Sec. 30322. Sense of Congress regarding press freedom in the People’s Republic of China
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/bill/117/hr/4521/eh/section-30322·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds that the People’s Republic of China maintains one of the worst media environments in the world and seeks to curtail political speech inside and outside the country, including by— targeting independent and foreign media in China through systematic harassment including the denial of visas to foreign journalists, imprisonment, the denial of medical care to imprisoned journalists, and curtailing access to legal representation; pervasively monitoring and censoring online and social media content, including through the banning of virtual private networks; using the full force of the State to stifle internal dissent including dissent online, particularly dissent that could lead to political change and content that criticizes China’s leaders, however trivial, reportedly even to the point of censoring comparisons of Xi Jingping’s looks with Winnie the Pooh; spreading propaganda to foreign audiences through the United Front Work Department and related activities; seeking to intimidate American-based journalists working for Radio Free Asia and reporting on gross human rights violations in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by jailing or otherwise harassing members of their families; and championing a “sovereign Internet” model and exporting technology to enhance the ability of like-minded authoritarian regimes to suppress dissent online and monitor the activity of their people.
It is the sense of Congress that— the freedom of the press is an unalienable right that is necessary for citizens to hold their government to account; the PRC should cease its repression of journalists, citizen journalists, news organizations; and the PRC should cease the censorship of political satire, including comparisons of Xi Jingping’s looks with Winnie the Pooh.