Electronic Frontier Foundation: Latest draft of UN Cybercrime Treaty threatens online privacy

In June 2022, Russia, Belarus, Burundi, China, Nicaragua and Tajikistan advocated for the incorporation of “combating hate speech.” However, the EFF warned the public against the dangerous conflation of cybercrime with issues like disinformation, fake news and hate speech.

The treaty could lay the groundwork for online censorship globally. The organization fears that governments might use the pretext of ensuring online security to crack down on speech, thereby compromising fundamental rights under the guise of combating cybercrime.

EFF also stressed that the inclusion of terms like “hate speech” in the treaty is worrisome due to its potential for broad interpretation, allowing it to serve different agendas at different times.

Moreover, the organization argued that the treaty should solely focus on combating actual online crimes related to information and communications technology (ICT), such as illegal access to computing systems, data theft and misuse of devices, and exclude offenses that use ICTs as a tool.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Access Now, along with other human rights and digital rights organizations, are with the EFF in opposing the inclusion of content-related offenses.

In December 2021, before the first session with the UN Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime, HRW submitted a joint letter signed by 134 human rights organizations and experts from 56 countries to highlight three key points about the treaty.

First, the organization urges member states to ensure a narrow scope for the proposed treaty and not include vague laws that could be misused to arrest people or block online platforms.

Second, the organization emphasizes the need for strong rules on criminal investigations to avoid privacy infringement, malicious intent standards and expansive surveillance.

Last, HRW highlights the importance of transparency among participating countries to counter cybercrime.

“Cybercrime poses a real threat to people’s human rights and livelihoods, and efforts to address it need to protect, not undermine rights. Governments have obligations under international human rights law to protect people from harm resulting from criminal activity carried out through the internet. But government responses to cybercrime can be ineffective or disproportionate and can undermine rights,” the organization wrote.

Find more stories about online censorship at Censorship.news.