Sec. 7. Countering disinformation and misinformation in the Americas
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It is the sense of Congress that Congress supports— efforts by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States to strengthen public interest media on traditional and digital media platforms, promote investigative journalism, fortify the integrity of media environments, and counter disinformation and misinformation across the Americas; and plans by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States to announce the creation of the Center for Media Integrity of the Americas at the Ninth Summit of the Americas.
As part of the strategy required by section 5(a)(1), the Secretary of State shall develop and implement a plan for countering the spread and amplification of disinformation and misinformation in the Americas and strengthening vulnerable information environments. The plan required by subsection
(b)shall include— an assessment of— the nature and prevalence of disinformation and misinformation activities in traditional, digital, and social media in the Americas, including— the major intra-regional and extra-regional actors involved in spreading or amplifying disinformation and misinformation; the tactics those actors use; the major narratives those actors disseminate; and the extent to which the activities involve or are being coordinated by state entities or government officials; the vulnerability of information environments within the Americas; which countries are most targeted by campaigns to spread and amplify disinformation and misinformation and the effectiveness of those campaigns; and the nature and magnitude of the threats posed by disinformation and misinformation activities to democratic governance, human rights, and other United States interests; and efforts, including the multilateral diplomacy described in subsection (d), in coordination with the Organization of American States and member states of the Organization of American States— to monitor and share information about disinformation and misinformation activities and the effects of those activities; to convene regional summits, forums, and multi-stakeholder initiatives with engagement from governments, technology companies, media organizations, academia, and civil society groups to address the challenges posed by disinformation and misinformation and other related issues, including data privacy, shared cybersecurity standards, and platform interoperability; to develop a regional code of best practices and other joint solutions to address disinformation and misinformation, including rapid alert systems and agreements on other related issues; to strengthen the capacity of the Organization of American States, member states of the Organization of American States, and independent media and civil society groups to counter disinformation and misinformation and address vulnerable information environments, including by providing support for media and digital literacy, independent journalism, and fact-checking initiatives; and to support and promote the creation of public interest media and investigative journalism to provide accurate, objective, and reliable local news. The Secretary of State, acting through the United States Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, shall use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States— to establish a working group at the Organization of American States to monitor the deleterious effects that disinformation and misinformation pose to democratic governance and human rights and develop regional approaches to address those effects; and to advance a resolution of the Organization of American States on condemning and countering disinformation and misinformation in the Americas. The Secretary of State, acting through the United States Mission to the Organization of American States, should use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States to support increased attention and resources for the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States to develop efforts to address the threat posed by disinformation and misinformation to democratic governance and human rights, including— by increasing the proportion of United States voluntary contributions designated for addressing that threat; and by encouraging similar efforts by other member states of the Organization of American States.