IPI urges US to reject 'global surveillance treaty'

The International Press Institute (IPI) has urged the United States to reject a new "dangerous" global treaty, that it said will grant authorities sweeping surveillance powers as well as give authoritarians even more tools to target and restraint the press.

The global organisation, IPI, which is dedicated to promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalism practices, has asked the US to stand up for journalists, press freedom and democracy worldwide in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Member states of the United Nations seek to finalise the international treaty and opened a two-week meeting on Monday for this purpose.

According to them, the treaty is aimed at fighting against cybercrime. However, its text has faced strong opposition by an unlikely alliance of human rights groups and big technology companies.

The “United Nations Convention Against Cybercrime” originated in 2017 when Russian diplomats sent the world body's secretary-general a letter outlining the initiative.

Two years later, and despite US and European opposition, the General Assembly created an intergovernmental committee tasked with drawing up such a treaty. “We’re at the entrance of the harbour, and on Friday August 9, we’ll be docking,” said committee chairwoman Faouzia Boumaiza Mebarki at Monday’s opening session.

Following seven previous negotiating sessions, “divergences still remain,” she noted, while criticism has also continued to mount.

While the revised draft includes “some welcome improvements,” according to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, concerns remain “about significant shortcomings, with many provisions failing to meet international human rights standards.”