Safeguard Our Elections from Foreign Interference with the SHIELD Act - Passed House
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UPDATE (10/24/19): In a 227 to 181 vote , the House has passed the SHIELD Act. The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration.
The Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) Act, HR 4617 introduced by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), is intended to protect our elections from foreign interference and disinformation campaigns. The Mueller investigation detailed a sweeping, coordinated effort by the Russian government to interfere in our election in 2016, and raised the alarm that they continue to spread disinformation on American social media platforms. Furthermore, investigators found that Trump and at least 17 of his campaign officials had more than 100 contacts with Russians and Wikileaks. Now, with the revelation that Trump attempted to force Ukraine to investigate a conspiracy theory to damage a political rival, it has never been more clear we need legislation to protect our elections from foreign interference.
The SHIELD Act would:
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Create a duty to report illicit offers of campaign assistance from foreign governments and their agents,
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Improve transparency of online political advertisements,
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Close loopholes that allow foreign nationals and foreign governments to spend in U.S. elections,
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Restrict the exchange of campaign information between candidates and foreign governments and their agents, and
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Prohibit deceptive practices about voting procedures
Demand your representative support the SHIELD Act to protect our elections in 2020 and beyond.
