UN member states today approved their first treaty to combat cybercrime, despite strong opposition from human rights campaigners, who warn against a global surveillance tool.
After three years of formal negotiations and a two-week final session in New York, the "United Nations Convention against Cybercrime" was approved by consensus and will subsequently be submitted to the General Assembly for formal adoption.
"I consider that the documents (...) have been approved. Thank you very much, bravo to everyone!" emphasised Faouzia Boumaiza Mebarki, chair of the intergovernmental committee set up in 2019 to draft this treaty, at Russia's proposal.
The new treaty, which could enter into force once it has been ratified by 40 states, aims to "fight cybercrime more effectively" and strengthen international cooperation in this area, citing in particular images of child pornography or money laundering.
But the project's detractors, an unusual alliance between human rights defenders and big tech companies, denounce its overly broad scope, which they say will turn it into a "global surveillance" treaty.
The adopted text provides that a state may, in order to investigate any offence punishable by at least four years in prison under its national law, request from the authorities of another state any electronic evidence related to that offence and also request access data from a provider.
Human rights defenders fear, in particular, that the text will be used by states that criminalise homosexuality or by governments that attack dissidents or journalists.
"We call on states to ensure that human rights are at the centre of the Convention that is due to be adopted this week," the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a message on the social network X this week.
"Rights defenders, researchers and children should not fear the criminalization of protected activities," he said.
