- Latest draft of UN Cybercrime Convention faces key vote
- The United States is willing to support the treaty.
- Human rights advocates say the convention will make it easier for authoritarian regimes to expand surveillance.
A new draft of the UN Cybercrime Convention will face a key vote and the Biden administration will reportedly support the treaty, despite criticism from digital rights organizations and human rights activists.
The convention is the first piece of legally binding UN legislation on cybersecurity, and its supporters hope to use it to establish a global framework that states can use to investigate and prevent cybercrime.
However, Cisco not only believes that the treaty does not sufficiently protect basic human rights, but some activists have said that this convention will actually make it easier for authoritarian regimes to abuse their power and expand policing and surveillance.
Extensive deliberation
US officials confirmed that consultations had been held with allied states and reviewed hundreds of written submissions from non-governmental organizations and ultimately “decided to remain with the consensus.”
One factor contributing to US support was the need to influence later amendments and updates to the treaty, which would be easier with support from the early stages.
A group of Democratic senators recently wrote that the treaty could “legitimize efforts by authoritarian countries” to censor and surveil Internet users and political activists.
“While the executive branch's efforts to steer this treaty in a less harmful direction are commendable, more must be done to prevent the convention from being used to justify such actions,” the senators said in a joint letter to the Secretary of State, the Attorney General and others.
One of the main concerns of digital rights groups is that the treaty does not focus on crimes committed against computer systems, such as ransomware. Instead, the legislation focuses on digital communications systems and could be used as an extension of police surveillance powers rather than protecting internet users and businesses from cybercrime.
Through political