H.R. 5215: SHIELD Act of 2025
Sponsor
Haley Stevens
Democrat · MI-11
Bill Progress
Latest Action · Sep 8, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
Teaching troops to tell real news from disinformation
Why it matters
For the first time, the Pentagon would run a structured course teaching service members to separate fact-based reporting from disinformation, conspiracy theories, and hate-based ideologies — and then test which way of teaching it actually sticks. The whole thing is a one-year experiment with a 120-day clock to get started, and Congress gets a verdict on what works before anything becomes permanent.
H.R. 5215, the SHIELD Act of 2025, doesn't create a permanent program or attach a set amount of money. It orders a test. Within 120 days of becoming law, the Secretary of Defense would have to stand up a pilot that teaches service members how to handle digital information — and the whole thing shuts down a year after it starts.
The curriculum is specific. Troops would learn to tell fact-based journalism from opinion writing, disinformation, and conspiracy theories, and to recognize hate-based ideologies — the bill names antisemitism and white supremacy directly. It also covers protecting your own personal information online and spotting information-based threats aimed at individuals or at the Department of Defense itself.
The pilot is built as an experiment, not just a class. The Pentagon would pick a geographically and demographically diverse group of troops and run the training three ways in equal amounts — in person, virtual, and hybrid — so it can compare which format people actually engage with and retain.
When the year is up, the Secretary surveys both participants and instructors, then sends the House and Senate Armed Services Committees a report within 180 days. That report has to name the most effective delivery method and recommend how often troops should retake the training and how often the curriculum should be refreshed. No dollar figure is attached, so the Pentagon would run it with money it already has unless Congress adds more.
H.R. 5215 Bill Summary
What H.R. 5215 actually does.
The Pentagon has 120 days to get it running
The Secretary of Defense would have to launch the digital information training pilot within 120 days of the bill becoming law — a tight clock for standing up a new course across the Armed Forces.
It's a one-year test, not a permanent program
The pilot ends one year after it begins. The bill is designed to gather evidence first, leaving any permanent training requirement for Congress to decide later.
Troops learn to spot disinformation and hate ideologies
The curriculum teaches service members to tell fact-based journalism from opinion writing, disinformation, and conspiracy theories, and to recognize hate-based ideologies. The bill names antisemitism and white supremacy directly, and adds how to judge the credibility of online sources.
Three teaching formats, run side by side
Training is delivered in person, virtually, and in hybrid format in equal amounts, so the Pentagon can compare which one keeps troops engaged and helps them retain what they learned.
A representative slice of the force, not volunteers
Participants are chosen as a geographically and demographically diverse sample of service members, large enough to produce meaningful feedback rather than a narrow or self-selected test group.
Congress gets a verdict within 180 days of the finish
Within 180 days after the pilot ends, the Secretary reports to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, naming the most effective delivery method and recommending how often troops should retrain and how often the curriculum should be updated.
Who benefits from H.R. 5215?
The service members chosen for the pilot
Selected from across the roughly 1.3 million active-duty force, these troops would get a year of training on spotting disinformation, conspiracy theories, and hate-based ideologies, plus practical skills for protecting their own personal information and judging whether an online source is credible.
Pentagon security planners
They would come away with real data — the same training run three ways, plus surveys and a formal report — to judge which approach best reduces the insider-threat risk the bill is worried about, instead of guessing.
Military instructors and course designers
The bill surveys instructors after the pilot to pin down what improved engagement and long-term retention, handing them structured feedback rather than anecdotes when they build the next version.
The House and Senate Armed Services Committees
Lawmakers get a required report within 180 days of the pilot's end, giving them evidence on delivery methods, retraining frequency, and curriculum updates before they weigh making the program permanent.
Who is affected by H.R. 5215?
The Secretary of Defense
The Secretary owns the whole effort: launching the pilot within 120 days, choosing a diverse participant sample, splitting instruction evenly across in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats, running the surveys, and delivering the report within 180 days of the pilot's end.
