of 1978 (25
U.S.C. 1801).
(k) Sunset.--The authority to carry out this section shall
terminate on the date that is seven years after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.
Not later than 180 days after the Comptroller General of the United
States receives the sixth report under section 2(f), the Comptroller
General shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation of
section 2.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line