Cartoonists Rights Network International and 130 civil liberties, religious, reproductive health, immigrant rights, human rights, racial justice, LGBTQ+, environmental, and educational organizations are asking supporters to contact their congressional representatives to urge them to vote down H.R. 9495. The groups fear, if enacted, the new law could be abused by allowing the U.S. government to target or suppress news outlets, academic institutions, and civil rights organizations by revoking their tax-exempt status.
The bill, “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act“, is meant to halt the Internal Revenue Service from imposing fines and fees on Americans held hostage overseas. However, another bill, H.R. 6408, would empower the Secretary of Treasury to withdraw tax-exempt status from any U.S. organization that they deemed providing material support or resources to a terrorist organization.
Anti-terrorism laws are frequently used against journalists, cartoonists and critics around the world. Currently, Egyptian political cartoonist Ashraf Omar, has been detained for over three months under a charge of being involved in a terrorist group. In 2018, Bangladesh passed a law to prevent the spread of racism, sectarianism, extremism and terrorist propaganda. The law was then weaponized by the Bangladesh government to target journalists, cartoonists, and writers critical of the government.