Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act

Full Title:
Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act

Summary#

This bill directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to publish and update a public list of entities that hold certain FCC licenses or authorizations and that have specific foreign ownership or control tied to "covered countries." The bill defines "covered entity" to include the government of a covered country, an entity organized under that country’s laws, and a subsidiary of such an entity. Within 120 days of enactment, the FCC must publish a list of entities holding licenses under section 309(j) of the Communications Act or the Cable Landing Licensing Act when a covered entity holds a reportable equity or voting interest or an appropriate national security agency determines the covered entity exerts control. The FCC must issue rules within 18 months to collect information identifying other authorization holders with reportable covered-entity ownership and place those entities on the list within one year after the rules are issued. The list must be updated at least annually. Information collections done to implement this section are exempt from the Paperwork Reduction Act.

What it means for you#

  • If you or your organization hold an FCC license covered by the bill and a covered entity has reportable equity or voting interest, your organization will be listed on the FCC website.
  • If an appropriate national security agency finds a covered entity exerts control over a license holder, that license holder will be listed even if no equity interest is reported.
  • The FCC will create rules to gather information about other authorization holders and will add them to the list after rulemaking. The list will be updated at least once a year.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

According to the bill text and title, the measure aims to increase transparency by requiring the FCC to publish which license or authorization holders have certain ownership or control ties to entities associated with covered countries, and to keep that information current through rulemaking and annual updates.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.