The United States Senate passed a North Korea censorship and surveillance law by unanimous consent on Thursday.
The legislation was named after Otto Warmbier, an American college student who died on June 19, 2017, soon after returning home in a coma following 17 months of captivity in North Korea.
The legislation, introduced in June of last year, would provide ten million dollars annually for the next five years to counter North Korea’s repressive censorship and surveillance state.
It would also encourage sanctions on those who enable this repressive information environment both in and outside of North Korea.
The bill would also require the U.S. president no later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the act to develop and submit to Congress a strategy for combating North Korea’s repressive information environment.
The legislation will take effect after securing the approval of the House and signed by the president.