IPI today joined more than 100 civil society organizations around the world calling for sweeping revisions to the pending UN Cybercrime Treaty, as final negotiations for the convention begin next week in New York. Without such reforms, the treaty risks becoming a powerful global surveillance tool that will be abused by governments around the world to target and punish journalists, civil society, and critics both at home and abroad.
The latest draft text has failed to incorporate the robust and detailed recommendations and input provided by civil society and industry experts across six rounds of negotiations over two years. Signatories emphasize that unless significant revisions to the treaty text are made in line with this input, states should reject this convention, which threatens to undermine existing human rights treaties and obligations.