Cisco Urges UN to Revise Cyber-Crime Convention, Citing Free Speech and Human Rights Concerns
Cisco has raised alarm over the United Nations’ proposed cyber-crime convention, calling for a revision before it is put to a formal vote. Cisco is best known as a network hardware developer of telecommunications equipment that supports the internet as we know it today, with platforms such as WebEx and Jabber.
The networking giant echoed the fears of various human rights organizations, arguing that the convention, in its current form, could potentially suppress free speech and violate basic human rights. Cisco’s senior director for technology policy, Eric Wenger, emphasized that while the company supports the idea of international cooperation against cyber-crime, the convention’s broad language risks being misused to target individuals and stifle legitimate information security research.
The Draft UN convention against cybercrime was adopted on 7 August by Ad Hoc Committee to Elaborate a Comprehensive International Convention on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes of the UN General Assembly
The convention, driven in part by Russia and five years in the making, aims to bolster international efforts in combating cyber-crime. However, critics, including Human Rights Watch and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, have labeled it “too flawed to adopt,” citing concerns over its vague definitions and the secrecy provisions that could undermine individual rights. Despite these critiques, the United Nations remains optimistic about the convention’s passage, while the Biden administration believes it strikes a necessary balance between protecting human rights and enhancing global cyber-crime enforcement.
