UN Global Digital Compact: FAQ

The Compact is an agreement among states on a set of principles and insights across most major areas where digital technologies impact human rights, the environment, the economy, and future generations. It also contains some measures to chart the path forward on new issues like AI.

As we note above, the Compact will “outline shared principles for an open, free, secure and human-centred digital future.” However, this is a non-binding process, so unlike some other UN initiatives, such as the “cybercrime treaty” process, the Compact will not impose an obligation on states to adhere to these principles. 

It still matters because even though it won’t be passed into law directly, the Compact establishes a baseline of shared ideas that many governments, companies, and technologists will invest significant funds into making a reality. It also creates governance bodies that will make decisions about tools like AI, and issues such as whether to centralize digital governance in the UN’s New York institutions. We hope to see the Compact reinforce what’s already working fairly well in internet governance, with some necessary adjustments, like bringing more voices into internet governance and stronger safeguards for human rights and corporate accountability. One positive example is the open and inclusive, multistakeholder approach that the Internet Governance Forum process works to broaden and strengthen. Another win has been the growing chorus of condemnation against internet shutdowns, a topic that has diminished in later drafts. As it stands, the Compact text rightfully calls on governments to “refrain” from internet shutdowns, but lacks any consequences, or references to international human rights or norms.

Crisis creates change. Upon taking office in 2017, UN Secretary General Guterres confronted a series of global events illustrating the dangers of online disinformation and hate speech, from the role of social media in stoking violence in Myanmar, to election manipulation in the U.S., UK, and many other countries. Secretary-General Guterres took the initiative to create a shared understanding of new and emerging technologies across major UN workstreams, first by convening a High Level Panel on “digital cooperation” in 2018. 

In 2020, following the outbreak of COVID-19 and amidst the commemoration of the UN’s 75th anniversary, UN member states called for a global response to the current and future challenges, including accelerating digital cooperation. Digital cooperation refers to collaborative efforts across governments and other relevant stakeholders — such as civil society and the private sector — to harness the potential of digital technologies to achieve sustainable development, peace and security, and the advancement of human rights. 

In the declaration on the 75th anniversary commemoration, the UN General Assembly recognized that “digital technologies have profoundly transformed society,” presenting new opportunities and challenges. For instance, when improperly or maliciously used, emerging technologies can increase insecurity, undermine human rights, and exacerbate inequality. Therefore, according to the assembled states, prioritizing digital cooperation and trust is essential as the world relies more on digital tools for connectivity and socioeconomic prosperity.   

In 2021, Secretary-General Guterres answered member states’ call and released Our Common Agenda, an 86-page influential — albeit non-binding — report that provides over 90 recommendations for revitalizing the UN and ensuring implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

It was in this report that Guterres proposed the Compact as a framework of principles to be agreed upon by member states, and hopefully others, during the proposed Summit of the Future now set to take place at the UN Headquarters in New York in September 2024.

The Compact builds on UN Secretary-General Guterres’ established processes to promote a shared understanding of digital cooperation, so the issues under discussion broadly reflect those in the Secretary-General’s existing initiatives, such as Our Common Agenda, the Declaration to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations, and the Roadmap for Digital Cooperation (“the Roadmap”). 

The Roadmap includes eight key areas for action: 

(1) Achieving universal internet connectivity by 2030; 
(2) Promoting digital public goods like open-source software and open data; 
(3) Ensuring digital inclusion for vulnerable groups; 
(4) Strengthening digital capacity-building; 
(5) Protecting human rights in the digital era; 
(6) Supporting global cooperation on artificial intelligence; 
(7) Promoting trust and security in the digital environment; and 
(8) Building a more effective architecture for digital cooperation. 

In its attempt to cover a similarly broad range of topics, the Compact necessarily lacks depth and nuance. This document would have been unwieldy if states attempted to give each topic a full review. While this tradeoff of depth for breadth is acceptable, we regret that the Compact generally does not advance norms, and instead tries to reflect baseline standards. For example, strong encryption is key to the free exercise of a range of human rights online, and for efforts to protect data from unlawful surveillance and corporate exploitation. The latest Compact draft asserts that states commit to, “[e]nsure laws and regulations on the use of technology in areas such as surveillance and encryption, are in compliance with international law.” This is true, and we appreciate the reinforcement. But our human rights need a stronger boost than this to confront the overwhelming interests of both states and companies in gaining access to our sensitive information. We should also be developing norms against spyware, for another example, but these are not mentioned in the Compact, nor are additional mechanisms or norms to protect privacy across borders.

The Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology (known as the “Tech Envoy”), which was established in January 2021 by the Secretary-General, is a key facilitator of the Compact process. 

As part of the proposed Summit of the Future, the UN General Assembly requested that its president  appoint government co-facilitators “for the preparatory process of the Summit.” These co-facilitators must represent both a global majority country and a global minority country, ensuring diverse perspectives, and their primary responsibilities include conducting open, transparent, and inclusive intergovernmental consultations to effectively prepare for the Summit. 

Subsequently, on January 17, 2023, the Government of Sweden and the Government of Rwanda (the Government of Zambia took over from the Government of Rwanda later) were appointed as the co-facilitators for the Compact process, as well as for the Digital Track for the Summit. 

Many others are involved in the process for the Compact. Similar to other UN initiatives, the Compact aims to include all “stakeholders,” such as: governments, UN agencies, the private sector (including tech companies), civil society, grassroots organizations, academia, and individuals, particularly youth. It is one of the three intended outputs — agreements — of the Summit of the Future initiative, alongside a Pact for the Future and Declaration on Future Generations.

Access Now views the Compact as an opportunity to contribute to establishing internationally agreed principles for digital governance by calling on states to center each topic around human rights. If successful, the Compact could support digital governance principles for a just and sustainable future, one that protects the digital rights of marginalized groups and promotes an intersectional, feminist approach to the adoption of new and emerging technologies. However, if the process becomes a lowest-common-denominator exercise, dragged down by big power politics, it risks reversing and slowing progress on the application of human rights frameworks in the digital age – like the recent UN cybercrime treaty has. 

Specifically, we have pushed for the Compact to recognize and condemn the threat that internet shutdowns pose to human rights, peace and security, and sustainable development, and to ensure that the Internet Governance Forum receives the resources and affirmation it needs to welcome even more stakeholders to shape our shared digital future.

We have also provided substantive advice on key topics (see the list below at the end of this FAQ), and worked to advocate for civil society inclusion during a time of increasingly shrinking civic space, when the voices of the most vulnerable people are often muzzled.  

Previously, Access Now played a role in drafting the Roadmap, specifically area 8 on Digital Human Rights, when we served as co-Chairs of a Roundtable alongside the European Union, Republic of Korea, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). In our initial response to the Roadmap, we stressed that its success would hinge on effective implementation and genuine multistakeholder engagement. We also highlighted the importance of integrating a human rights perspective into digital cooperation and ensuring representation from diverse and marginalized voices, as well as the need for concrete actions and outcomes, especially in areas where new technologies outpace existing safeguards protecting human rights.

You can read more about the Compact at the official website, and the human rights implications in the list below of Access Now outputs.