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The right to vote, to have your vote counted, is the threshold of democracy and liberty everywhere in the world. And with it, anything is possible. Without it, in my view, nothing is possible. (Remarks by President Biden at the Summit for Democracy Virtual Plenary on Democracy Delivering on Global Challenges)
What is liberal democracy? That remains an open question. But in the 2nd Summit for Democracy, that question appears to come closer to a resolution for out times. We have a better sense of its structural elements: the performance of elections--however one comes to the slate of candidates proffered for voting (mostly by way of institutionalized systems of dominant political factions with a supporting cast of marginal others), the protection of that system against its corruption, the critical role of centers of dispute resolution centered on courts, and an administrative apparatus to manage this system through frameworks of compliance, accountability and transparency through the interactions of public (political) factions and private functionally differentiated collectives (civil society). Gone are references to markets or market actors--other than as likely sources of corruption against which the state must develop mechanisms of protection around core principles of civil and political rights with liberal democratic (normative) characteristics.
The great strength of democracy is that it gives us all the tools we need for self-government and self-improvement. And I’m proud to stand with all of you to defend those fundamental values we all share: justice, the rule of law, free speech, assembly, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and our core belief in the interest of human rights for every single individual in the world. (Remarks by President Biden at the Summit for Democracy Virtual Plenary on Democracy Delivering on Global Challenges).
These are observations, not criticisms. What is shaping the world and its perceptions of meaning of key principles is already well under way and unlikely to be changed either in course or effect. For that reason a close reading of Mr. Biden's Remarks bat the Summit for Democracy Virtual Plenary on Democracy Delivering on Global Challenges) would be well worth the effort. It follows below. along with the Background Press Call Previewing Day Two of the Summit for Democracy. See also (USAID Announces New Initiatives at the 2023 Summit for Democracy and Updates on Progress Made Since the 2021 Summit; FACT SHEET: Implementing the United States Strategy on Countering Corruption: Accomplishments and Renewed Commitment in the Year of Action; Export Controls and Human Rights Initiative Code of Conduct Released at the Summit for Democracy).
Also included is the official product of the 2nd Summit--its Summit for Democracy Declaration, the text of which also follows below
Inter alia, the Declaration affirms the endorsing parties’ political commitments to:--Protect human rights, media freedom, and rule of law;--Ensure accountability for human rights violations and abuses;--Support people, including in Ukraine, who stand for freedom and reject aggression;--Combat all forms of discrimination and exclusion, including by strengthening women’s rights;--Prevent and combat corruption;--Advance technology that works for, and not against democracy;--Defend against transnational threats, including foreign malign influence and foreign information manipulation;--Support free and fair elections; and
--Address global challenges, including sustainable development, climate change, global health, and food security. (Media Note Summit for Democracy Declaration).
The language of the official propagandists are perhaps refined by that of the text of the Declaration itself and its 17 specific principles to which all parties agree to dedicate themselves (with the usual reservations). That provides much clearer picture of both the elaboration of liberal democracy and the hierarchy of its principles--one grounded in the operational principle of "respect, protect, and fulfill."
First, reaffirm our commitments or obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights and fundamental freedoms as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on its 75th anniversary and applicable international human rights instruments.
Second, commit to respecting the right of all citizens to elect their governments through periodic, free and fair elections, which are inclusive and transparent.
Third, promote and uphold the rule of law and promote equal access to justice for all through a fair, effective, and impartial justice system.
Fourth, support civilian control of the military and hold accountable those responsible for human rights violations and abuses, including those committed by non-state actors.
Fifth, respect, protect, and fulfill the right to freedom of opinion and expression; enhance access to information and the free flow of information, both online and offline, as a fundamental pillar of building a democratic society; and call on all states to release all political prisoners.
Sixth, work collectively to prevent and combat corruption and illicit finance in all their forms, promote good governance, and ensure integrity.
Seventh, respect and uphold the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association as essential components of democracy, both online and offline.
Eighth, promote respect for human rights and equality for all individuals and combat all forms of discrimination and exclusion on any grounds, consistent with international human rights law, including multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, including on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, color, religion or belief, national or social origin, property, birth, indigeneity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, pregnancy, political opinion, class, genetic information, or age, and promote inclusion and the full and equal participation of all individuals in marginalized or vulnerable situations, including internally displaced persons.
Ninth, commit to protecting and upholding the human rights of all women and girls in all their diversity. Women’s rights are human rights.
Tenth, shape a fair, accessible, inclusive, and secure future of work with full, productive, decent, and freely chosen employment, through efforts to respect, promote, and realize fundamental labor rights, including the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and through measures to promote decent work for all including a world of work free from violence, exploitation, and harassment.
Eleventh, promote an open, free, global, interoperable, reliable, accessible, and secure Internet, and protect human rights across the digital ecosystem so as to enhance the security, prosperity, and well-being of people around the world.
Twelfth, affirm that the responsible use of digital and emerging technologies has the potential to strengthen democracy and combat corruption, with due respect for the rule of law, and note our commitment to defending democratic institutions and processes from threats related to misuse of technology.
Thirteenth, promote access to the Internet, protect civic space, enable the enjoyment of human rights online, commit to supporting information communications technology infrastructure projects in underserved communities, and work to prevent government-imposed Internet disruptions and restrictions online that violate international human rights law obligations.
Fourteenth, reinforce our commitment to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and protect against human rights abuses, within our territories and/or jurisdictions, by third parties, including business enterprises, by taking appropriate steps to prevent, investigate, punish, and redress such abuse through effective policies, legislation, regulations, and adjudication.
