RESTRICT Act: Biden Administration’s Plans to End All Internet Freedom

The S.686 RESTRICT Act is being marketed as a “TikTok ban” but in reality, it is much more extreme. If passed, it could be used to outlaw accessing any website or social media platform, and enact draconian penalties for noncompliance.

UPDATE: I’ve uploaded a video commentary on this topic to my YouTube channel.

Consider the following verbage:

To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to review and prohibit certain transactions between persons in the United States and foreign adversaries, and for other purposes...

FOREIGN ADVERSARY.—The term “foreign adversary”—

(A) means any foreign government or regime, determined by the Secretary, pursuant to sections 3 and 5, to have engaged in a long-term pattern or serious instances of conduct significantly adverse to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons; and

(B) includes, unless removed by the Secretary pursuant to section 6—

(i) the People’s Republic of China, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region;

(ii) the Republic of Cuba;

(iii) the Islamic Republic of Iran;

(iv) the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea;

(v) the Russian Federation; and

(vi) the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela under the regime of Nicolás Maduro Moros.

Despite this specific listing of “adversaries,” I don’t see anything in this text stating that a prohibited platform or service is required to be affiliated with one of these countries.

The term “transaction” means any acquisition, importation, transfer, installation, dealing in, or use of any information and communications technology product or service, including ongoing activities such as managed services, data transmission, software updates, repairs, or the provision of data hosting services, or a class of such transactions.

Notice how the definition of “transaction” goes far beyond simply owning shares or otherwise directly participating in a prohibited entity. From my understanding of this sentence, just installing an app or visiting a website is enough.

Priority Information And Communications Technology Areas.—In carrying out sections 3 and 4, the Secretary shall prioritize evaluation of—
(1) information and communications technology products or services used by a party to a covered transaction in a sector designated as critical infrastructure in Policy Directive 21 (February 12, 2013; relating to critical infrastructure security and resilience);
(2) software, hardware, or any other product or service integral to telecommunications products and services, including—
(A) wireless local area networks;
(B) mobile networks;
(C) satellite payloads;
(D) satellite operations and control;
(E) cable access points;
(F) wireline access points;
(G) core networking systems;
(H) long-, short-, and back-haul networks; or
(I) edge computer platforms;
(3) any software, hardware, or any other product or service integral to data hosting or computing service that uses, processes, or retains, or is expected to use, process, or retain, sensitive personal data with respect to greater than 1,000,000 persons in the United States at any point during the year period preceding the date on which the covered transaction is referred to the Secretary for review or the Secretary initiates review of the covered transaction, including—
(A) internet hosting services;
(B) cloud-based or distributed computing and data storage;
(C) machine learning, predictive analytics, and data science products and services, including those involving the provision of services to assist a party utilize, manage, or maintain open-source software;
(D) managed services; and
(E) content delivery services;
(4) internet- or network-enabled sensors, webcams, end-point surveillance or monitoring devices, modems and home networking devices if greater than 1,000,000 units have been sold to persons in the United States at any point during the year period preceding the date on which the covered transaction is referred to the Secretary for review or the Secretary initiates review of the covered transaction;
(5) unmanned vehicles, including drones and other aerials systems, autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles, or any other product or service integral to the provision, maintenance, or management of such products or services;
(6) software designed or used primarily for connecting with and communicating via the internet that is in use by greater than 1,000,000 persons in the United States at any point during the year period preceding the date on which the covered transaction is referred to the Secretary for review or the Secretary initiates review of the covered transaction, including—
(A) desktop applications;
(B) mobile applications;
(C) gaming applications;
(D) payment applications; or
(E) web-based applications; or
(7) information and communications technology products and services integral to—
(A) artificial intelligence and machine learning;
(B) quantum key distribution;
(C) quantum communications;
(D) quantum computing;
(E) post-quantum cryptography;
(F) autonomous systems;
(G) advanced robotics;
(H) biotechnology;
(I) synthetic biology;
(J) computational biology; and
(K) e-commerce technology and services, including any electronic techniques for accomplishing business transactions, online retail, internet-enabled logistics, internet-enabled payment technology, and online marketplaces.

It really seems like everything from social media platforms, games, and VPN would be subject to being banned. Now for the penalties for noncompliance:

A person who willfully commits, willfully attempts to commit, or willfully conspires to commit, or aids or abets in the commission of an unlawful act described in subsection (a) shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $1,000,000, or if a natural person, may be imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both.

Incredible, isn’t it?

Featured image credit: Geralt on Pixabay

Ian Kummer

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