Sec. 203. Treatment of informational materials
598 words·~3 min read·
/bill/118/hr/9393/ih/section-203A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Section 1 of the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 ( 22 U.S.C. 611 ) is amended— in subsection (c), in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking Expect and inserting Except ; and by inserting after subsection
(i)the following: The term informational materials means any oral, visual, graphic, written, or pictorial information or matter of any kind, including matter published by means of advertising, books, periodicals, newspapers, lectures, broadcasts, motion pictures, social media, or any means or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce or otherwise. . Section 4(a) of such Act ( 22 U.S.C. 614(a) ) is amended by striking or foreign commerce and inserting or foreign commerce, including electronic mail and social media, . Section 4(a) of such Act ( 22 U.S.C. 614(a) ) is amended— by striking Every person and inserting
(1)Every person ; and by adding at the end the following new paragraph: Paragraph
(1)does not apply with respect to any informational material which is disseminated by an agent of a foreign principal as part of an activity that is exempt from registration under this Act, or as part of an activity which by itself would not require registration under this Act. . Section 4(b) of such Act ( 22 U.S.C. 614(b) ) is amended— by striking
(b)It shall be unlawful and inserting (b)(1) It shall be unlawful ; and by adding at the end the following new paragraph: In the case of informational materials for or in the interests of a foreign principal which are transmitted or caused to be transmitted by an agent of a foreign principal by posting on an online platform, the agent shall ensure that the conspicuous statement required to be placed in such materials under this subsection is placed directly with the material posted on the platform and is not accessible only through a hyperlink or other reference to another source. If the Attorney General determines that the application of paragraph
(2)to materials posted on an online platform is not feasible because the length of the conspicuous statement required to be placed in materials under this subsection makes the inclusion of the entire statement incompatible with the posting of the materials on that platform, an agent may meet the requirements of paragraph
(2)by ensuring that an abbreviated version of the statement, stating that the materials are distributed by a foreign agent on behalf of a clearly identified foreign principal, is placed directly with the material posted on the platform. For purposes of this subsection, subject to subparagraph (B), the term online platform means any public-facing website, web application, or digital application (including a social network, ad network, or search engine) which— sells qualified political advertisements; and has 50,000,000 or more unique monthly United States visitors or users for a majority of months during the preceding 12 months; or is a third-party advertising vendor that has 50,000,000 or more unique monthly United States visitors in the aggregate on any advertisement space that it has sold or bought for a majority of months during the preceding 12 months, as measured by an independent digital ratings service accredited by the Media Ratings Council (or its successor). Such term shall not include any online platform that is a distribution facility of any broadcasting station or newspaper, magazine, blog, publication, or periodical. For purposes of this subsection, the term third-party advertising vendor includes any third-party advertising vendor network, advertising agency, advertiser, or third-party advertisement serving company that buys and sells advertisement space on behalf of unaffiliated third-party websites, search engines, digital applications, or social media sites. .
Connectionstraces to 2
Traces to 2 documents
Citation graph
cites case law
Cites 2Cited by 0 across 0 sources