In February 2022, right before the official Russian breakthrough in Ukraine, Brad Smith, Microsoft Vice-President and Chief Legal Officer, presented the proposal of a “Digital Geneva Convention” during the RSA security conference in San Francisco. The project will aim at introducing international strategies to cope with the advent of new digital threats.
The nature of the proposal and the symbol of Geneva
The project had already been presented in front of the United Nations office in November 2017 and is modeled after the International Atomic Energy Agency. It pursues the creation of a collective collaboration of different actors facing together the challenges of the new digital revolution, a twofaced trend that may help us shape solutions to the next contemporary issues but might also lead to dystopian consequences. “Digital turn can be a tool, but also be a weapon” affirmed Smith in 2017. For this reason we should share a collective responsibility in pursuing the positive side of digital innovation and limit, if not to prevent, the dark side of this revolution. (Duberry, 2022) Thanks to its history, Geneva will be the proper site to form the coveted protocol. The previous Geneva conventions have been signed in 1949 and included 4 treaties whose aim was to define and protect, through the implementation of international legal principles and rules, prisoners, combatants and civilians’ rights during wartime, hence to promote humanitarian action. Geneva has maintained through the last century its spirit of international center of arbitration and peaceful resolution of disputes, as it also became home of many international organizations. According to Smith, it represents the perfect city to promote the new digital convention.
Digital issues and challenges of the 21st century
Due to the fast development of technologies, the number and gravity of cyber attacks and cyber espionage have drastically arisen in the last years. Malicious softwares have become able to seriously impact the security and safety of private citizens as well as to compromise the public welfare system. Moreover, the innovation process instituted a new concept of digital weapons and war, hence created other social and legal uncertainties over the new contemporary nature of conflicts. (Guay, 2017) As the society is changing, the need of international cooperations, founded on a modern legal basis, is growing: new legal standards must be implemented and a greater vertical and horizontal dialogue between different countries and citizens shall be promoted. According to Brad Smith, it is of essential importance to consider all governments, companies and citizens in the drafting of new comprehensive and innovative protocols, as they should all raise awareness over their role and responsibilities in the development and use of cyber technologies. In order to successfully detect and deter cyber attacks and commit the overall society to non-proliferation of digital weapons, communication and collaboration between both internal and external subjects should be deeply encouraged. This has of course provoked important changes and uncertainties in the field of humanitarian action and international law, that will hopefully be compensated by the future treaty.
The objectives of the treaty
The Geneva convention will be structured over two main tenets: the role of technology companies and the correct regulation and diffusion of information. Technology companies’ role will be transformed as they will play an essential role in pursuing humanitarian purposes and prevent society from an inadequate use of the internet and cyber capacities. Their duties will not only be to provide social services, but also to serve both states and individuals through a common and collective action, by ensuring a harmless use of digital devices and online platforms in line with the principles of Geneva Convention. This would be the main novelty of the protocol: the involvement of private sectors in what used to be solely of public competence as, for the first time, United Nations will affect the role of technology companies, by defining boundaries and guidelines to their actions. It would be impossible otherwise to implement changes and protect individuals’ rights from a wide variety of cyber attacks, including those coming from war purposes, without the support of private companies. On the other hand, also the role of communication and information will be challenged as NGOs and aid agencies have been spreading many digital services to serve humanitarian actions. The regulation of technological communication shall be highly promoted to guarantee the human rights of many peoples living in territories affected by natural disasters, revolutionary protests and war, such as Cuba, Venezuela and Iran provided that information could be the perfect means to overcome injustices and help people. However, a safe and secure use of it must be assured in order to effectively pursue only the humanitarian purpose: the connectivity network created for Syrian-refugees that have been exploited by enemy parties and the publication of valuable information of asylum-seekers in some African regions that have provided useful resources for smugglers and human-traffickers shows the necessity for more efficient security measures. Moreover, a better system of information filters offered by technology companies would prevent the proliferation of fake news, raise peoples’ awareness and build trust in the government actions, hence it would strengthen both internal and external cooperation. As a result of the lack of regulation of digital tools and online networks, these means may turn into weapons against us: dispelled people could keep being persecuted and exploited by their native countries’ oppressive regimes, racism and distrust would increase and the hopes for a better life and collaborative system would just vanish (Lohrmann, The Case for Establishing a Digital Geneva Convention, 2021)
Conclusion: the future of the Convention
Private sectors, including civilians, are involved in this new challenge as no one should refuse to collaborate in order to reach the common scope: it is indeed of collective responsibility to become aware of the contemporary possible threats imposed by technology. The Digital Geneva Convention represents the opportunity to compensate these risks and once and for all to program the technological system to become the next international means for the protection of human rights. The Convention will not be the last goal achieved, by contrast it will be the first step of a long process towards a dynamic movement of people, companies and governments who will face the next world challenges and walk together into a new part of humanitarian history.
Bibliography
Duberry, j. (2022). Digital Technology and the War in Ukraine. Tratto da Graduate Institute: https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/communications/news/digital-technology-and-war-ukraine Guay, J. (2017). What the Digital Convention means for the future of humanitarian action. Tratto da United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: www.unhcr.org/innovation/digi Lohrmann, D. (2021). The case for Establishing a Digital Geneva Convention. Tratto da Government Technology: https://www.govtech.com/blogs/lohrn
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