Rep. Josh Gottheimer announced a series of bills aimed at hamstringing the ability of terror groups to fundraise, recruit and radicalize online Wednesday.
The package includes measures that would impose criminal and financial penalties on social media companies who permit State Department-designated foreign terrorist groups to solicit support or donations on their platforms.
That bill would also require social media firms to regularly disclose information about the presence of such groups on their platforms.
A separate bill would require the Secretary of Defense to brief Congress on terrorists’ use of social media and on the threat such communications pose to the country.
“We now have a constant spread of violent extremism, disinformation, foreign interference, and hate online that’s undermining our democracy — and these forces continue to use the platforms provided by U.S.-based social media companies to spread hate and terrorist propaganda and recruit new members,” Gottheimer said. “Now, they’re growing even more sophisticated, using digital assets like cryptocurrencies to finance their next attacks. We have to fight back — by truly bringing together an online arsenal to combat these threats at every angle.”
Gottheimer and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) have asked the Office of the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Treasury to House Financial Services National Security Subcommittee on a recent seizure of cryptocurrency authorities say was worth millions of dollars.