Congress·In Committee·H.R. 3719

Rep. Huizenga Introduces Restoring American Freedom Act to Stop State Department From Censoring U.S. Citizens

Restoring American Freedom Act

10 months ago·View on Congress.gov

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Key Points

The bill prohibits State Department employees, officers, agents, and any entity receiving State Department funds from censoring or facilitating the censorship of Americans' constitutionally protected speech. This includes pressuring social media companies to remove or suppress posts.
From policy text
“no Department employee, officer, and agent, and no person or entity awarded a grant or contract or otherwise provided, directly or indirectly, Federal funds from the Department, engages in or facilitates conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech”
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Federal funding from the State Department would be cut off for any organization that publishes or uses "advertising blacklists"—curated lists designed to discourage advertisers from supporting specific people because of the content of their speech.
From policy text
“The term ``advertising blacklist'' means a curated list used to identify a United States citizen for the purpose of discouraging or prohibiting an advertiser from placing an advertisement with, or providing financial support to, such citizen because of the content of the free speech of such citizen.”
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Groups that create, test, or distribute censorship tools would also lose State Department funding unless the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy determines the tools have sufficient safeguards to prevent their use against Americans.
From policy text
“creates, tests, or distributes a censorship tool without sufficient safeguards, as determined by the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, for preventing such tool from being used to censor the free speech of a United States citizen”
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If the State Department learns that an employee or funded entity has censored a citizen's speech, the Secretary of State must notify the relevant congressional committees and the affected citizen within 7 days and take corrective action for past misconduct.
From policy text
“not later than 7 days after the date on which the Secretary of State is notified of each employee, officer, and agent of the Department of State, and of each person and entity awarded a grant or contract or otherwise provided, directly or indirectly, Federal funds from the Department of State, who is actually or potentially engaging in or facilitating the censorship of the free speech of a United States citizen”
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Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Who is affectedScoreImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Jun 4, 2025House

Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Jun 4, 2025

Introduced in House

Related News

3 articles

The Japan Times·11 months ago

U.S. State Department closing office targeting foreign disinformation

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the closure of a State Department office that tracked global disinformation, accusing it of censorship and wasting taxpayer money. The office, formerly the Global Engagement Center, had been a target of Republican critics for years.

TechPolicy.Press·11 months ago

The Downfall of the Global Engagement Center and Disappearing Guardrails Against Disinformation

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the closure of the R/FIMI office, arguing it was used to 'actively silence and censor the voices of Americans.' This follows years of litigation from conservative outlets like The Federalist and Daily Wire over the GEC's alleged 'censorship' technologies.

Al Jazeera·about 1 year ago

US government agency targeting foreign disinformation shuts down

The Global Engagement Center (GEC) terminated operations after Congress failed to extend its funding. Republican lawmakers had long accused the unit of censoring and surveilling Americans, while supporters argued its work was crucial to combating foreign propaganda from Russia and China.

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