U.S. Leads Efforts for Rights-Respecting Global Cybercrime Treaty, Ensures Inclusive Negotiations

Line of Effort 6: Negotiate a Rights-Respecting Cybercrime Treaty

The United States, its allies, and partners as well as civil society groups have long supported the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (commonly known as the Budapest Convention) as the most effective tool for providing global standards for criminalizing malicious cyber activities, obtaining electronic evidence, and fostering international cooperation on computer-related crimes. The Convention was drafted to be global and open to all regions. Seventy-two countries, including the United States, are currently parties to the Convention, and 21 additional countries have been invited to accede.

While supporting accession to the Budapest Convention, the United States and its partners are also actively working to ensure that negotiations in the UN Ad Hoc Committee to elaborate a convention against cybercrime reach a positive outcome: a rights-respecting cybercrime treaty that would enable all UN member states to cooperate better in the fight against cybercrime. The United States and its partners will continue to oppose overly broad definitions of cybercrime that could be used to stifle freedom of expression, infringe on privacy, and or endanger individuals and communities. The United States will also continue to advocate for necessary and sufficient safeguards commensurate to the scope of the domestic powers and international cooperation provided for in the convention. Maintaining an open, inclusive, and transparent process will best allow states to negotiate a binding agreement with the participation of interested stakeholders.