§10301 — Title 22 Foreign Relations and Intercourse | U.S. Code

Summary

The United States will work with other countries to keep the internet open, connected, reliable, and secure using a multi-stakeholder approach (where governments, companies, and civil society share decision-making). It aims to promote democracy, the rule of law, and human rights like free speech; help innovation, communication, and economic growth; and protect privacy while guarding against lies, foreign influence, calls for violence, online abuse, fraud, and theft. The United States will help allies boost their technology and resilience so they can protect shared values without being forced by others. It will also offer incentives to the private sector to speed tech development, update and align export and investment rules with partners, and lead efforts to set technical standards and norms. The President must consult companies, nonprofits, security researchers, and others when dealing with other nations and must try to clarify how international law applies to information and communications technology, reduce the risk of cyber escalation and damage to critical infrastructure, work with like-minded countries, encourage responsible tech, secure commitments by countries to behave responsibly in cyberspace (for example, not stealing trade secrets for unfair gain, not permitting or carrying out attacks on critical services, helping to stop malicious activity from their territory, not forcing data localization, and protecting human rights online), and promote international technical standards and best practices.

Title 22, §10301

Foreign Relations and Intercourse — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)It is the policy of the United States—

(1)to work internationally to promote an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure internet governed by the multi-stakeholder model, which—

(A)promotes democracy, the rule of law, and human rights, including freedom of expression;

(B)supports the ability to innovate, communicate, and promote economic prosperity; and

(C)is designed to protect privacy and guard against deception, malign influence, incitement to violence, harassment and abuse, fraud, and theft;

(2)to encourage and aid United States allies and partners in improving their own technological capabilities and resiliency to pursue, defend, and protect shared interests and values, free from coercion and external pressure; and

(3)in furtherance of the efforts described in paragraphs (1) and (2)—

(A)to provide incentives to the private sector to accelerate the development of the technologies referred to in such paragraphs;

(B)to modernize and harmonize with allies and partners export controls and investment screening regimes and associated policies and regulations; and

(C)to enhance United States leadership in technical standards-setting bodies and avenues for developing norms regarding the use of digital tools.

(b)In implementing the policy described in subsection (a), the President, in consultation with outside actors, as appropriate, including private sector companies, nongovernmental organizations, security researchers, and other relevant stakeholders, in the conduct of bilateral and multilateral relations, shall strive—

(1)to clarify the applicability of international laws and norms to the use of information and communications technology (referred to in this subsection as “ICT”);

(2)to reduce and limit the risk of escalation and retaliation in cyberspace, damage to critical infrastructure, and other malicious cyber activity that impairs the use and operation of critical infrastructure that provides services to the public;

(3)to cooperate with like-minded countries that share common values and cyberspace policies with the United States, including respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, to advance such values and policies internationally;

(4)to encourage the responsible development of new, innovative technologies and ICT products that strengthen a secure internet architecture that is accessible to all;

(5)to secure and implement commitments on responsible country behavior in cyberspace, including commitments by countries—

(A)not to conduct, or knowingly support, cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, including trade secrets or other confidential business information, with the intent of providing competitive advantages to companies or commercial sectors;

(B)to take all appropriate and reasonable efforts to keep their territories clear of intentionally wrongful acts using ICT in violation of international commitments;

(C)not to conduct or knowingly support ICT activity that intentionally damages or otherwise impairs the use and operation of critical infrastructure providing services to the public, in violation of international law;

(D)to take appropriate measures to protect the country’s critical infrastructure from ICT threats;

(E)not to conduct or knowingly support malicious international activity that harms the information systems of authorized international emergency response teams (also known as “computer emergency response teams” or “cybersecurity incident response teams”) of another country or authorize emergency response teams to engage in malicious international activity, in violation of international law;

(F)to respond to appropriate requests for assistance to mitigate malicious ICT activity emanating from their territory and aimed at the critical infrastructure of another country;

(G)not to restrict cross-border data flows or require local storage or processing of data; and

(H)to protect the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms on the internet, while recognizing that the human rights that people have offline also need to be protected online; and

(6)to advance, encourage, and support the development and adoption of internationally recognized technical standards and best practices.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Support of Policy in United Nations Pub. L. 117–263, div. I, title XCV, § 9502(c), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 3902, provided that: “The Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations should use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States to oppose any measure that is inconsistent with the policy described in section 9501(a) [22 U.S.C. 10301(a)].”

§10301 United States International Cyberspace Policy

Summary

Title 22, §10301

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Citations & Metadata