Safeguarding Internet Freedom in Hong Kong Act of 2021
Summary
Safeguarding Internet Freedom in Hong Kong Act of 2021 This bill authorizes and establishes programs to promote internet freedom in Hong Kong and contains other related provisions. The Department of State may establish an interagency working group to develop a strategy to bolster internet resiliency and access in Hong Kong. The State Department shall also establish within the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor a Hong Kong internet freedom program. (The bureau has existing programs to promote internet freedom globally through technology development, digital safety, policy advocacy, and research.) The Open Technology Fund may establish a Hong Kong internet freedom program. (The fund, an independent nonprofit organization that receives U.S. government funding, was originally a part of Radio Free Asia.) The bureau and the fund may award grants to qualifying private organizations to promote technology and tools in Hong Kong that promote online information access, enhance digital security, and circumvent internet blocking and other online censorship. The State Department shall report to Congress a classified strategy to (1) increase the availability of firewall circumvention technology in Hong Kong; and (2) support the preservation of an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure internet in Hong Kong.
Bill status
in committee
1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2021
Committee Review
Floor Vote
President
Introduced Mar 18, 2021
Last action Mar 18, 2021
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
2
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Mar 18, 2021
Committee
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
upper
Mar 18, 2021
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
1 primary · 3 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
James Lankford
RRepublican
Co
Chris Van Hollen
DDemocratic
Co
Margaret Wood Hassan
DDemocratic
Co
Tim Kaine
DDemocratic
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