Security News > 2021 > November > USA signs internet freedom and no-hack pact it's ignored since 2018

The United States has signed up for The Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace - an international effort to ensure the internet remains free and open, and an agreement to put critical infrastructure off limits to electronic attack by sovereign states and other actors.

The Paris Call was issued by French president Emmanuel Macron in 2018, as part of that year's Internet Governance Forum held at UNESCO and alongside the Paris Peace Forum.

A White House statement explains that the USA's decision to adopt the Call "Reflects the Biden-Harris Administration's priority to renew and strengthen America's engagement with the international community on cyber issues".

By an interesting coincidence, those same two nations have not joined the Paris Call and have more or less ignored the GCSC. The USA agreeing to the Call still matters because it was conspicuous by its absence when the document was created - as were China and Russia.

With ransomware rampant in the USA, and the Biden administration having made multiple calls for international cooperation to stop it, the White House clearly sees supporting the Call as conferring some advantages.

The Call is also something of a signature diplomatic initiative for president Macron, and the USA needs him back onside after the formation of the US/UK/Australia AUKUS pact saw France lose a $65 billion submarine construction contract with Australia.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/11/11/usa_supports_paris_call/