1. Short title; table of contents (a) Short title This Act may be cited as the International Freedom Protection Act . (b) Table of contents The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Definitions. Sec. 4. Combating transnational repression abroad. Sec. 5. Strengthening tools to combat authoritarianism. Sec. 6. Amendment to Rewards for Justice Program. Sec. 7. Investing in democracy research and development. Sec. 8. Addressing authoritarians in the multilateral system. Sec. 9. Confronting digital authoritarianism. Sec. 10. Protecting political prisoners. 2. Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) According to Freedom House’s 2023 report, Freedom in the World , democracy experienced a worldwide decline for 17 consecutive years and has been weakened by factors, such as attacks on democratic institutions, impunity, corruption, disinformation, human rights violations, and conflict. (2) Since 2006, autocratic forces have been on the rise, with emboldened autocrats from China, Russia, and Iran— (A) refining their tactics to undermine democracy globally; (B) suppressing dissent to sustain their own regimes; and (C) frequently collaborating with each another in such efforts. (3) Authoritarian governments are increasingly employing both physical and nonphysical transnational repression tactics that reach across borders to silence, coerce, harass, or harm individuals for peacefully exercising their internationally-recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms, which produces a chilling effect that compels people to modify their behavior due to fear. (4) The rise of authoritarianism— (A) undermines the national security of the United States and the security of our democratic allies and partners; (B) creates instability; (C) weakens the rule of law