[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8746 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8746
To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to
develop a training program that teaches members of the Armed Forces to
interact with digital information in a safe and responsible manner, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 13, 2024
Ms. Stevens (for herself and Ms. Slotkin) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to
develop a training program that teaches members of the Armed Forces to
interact with digital information in a safe and responsible manner, 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 ``The Strategic Homeland Information
Education and Learning Defense Act of 2024'' or the ``SHIELD Act of
2024''.
SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR DIGITAL INFORMATION TRAINING FOR MEMBERS OF
THE ARMED FORCES.
(a) Pilot Program.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall establish a pilot
program (in this section referred to as the ``pilot program'') to
develop a training program that teaches members of the Armed Forces to
interact with digital information in a safe and responsible manner.
(b) Elements.--In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary
shall--
(1) develop and carry out a curriculum that includes
instruction on--
(A) how to identify--
(i) fact-based journalism;
(ii) opinion-based journalism;
(iii) disinformation;
(iv) conspiracy theories; and
(v) hate-based ideologies, including
antisemitism and white supremacy;
(B) how to assess the credibility of digital news
and other digital sources of information;
(C) the effects of online actions on the actor and
others, including the effects of posting or sharing
personal, incorrect, or bias-based information;
(D) the importance of protecting personal
information and how to protect personal information
with respect to online activities;
(E) how to recognize and avoid common information-
based threats that could harm--
(i) an individual targeted by such threats;
(ii) the property of the individual; or
(iii) the security, property, or goals of
the Department of Defense when the individual
is a member of the Armed Forces; and
(F) in the case that the individual is a member of
the Armed Forces, methodologies--
(i) that the individual can use when
locating, evaluating, and using digital
information; and
(ii) which are designed reduce insider
threats to, and vulnerabilities of, the Armed
Forces with respect to conspiracy theories and
hate-based ideology;
(2) select as participants a geographically and
demographically diverse sample of members of the Armed Forces
in such number as is necessary to collect meaningful feedback
about the training program; and
(3) use in-person, virtual, and hybrid training delivery
methods in equal amounts.
(c) Termination.--The authority of Secretary to carry out the pilot
program shall terminate on the date that is one year after the date on
which the pilot program begins.
(d) Consultation.--In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary
may consult with organizations that specialize in teaching or providing
information to individuals about interacting with digital information
in a safe and responsible manner.
(e) Survey.--After the date on which the pilot program terminates
pursuant to subsection (c), the Secretary shall survey participants and
instructors to identify--
(1) ways to improve the training program and curriculum;
(2) ways to improve participant engagement during the
training program; and
(3) the extent to which participants retained, over time,
the information taught during the training program.
(f) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the termination of the
pilot program, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed
Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report
summarizing the results of the pilot program, including--
(1) a comparison of the in-person, virtual, and hybrid
training delivery methods, considering--
(A) the engagement of participants during the
training program;
(B) the extent to which participants retained, over
time, the information taught during the training
program; and
(C) other notable differences, as determined by the
Secretary;
(2) a determination, based on such comparison, about which
training delivery method is most effective for teaching the
curriculum developed under subsection (b)(1);
(3) a recommendation about how often a member of the Armed
Forces should be required to attend a permanent training
program about interacting with digital information in a safe
and responsible manner, if established, considering the extent
to which participants of the pilot program retained information
taught during the training program; and
(4) a recommendation about how often the curriculum of any
such permanent training program should be updated.
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