This bill requires the FCC to create and publish an annual public list of companies that have licenses from the FCC and are connected to China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia. The goal is transparency—letting Americans know which foreign-tied companies are operating communications infrastructure in the U.S.

The bill handles different types of licenses differently. For submarine cable companies (which carry internet and phone signals under the ocean) and companies that won licenses through competitive bidding, the FCC must list any company where a Chinese, Iranian, North Korean, or Russian entity owns a significant stake or has control. For all other types of FCC licenses—like radio stations or telecommunications providers—the FCC first needs to create rules to collect information about who owns these companies, then add to the list any that have foreign ownership from these four countries.

Essentially, this is about national security and transparency. It ensures the government tracks which communications companies operating in America have ties to countries considered adversaries, and makes that information public so Congress, regulators, and the public can see the connections. This could affect companies in telecommunications, broadcasting, and internet infrastructure if they have any ownership links to these four nations.

Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act

Wittman, Robert J.

Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency ActThis bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to annually publish a list of entities that hold a license or other authorization granted by the FCC and have ties to specified foreign countries.With respect to entities holding cable landing licenses (for the placement and operation of submarine communications cables) or other licenses granted via competitive auction, the FCC must publish a list of all such entities (1) in which a covered entity holds a specified voting or equity interest, or (2) that have been determined by a national security agency to be subject to the control of a covered entity.&nbsp;With respect to entities holding all other categories of FCC licenses or other&nbsp;authorizations, the FCC must first issue rules facilitating the collection of information on such licensees’ ownership structure. After that information is obtained, the FCC must add to the published list any such entity in which a covered entity holds a specified voting or equity interest.&nbsp;Under the bill, a covered entity is defined as an entity organized in China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia; a subsidiary of such an entity; or the government of China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia.