Bill > HR488

This bill, called the "Combating Cartels on Social Media Act of 2025," requires the Secretaries of Homeland Security and State, along with the Attorney General, to develop a comprehensive strategy to address how transnational criminal organizations use social media and online platforms to recruit individuals in the United States for illegal activities. Within 180 days of enactment, the agencies must submit a joint assessment evaluating how these criminal organizations use online services for recruitment and illicit activities such as drug trafficking, human smuggling, weapons trafficking, and cyber crime. Within one year, they must create a national strategy that includes improving inter-agency cooperation, establishing a voluntary reporting process for recruitment efforts, enhancing intelligence analysis, fostering international partnerships, and increasing youth outreach in border communities. The strategy must also include strict protections for civil rights, privacy, and constitutional freedoms. The agencies are required to submit semi-annual reports on their implementation progress for five years, with the first report due 90 days after the strategy's initial implementation. Importantly, the bill specifies that it does not expand the existing statutory authority of the involved government departments and does not authorize additional funding for its implementation.

Justice, Military Affairs and Security

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/488/all-info