Monday, February 6, 2023

The Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act

A proposed “Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act” or FACT Act would require the FCC to publish a list of every entity that both holds an FCC license or authorization and has sufficient ties back into authoritarian regimes, including the Chinese Communist Party.

The bill was introduced last week by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) introduced the “Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act” or FACT Act. 

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr issued the following statement in support of the legislation:

“I applaud Congresswoman Stefanik’s, Congressman Khanna, and Congressman Gallagher’s strong leadership and thoughtful work to counter the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party and other authoritarian state actors. This bipartisan legislation would strengthen American’s national security, and I encourage Congress to move quickly in passing this common sense bill."

“It is vital that we provide a full and transparent accounting of every entity with ties back into the CCP—and the governments of other authoritarian regimes—that are operating inside America’s tech and telecom markets, yet there has never been a public disclosure when it comes to those networks of relationships. This only makes it more difficult for the public and private sector alike to assess the likelihood that those connections can be leveraged to harm America’s national security interests. We know that the CCP is engaged in a widespread and coordinated campaign to surveil Americans, and they are willing to use every tool at their disposal to advance their malign goals."



>