<
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/07/upcoming-cybercrime-treaty-will-be-nothing-trouble>
"Cybercrime—the malicious hacking of computer networks, systems, and
data—threatens people’s rights and livelihoods, and governments need to work
together to do more to address it. But the cybercrime treaty sitting before the
United Nations for adoption, presumably by August 9, could instead facilitate
government repression. By expanding government surveillance to investigate
crimes, the treaty could create an unprecedented tool for cross-border
cooperation in connection with a wide range of offenses, without adequate
safeguards to protect people from abuses of power.
It’s no secret that Russia is the driver of this treaty. In its moves to
control dissent, the Russian government has in recent years significantly
expanded laws and regulations that tighten control over Internet
infrastructure, online content, and the privacy of communications. But Russia
doesn’t have a monopoly on the abuse of cybercrime laws. Human Rights Watch has
documented that many governments have introduced cybercrime laws that extend
well beyond addressing malicious attacks on computer systems to target people
who disagree with them and undermine the rights to freedom of expression and
privacy.
For example, in June 2020, a Philippine court convicted Maria Ressa, the Nobel
prize-winning journalist and founder and executive editor of the news website
Rappler, of “cyber libel” under its Cybercrime Prevention Act. The government
has used the law against journalists, columnists, critics of the government,
and ordinary social media users, including Walden Bello, a prominent
progressive social activist, academic, and former congressman.
In Tunisia, authorities have invoked a cybercrime law to detain, charge, or
place under investigation journalists, lawyers, students, and other critics for
their public statements online or in the media. In Jordan, the authorities have
arrested and harassed scores of people who participated in pro-Palestine
protests or engaged in online advocacy since October 2023, bringing charges
against some of them under a new, widely criticized cybercrimes law. Countries
in the Middle East-North Africa region have weaponized laws criminalizing
same-sex conduct and used cybercrime laws to prosecute online speech.
The treaty has three main problems: its broad scope, its lack of human-rights
safeguards, and the risks it poses to children’s rights."
Via David.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
