Australia in the Crossfire of Cybersecurity Debate

With the delegation from Brazil leading a resolution for moderated caucuses, Australian delegates were the first to oppose. The Israeli delegation sees their opposition as counterintuitive and disruptive to the entire process. "They say that they want temporary work done, but they don't want the organization to do it," one delegate said. Australia responsed that, "people don't understand our resolutions…we want to make sure the points are clear, and we won't debate how to debate."

One More Failure in Cybersecurity

The United States drafted a resolution with Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the Private Sector, who provided $50 billion, for the creation of an IGO to secure cybersecurity of individual facilities. They asserted that they, "refuse to support any resolution that regulates an individual's usage of the internet," and the delegate from the United States stressed that it is to ensure, "defense, not prosecution." The Nigerian delegation was opposed to the resolution saying that it would make the current cybersecurity situation more dangerous. When it came time to vote, the resolution did not pass.

Long Term Resolutions Not an Option

The second resolution was brought to the floor of the Cyber-Security Committee by Canada, Japan, Israel, and India. They argued that no one can regulate the internet because it infringes the sovereignty of the state, and that international regulations exercise authoritarian power. Instead, they propose international funding for creating detection software to prevent attacks and synchronizing defenses on an international scale. The delegate from Australia questioned how long such an action would take and argued that an immediate response to the attack is needed, referencing their own leaking reactor. When it came time for the roll call vote, it did not pass.

US Not Consistent

While the United States and other progressive countries have shown negativity towards internet restrictions, there is still a discrepancy regarding United States policy. The United States Congress is currently pushing a bill to end Net Neutrality, which would give power to corporations to regulate the internet, through not hosting certain websites. When asked if they looked at this as a type of regulation or restriction, they gave no comment.