We can’t do it without you: Multi-stakeholders and the fight against cybercrime

The 193 Member States of the United Nations (UN) are poised to finish negotiating a new global cybercrime treaty. For the past two and a half years, diplomats and justice officials have been hammering out an agreement to improve and modernize the investigation and prosecution of cybercriminals around the world. Throughout this process, American and other international multi-stakeholders – comprising the private sector, civil society, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and academic institutions – have been in the negotiating room and in the hallways of the UN, advocating for the consideration of the treaty’s effects on individual human rights, service providers, and security researchers. As both victims of cybercrime and sources of valuable expertise, these stakeholders bring important viewpoints and have made significant contributions. Going forward, they will play a key role in the treaty’s implementation, and their input will help assess its effectiveness. Governments cannot fight cybercrime without them.