The Washington Centre for Human Rights expresses deep concerns regarding the growing misuse of cybercrime laws in the Arab region to restrict fundamental freedoms and suppress free expression. These laws, while intended to combat cybercrime, have increasingly been leveraged by authoritarian governments to stifle dissent and silence critics under the guise of national security and public morals. This alarming trend raises serious human rights issues, particularly with regard to freedom of expression, privacy, and due process.
In many Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, cybercrime laws are used to target individuals for expressing their opinions online. Vague and broad definitions of criminal acts, such as “undermining state prestige” or “harming public morals” lead to arrests and prosecutions for legitimate forms of dissent, such as criticizing the government or expressing nonconformist views, including LGBTQ+ identities. These laws not only violate the rights to freedom of speech and assembly but also foster a climate of self-censorship, where individuals live in fear of persecution for their online activities.
The Washington Centre for Human Rights condemns the use of ambiguous legal language in cybercrime legislation, which leaves citizens uncertain of what content may be criminalized. This creates an environment where individuals are forced to curtail their digital presence to avoid persecution, severely restricting their right to free expression. It is particularly troubling that countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Libya are prioritizing content-based offenses over actual cybercrimes, indicating that the primary goal is not to address legitimate security concerns but to further restrict political and social discourse.
Furthermore, privacy protections under these laws are woefully inadequate. In several Arab nations, including Tunisia, Libya, and Palestine, cybercrime laws allow for mass surveillance and data collection without sufficient safeguards, violating individuals’ right to privacy. These laws permit governments to access private communications and track individuals’ online activities, often without judicial oversight. The mass collection of personal data, under the pretext of fighting cybercrime, undermines both privacy and data protection rights, violating international human rights standards.
The Washington Centre for Human Rights also highlights the lack of meaningful human rights safeguards in the UN’s proposed cybercrime convention. While the convention purports to uphold human rights, its current draft fails to provide adequate protections for freedom of expression and privacy. The vague and overly broad language in the convention could allow governments to target individuals for engaging in peaceful online activities such as criticizing government policies or expressing their sexual orientation. This could result in greater international cooperation on repressive actions, where governments with poor human rights records collaborate to suppress online speech and infringe on privacy rights.
One of the most concerning aspects of the UN cybercrime convention is its provision allowing the exchange of electronic evidence between countries, regardless of whether that evidence was obtained in a manner consistent with international human rights law. This could facilitate the use of unlawfully obtained evidence in criminal investigations, setting a dangerous precedent where evidence is used to undermine established legal protections. Such practices could contribute to a global erosion of trust in judicial integrity, weakening democracy and the rule of law.
The Washington Centre for Human Rights calls for a reevaluation of the UN cybercrime convention, urging that it be revised to ensure that human rights are fully protected. Any convention or law intended to combat cybercrime must prioritize the protection of digital rights, including freedom of expression, privacy, and the right to a fair trial. Without robust human rights safeguards, cybercrime laws risk becoming tools of repression rather than instruments of justice, particularly in countries where authoritarian regimes are already using them to suppress dissent.
In light of these concerns, the Washington Centre for Human Rights urges the international community to hold governments accountable for their misuse of cybercrime laws and to ensure that any international agreement on cybercrime respects and upholds the principles of human dignity, freedom, and justice.