HR 5956
Defending Against Foreign Propaganda Act
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Bill overview
This bill, the Defending Against Foreign Propaganda Act, requires disclosures on advertisements paid for by foreign governments or foreign individuals. Advertisements must clearly state who paid for them, using audio, text, or video components depending on the advertisement’s format. The Federal Trade Commission will enforce these disclosure requirements, treating violations as unfair or deceptive practices under existing FTC regulations. The bill aims to increase transparency regarding foreign influence in advertising.
Key provisions
- Requires disclosures on advertisements paid for by foreign governments or foreign persons.
- Disclosures must be included within the advertisement itself (audio, text, or video).
- Disclosure must identify the foreign country of citizenship for foreign persons.
- Disclosure must identify the foreign country of principal place of business for foreign persons.
- Violations are treated as unfair or deceptive acts under the Federal Trade Commission Act.
Who is affected
- Advertisers
- Consumers
- Foreign governments
- Foreign persons (businesses and organizations)
- The Federal Trade Commission
Notable changes
- Establishes a specific requirement for disclosing the source of payment for foreign-sponsored advertisements.
- Clarifies the methods for including disclosures within various advertisement formats (audio, text, video).
Sponsors
Official sponsors from legislative records.
Primary sponsor
Thomas H. Kean
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119th CONGRESS — 1st Session
H. R. 5956
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
A BILL
To require certain disclosures on advertisements paid for by the governments of foreign countries or by foreign persons, and for other purposes.
This Act may be cited as the Defending Against Foreign Propaganda Act
.
A person may not disseminate to a consumer an advertisement paid for by the government of a foreign country or by a foreign person without disclosing to the consumer, in the manner described in paragraph (2), that the advertisement was paid for by such government or by such person.
The manner described in this paragraph is the following:
With respect to an advertisement that includes a sound component, a disclosure made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be included in the advertisement as a sound component.
With respect to an advertisement that includes a printed language component, a disclosure made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be included in the advertisement as a printed language component.
With respect to an advertisement that includes a video component, a disclosure made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be included in the advertisement as a sound component and a printed language component.
With respect to an advertisement paid for by a foreign person, a disclosure made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include the following as applicable:
The name of the foreign country from which the foreign person is a citizen of.
The name of the foreign country in which the foreign person has its principal place of business.
A violation of this section shall be treated as a violation of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
The Federal Trade Commission shall enforce this section in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act. Any person who violates this section shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act.
In this section:
The term alien
has the meaning given such term in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
The term foreign person
means the following:
An alien.
A partnership, association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons having its principal place of business in a foreign country.