After three years of negotiations and a two-week final session in New York, members unanimously approved the UN Convention against Cybercrime, which is now set to be submitted to the General Assembly for formal adoption.
“I consider the documents (…) approved. Thank you very much, congratulations to everyone,” Algerian diplomat Fawzia Boumaiza Mbarki, chairwoman of the treaty drafting committee, said amid applause.
The committee was established following an initial initiative by Russia in 2017, despite US and European opposition.
The new treaty, which will enter into force once it is ratified by 40 member states, aims to “prevent and combat cybercrime more efficiently and effectively,” particularly with regard to child sexual abuse images and money laundering.
But its critics — an unconventional alliance of human rights activists and big tech companies — decry its broad scope, arguing that it could amount to a global “censorship” treaty and be used for repression.
The adopted text states that any Member State may, when investigating any offence punishable by imprisonment for a term of not less than four years under national law, request from the authorities of another State any electronic evidence relating to the offence, as well as request data from Internet service providers.
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