U.S. officials have defended the United Nations cybercrime treaty following its approval in a Monday meeting ahead of next month's General Assembly despite strong opposition from various sectors and some lawmakers, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
While several countries have expressed concerns about the potential exploitation of the treaty to curtail human rights and strengthen extraterritorial surveillance, implementing the treaty with appropriate safeguards could prove beneficial in combating increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity threats, said U.S. Deputy Representative to the UN Economic and Social Council Jonathan Shrier. UN's cybercrime treaty has long been criticized by the Cybersecurity Tech Accord, and human rights organizations Access Now and Human Rights Watch for criminalizing cybersecurity research. "Western states have a last opportunity in December to establish a clear line saying, 'If you do not choose to implement this treaty in this human rights respecting way, we will not be able to sign, we will not be able to ratify, and we will not be able to implement international cooperation under the treaty,'" said Raman Jit Singh Chima of Access Now.
