119-hr4923

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4923 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4923

 To impose sanctions on persons who knowingly provide content or media 
 services to sanctioned foreign propaganda outlets, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 August 8, 2025

 Mr. Tony Gonzales of Texas introduced the following bill; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 
 Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, Oversight and 
Government Reform, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 
 determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To impose sanctions on persons who knowingly provide content or media 
 services to sanctioned foreign propaganda outlets, and for other 
 purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Foreign Propaganda Act''.

SEC. 2. CODIFICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 13846.

 Executive Order 13846 of August 6, 2018 (83 Fed. Reg. 38939), 
entitled ``Reimposing Certain Sanctions With Respect to Iran'', shall 
have the force and effect of law.

SEC. 3. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO PROVISION OF MEDIA SERVICES TO 
 SANCTIONED FOREIGN MEDIA ENTITIES.

    (a) In General.--The President shall impose the sanctions described 
in subsection
            (c) with respect to any person who knowingly provides 
material support or media services, and receives compensation, barter, 
or any other form of consideration therefor, to a covered foreign media 
entity.

    (b) Applicability.--This section applies to any United States 
person or foreign person subject to the jurisdiction of the United 
States.
            (c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this 
subsection are the following:

    (1) The blocking and prohibition of all transactions in 
 property and interests in property of the person pursuant to 
 the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 
 et 18 seq.).

    (2) The prohibition on United States persons from entering 
 into procurement contracts or transactions with the person.

    (3) The prohibition of financing assistance from the 
 Export-Import Bank of the United States to the person.

    (4) In the case of a person that is an alien, the denial of 
 a visa or exclusion from the United States in accordance with 
 section of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
 1182

    (a)

    (3)
            (C) ).
            (d) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of sanctions 
under this section with respect to a person if the President--

    (1) determines that such a waiver is in the national 
 interest of the United States; and

    (2) submits to the appropriate congressional committees a 
 written explanation of the reasons for the waiver.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
annually thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation 
with the Secretary of State, shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report that includes--

    (1) a list of all persons, including United States persons 
 and foreign persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United 
 States, that have knowingly provided material support or media 
 services to any covered foreign media entity and a description 
 of the nature, value, duration, and scope of such transactions, 
 including any payments, barter arrangements, or third-party 
 facilitation mechanisms;

    (2) any enforcement actions, designations, penalties, or 
 license denials initiated pursuant to this Act or other 
 applicable sanctions authorities during the reporting period; 
 and

    (3) an assessment of to the extent the Government of Iran, 
 including the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and its 
 affiliates, has directly or indirectly financed or contracted 
 with any foreign news organization, media outlet, production 
 company, or content distributor--
        (A) to disseminate regime-aligned narratives, 
 disinformation, or coercive propaganda targeting U.S. 
 or allied audiences; or
        (B) to circumvent existing U.S. sanctions or export 
 control measures through third-party intermediaries or 
 subsidiaries.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act--

    (1) the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' 
 means--
        (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee 
 on Financial Services, and the Committee on 
 Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and
        (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the 
 Committee on Finance, and the Committees on 
 Appropriations of the Senate;

    (2) the term ``foreign media entity'' means any media 
 organization that--
        (A) is owned, controlled, funded, or operated, in 
 whole or in part, by a foreign government or an entity 
 designated pursuant to United States sanctions law;
        (B) is designated by the Secretary of State, in 
 consultation with the Director of National 
 Intelligence, as an instrument of foreign state 
 propaganda or foreign malign influence operations; or
            (C) acts on behalf of, or in coordination with, a 
 sanctioned foreign person to disseminate 
 disinformation, suppress dissent, or engage in state-
 sponsored information operations;

    (3) the term ``knowingly'' means that a person has actual 
 knowledge of the conduct, the circumstance, or the result, or 
 should have known of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 
 result;

    (4) the term ``material support or media services'' 
 includes the provision of content, editorial services, 
 journalistic contributions, photographs, video footage, 
 syndicated materials, production infrastructure, backend 
 technology, distribution platforms, or any service or resource 
 that directly enables the broadcast, publication, or 
 dissemination of information; and

    (5) the term ``United States person'' means--
        (A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
 admitted for permanent residence;
        (B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
 United States or any jurisdiction within the United 
 States, including any foreign branch of such entity; 
 and
            (C) any person physically present in the United 
 States.
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