Sec. 202. Addressing the risks that pervasive surveillance and monitoring technologies pose to human rights
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Congress makes the following findings: According to a 2018 report by Freedom House— China has stepped up efforts to use digital media to increase its own power, both inside and outside of China; in 2018, for the second year in a row, China was the worst abuser of internet freedom, and during that year, the Government of China hosted media officials from dozens of countries for 2- and 3-week seminars on its sprawling system of censorship and surveillance; Chinese companies have supplied telecommunications hardware, advanced facial-recognition technology, and data analytics tools to a variety of governments with poor human rights records, which could benefit Chinese intelligence services and repressive local authorities; and China’s Belt and Road Initiative includes a Digital Silk Road of Chinese-built fiber-optic networks that could expose internet traffic to greater monitoring by local and Chinese intelligence agencies, given that China is determined to set the technical standards for how the next generation of traffic is coded and transmitted.
As part of its engagement with Latin American and Caribbean governments, China has begun promoting the installation of pervasive surveillance camera systems, under the pretext of citizen security, in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, to be financed, designed, installed, and maintained by companies linked to the Government of China. It is the sense of Congress that— China is exporting its model for internal security and state control of society through advanced technology and artificial intelligence; and the adoption of surveillance systems can lead to breaches of citizens’ private information, increased censorship, violations of civil rights, and harassment of political opponents.
The Secretary of State shall conduct diplomatic engagement with governments in Latin America and the Caribbean— to help officials identify and mitigate the risks to civil liberties posed by pervasive surveillance and monitoring technologies; and to offer recommendations on ways to mitigate such risks. The Chief Executive Officer of the United States Agency for Global Media, working through the Open Technology Fund, and the Secretary of State, working through the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor’s office of Internet Freedom and Business and Human Rights, shall expand and prioritize efforts to provide anti-censorship technology and services to journalists and citizens in Latin America, in order to enhance their ability to safely access or share digital news and information without fear of repercussions or surveillance.
The Secretary of State, acting through the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and in coordination with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, shall work through nongovernmental organizations— to support and promote programs that support internet freedom and the free flow of information online in Latin America and the Caribbean; to protect open, secure, and reliable access to the internet in Latin America and the Caribbean; to provide integrated support to civil society for technology, digital safety, policy and advocacy, and applied research programs in Latin America and the Caribbean; to train journalists and civil society leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean on investigative techniques necessary to ensure public accountability and prevent government overreach in the digital sphere; and to assist independent media outlets and journalists in Latin America and the Caribbean to build their own capacity and develop high-impact, in-depth news reports covering governance and human rights topics.
Not more than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, and the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Agency for Global Media shall provide a briefing regarding the efforts described in subsections (c), (d), and
(e)to— the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate ; the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate ; the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives ; and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives . There are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 to carry out the activities set forth in subsection (e). Amounts appropriated pursuant to paragraph
(1)are subject to the notification requirements applicable to expenditures from— the Economic Support Fund under section 531(c) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2346(c) ); and the Development Assistance Fund under section 653(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 ( 22 U.S.C. 2413(a) ).
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Sec. 202
Addressing the risks that pervasive surveillance and monitoring technologies pose to human rights
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