Towards an active civil society in the global cybercrime efforts: Cyberspace4all

Summary

‘Towards an active civil society in the global cybercrime efforts’ is a multi-year project run by Chatham House’s International Security Programme. The project that recognises the important role that an engaged and informed civil society can play in both prevention and response to cybercrime. The project and aims to provide civil society with the knowledge to contribute to, and a platform to shape, cybercrime policies. With a particular focus on the mainstreaming and meaningful consideration of gender and human rights into global efforts in tackling cybercrime, the project’s ultimate goal is to strengthen effective and inclusive cybercrime policies, particularly the ones at the UN level. The project will increase knowledge among civil society organizations from around the world on key cybercrime concepts, issues and existing processes. It will also establish a platform that facilitates their input into the forthcoming UN cybercrime treaty negotiations, ultimately providing an opportunity for cybercrime policies which would both reduce impunity for cybercriminals and lead to a safer, open cyberspace, rooted in international cooperation and a human-centric approach.

Details

The project will implement a series of complementary activities:

• A training programme for civil society organisations, addressing key cybercrime issues tailored to a global civil society audience.
• Regional consultations to help enrich the project with regional perspectives, and to facilitate the exchange of views on their experiences and that of their member States on measures, policies and priorities aimed at responding to cybercrime including at global level.
• Track 1.5/2 meetings to run in parallel to the official UN negotiation meetings on cybercrime, providing a platform for civil society to input into the process with insights on gender and human rights considerations.
• An open-access special issue of the Journal of Cyber Policy, to explore the different aspects of the cybercrime debate reflecting on the UN processes.
• Report and a policy outreach forum, to identify key observations for civil society organizations and state representatives for follow-up work.

Outputs

Between August 2019 and June 2022, the first phase of this project produced:

• A special issue of the Journal of Cyber Policy;
• 3 video explainers in the 6 UN languages on the rules of cyberspace, creating a stable cyberspace, and the role of capacity building in cyberspace;
• A five-episode podcast mini-series on ‘Who Rules Cyberspace?’;
• A meeting summary from a regional conference held in Jordan on cyber diplomacy and governance.

Additional links

https://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/our-departments/international-security-programme/cyberspace4all-towards-inclusive-approach