Foreign state-owned media must follow U.S. law

The United States has a cherished history of protecting and advancing freedom of the press. It is a right enshrined in the Bill of Rights that has long been a beacon of our republic that has served as a model widely emulated abroad. While continuing to defend this traditional bedrock principle of our nation, the United States government has a duty to ensure our laws are never broken by foreign actors in any way that undermines our best of intentions in delivering the transparency and accountability our Founding Fathers sought to forever promote.

Five years ago, in March 2018, I co-signed a letter with a bipartisan group of 17 other House members to the Department of Justice requesting an investigation of Al Jazeera news network to determine whether they were operating in compliance with U.S. law. The request cited Al Jazeera’s long record of anti-American, antisemitic, and anti-Israel broadcasts as well as their reported infiltration of nonprofit organizations in the U.S. Every year since, similar bipartisan congressional inquiries have been lodged with the DOJ. The DOJ has never meaningfully responded to any of these letters.

Now, thanks to the watchdog group Empower Oversight, we know that the DOJ did indeed follow up with Al Jazeera, albeit without alerting Congress. On Sept. 14, 2020, DOJ sent a letter to Al Jazeera informing them of their obligation to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), after concluding that the outlet was carrying out political activities on behalf of the Qatari government with the intention of influencing our policies in the U.S. However, despite DOJ’s findings, Al Jazeera has thumbed its nose at U.S. law, refusing to register under FARA.

It has long been known that Al Jazeera is owned, funded, and controlled by the government of Qatar. For years, the network has propagandized on behalf of Islamic terrorist groups such as Hamas and provided a platform for virulent antisemitism. At the same time, the network’s subsidiary, AJ+, has built a massive following on social media among young Americans by alleging U.S. racism, sexism, abuse of immigrants, and denial of LGBTQ rights, while relentlessly highlighting a supposed litany of historical injustices committed by the United States.

AJ+ is being used to undermine support for America’s traditional values and our key allies, including Israel. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera has more of its journalists credentialed in the congressional press galleries than almost any other media outlet. While the New York Times has 82 journalists credentialed in the House press gallery, Al Jazeera has 136.

This is, of course, not the only example of foreign state-sponsored media evading U.S. laws. Several nations with well-documented histories of spying on Americans, such as Russia and China, own and control state-sponsored media outlets whose journalists have been credentialed by the House and Senate media galleries. The fact is, foreign state-sponsored media outlets have no limit on the number of journalists who can receive credentials in the congressional gallery — which are, in effect, “all-access passes” on Capitol Hill.

The spy balloon recently launched over the continental United States was only one of many examples of Chinese government espionage and surveillance targeting Americans. Yet more than two dozen credentials were issued in the 118th Congress to media outlets registered under FARA as Chinese agents. Another 16 credentials were issued to media outlets owned or controlled by senior officials in the Chinese Communist Party.

Over the past decade, foreign nations have aggressively deployed their espionage forces against United States government agencies and government officials, as well as targeting thousands of United States businesses and Americans perceived to be opponents or dissidents of their regimes.

Even if the outlet is owned or controlled by a state known to have conducted espionage operations targeting U.S. government officials or other Americans, these state-sponsored media outlets are not subjected to background checks prior to acquiring credentials. It’s long past time to demand greater scrutiny of these “media” operations.

Thankfully, Rep. Jack Bergman has just introduced legislation to that end, H.Res. 189. In addition to requiring compliance with FARA, Bergman’s legislation also:

Sets a limit of ten total press credentials for any qualifying foreign state-sponsored media outlet and its affiliates, and;

Requires FBI background checks for all individuals applying for credentials to the House press gallery through a qualifying foreign state-sponsored media outlet.

It is difficult to see how any member of Congress could oppose legislation that merely requires foreign state-sponsored media outlets to comply with our laws. It is urgent that Congress pass H.Res. 189 and President Biden sign it into law.

Zeldin, last year’s New York Republican gubernatorial nominee, represented Eastern Suffolk County in Congress from 2015 to 2023.