Troops selected to take part
Participants complete the training over a year and are later surveyed on how engaged they were, what they thought of the curriculum, and how much they still remember over time.
Outside digital-literacy organizations
Groups that specialize in safe and responsible use of digital information may be consulted on the curriculum. The bill allows it but doesn't guarantee them a formal role.
The Pentagon's existing training operation
Current DoD training staff would have to build and run new content on journalism, disinformation, conspiracy theories, hate-based ideologies, personal-information protection, and information threats to the Department — on top of their existing workload.
HR5215 Legislative Journey
House: Committee Action
Sep 8, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
About the Sponsor
Haley Stevens
Democrat, Michigan's 11th congressional district · 7 years in Congress
Committees: Science, Space, and Technology, House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, Education and Workforce
View full profile →
Committee Sponsors
Armed Services Committee
0 of 57 committee members cosponsored
No committee members have cosponsored this bill
27 Democrats across this committee haven't cosponsored yet. Mobilize their constituents
H.R. 5215 Quick Facts
- Committee
- Armed Services
- Chamber
- House
- Policy
- Armed Forces and National Security
- Introduced
- Sep 8, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
Sep 8, 2025
Official Sources
The official Congress.gov bill page provides the bill text, status, sponsor information, and legislative actions for the SHIELD Act of 2025.
The bill directs the Secretary of Defense to establish and evaluate the pilot program, making the Department of Defense the primary implementing agency.
CISA's official guidance on recognizing disinformation tactics mirrors the curriculum's core requirement to teach troops how to identify disinformation and judge source credibility.
CISA's online-safety campaign offers official guidance on protecting personal information, matching the bill's requirement to teach service members how to safeguard their own data online.
The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency runs the DoD's insider-threat program, the security concern the bill aims to reduce through the training pilot.
The bill was referred to this committee, which would receive the Secretary of Defense's required report on the pilot's results.
The official site of the bill's sponsor, Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan, who introduced the SHIELD Act of 2025.
H.R. 5215 Common Questions
What does the SHIELD Act actually require the military to do?
H.R. 5215 orders the Pentagon to run a one-year pilot teaching service members to handle digital information — spotting disinformation, conspiracy theories, and hate-based ideologies, and protecting their own data online — then report what works to Congress.
How soon would it start, and how long would it run?
If H.R. 5215 becomes law, the Secretary of Defense has 120 days to launch the pilot. From there it runs for exactly one year, then shuts down unless Congress decides to make it permanent.
Does the SHIELD Act require training on antisemitism and white supremacy?
Yes. H.R. 5215 says the curriculum must teach troops to recognize hate-based ideologies, and it names antisemitism and white supremacy directly as examples the training has to cover.
Why does the pilot use three different training formats?
The bill requires in-person, virtual, and hybrid training in equal amounts so the Pentagon can compare them head to head — measuring which format keeps troops most engaged and helps them retain the most over time.
Does the training cover protecting your personal information online?
Yes. Alongside spotting bad information, H.R. 5215 requires the curriculum to teach service members why protecting their personal information matters and how to do it in their online activity.
How does this connect to insider threats?
The bill frames it as a security issue: the curriculum has to include methods aimed at reducing insider threats and vulnerabilities tied to conspiracy theories and hate-based ideology among service members.
When would Congress see the results?
Within 180 days after the pilot ends, the Secretary must send the House and Senate Armed Services Committees a report naming the most effective format and recommending how often troops should retrain and how often the curriculum should be updated.
Does the SHIELD Act have funding, and what are its chances?
No dollar amount is attached, so the Pentagon would run it with existing money. H.R. 5215 has no cosponsors and sits in committee; its likeliest path is being folded into the annual defense policy bill rather than passing on its own.
Based on H.R. 5215 bill text
H.R. 5215 Bill Text
“To direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to develop a training program that teaches members of the Armed Forces to interact with digital information in a safe and responsible manner, and for other purposes.”
Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office
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