Fifteenth, work together to defend against transnational threats, including foreign information manipulation and interference, which includes disinformation that is discriminatory and targets women and girls and populations in marginalized or vulnerable situations.
Sixteenth, affirm that arbitrarily arresting, detaining, and sentencing individuals for leverage in state-to-state relations is unacceptable, unjust, and contrary to international law.
Seventeenth, commit to working together to address the most critical global challenges. We are committed to protecting the environment as an essential element in achieving sustainable development and advancing sustainable, inclusive, and functional democracies. (Declaration of the Summit for Democracy).
What is striking, both in the contemporary elaboration of (applied) ideologies of liberal Democracy and its Marxist-Leninist cousin (discussed here), is that both are now intimately tied to the project of the construction of a legality for human rights--and both are in some respects the grandchildren of the sentiments, and the reservation, from out of which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was cobbled together in 1947. More specifically,:
1. One might better understand liberal democracy theory as the effort to normalize a theory of political organization from out of the principal manifestation of human (individual) rights in the form and from outt of the sensibilities of the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (operationalized with local and historically current characteristics).
2. One might better understand Marxist Leninist democratic theory as the effort to normalize a theory of political organization from out of the manifestation of human (collective) rights in the form of and from out of the sensibilities of the International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (operationalized with local and historically current characteristics).
The differences and their common foundations are increasingly undeniable, especially now that these two primary systems of the post-global, are ever less reluctant to drop of the pretense of comity and assume the role of (a proselytizing) gospel (in its more ancient sense of "glad tidings" or better from its Greek forebearers understanding of euangelion as reward for bringing good news).
Both are works in progress with their own internal contradictions. Those contradictions, like those within Marxist Leninist democracy lie at the borderlands between open ended principles and the declaration that each has limits. Left open, in both, is the way in which someone (unnamed) will have to be granted discretionary authority to define and enforce those limits, or better still, to apply and interpret those limits without themselves becoming the problem against which these variations of democratic theory are arrayed. It does suggest the core or principle contradiction of liberal and Marxist Leninist democracy--the incompatibility between rules and normative orders on the one hand, and the vesting of discretion in people to interpret and apply them against others. In the case of the liberal democratic states, that contradiction is bound up in the performance of elections and election campaigns--its context in the election campaigns for US President in 2016 and 2020. Those contradictions are well described within and built into the 17 principles; but description is not resolution. Perhaps both camps will come closer to resolution as each continues to refine their respective theories and practices of related but quite distinct manifestations of the democratic impulse.
Remarks by President Biden at the Summit for Democracy Virtual Plenary on Democracy Delivering on Global Challenges
South Court AuditoriumEisenhower Executive Office Building
11:42 A.M. EDT
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Hello, everyone. Let me
start by apologizing for the slight cold I have. That’s the only thing
that’s happening to me these days.
Let me start by thanking everyone for participating in the second Summit of Democracies — for Democracy, I should say.
But
more importantly, thank you for the work you’ve put in over the last 15
months to deliver on commitments you made to each other and to our
peoples for the first Summit of — from the first Summit of Democracy.
Look,
you know, that’s the power of these summits. Not just to speak
high-minded words and shine a spotlight on those critical issues, but to
galvanize action that translate to concrete progress for people around
the world. That’s how we make democracy deliver for everyone.
And
here’s what I hope everyone gathered here, and everyone watching around
the world, takes away from this summit: It’s working. It’s working.
You know, when we gathered here in December of 2021, the sentiment in
too many places around the world was that democracy’s best days were
behind us. Democracy had declined by some measures for 15 consecutive
years.
But this year, we can say there’s a different story to
tell. Thanks to the commitment — thanks to the commitment of leaders of
global — gathered today and the persistence of people in every region
of the world demanding their rights be respected and their voices being
heard, we’re seeing real indicatiors [sic] — real indications that we’re
at a — we’re turning the tide here.
As I often say, we’re at an
inflection point in history here, where the decisions we make today are
going to affect the course of our world for the next several decades,
for certain.
We’re going forward from this summit. Our job is to keep building on our progress so we don’t start heading in the wrong direction again, to keep the momentum going. This is a turning point for our world toward greater freedom, greater dignity, and greater democracy.
Here in the United States, we’ve demonstrated that our democracy can
still do big things and deliver important progress for working
Americans.
We’re bringing down the cost of essentials like
prescription drugs and health insurance premiums. We’re giving families
a little bit more — as my dad used to say, a little bit more breathing
room.
We’re rebuilding America’s infrastructure, driving
innovation and tackling the climate crisis while — all while creating
good union jobs and investing in communities that too often have been
left behind in the past.
We’re also demonstrating the resilience of American democracy.
During
our free, fair, and secure elections last fall, America’s first
national election since the January 6th attack on our Capitol — Capitol,
voters resoundingly and roundly rejected the voices of extremism
attacking and undermining our democracy.
The right to vote, to
have your vote counted, is the threshold of democracy and liberty
everywhere in the world. And with it, anything is possible. Without
it, in my view, nothing is possible.
That’s why, earlier this year I was proud to sign the bipartisan
Electoral Count Reform Act to ensure American elections continue to
reflect the will of the American people and protect the peaceful
transfer of power.
You know, we’re going to keep working to
further strengthen protections by working to pass what we call the John
Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.
They’re just to further strength our democracy.
And it’s not
just the United States that’s — that’s delivering on our commitment and
demonstrating power — the power of democracy.
Angola — Angola has taken steps to build an independent judiciary,
creating three new region- — three new regional courts of appeal, which
are going to help process cases more quickly.
The — the Dominican Republic has modernized its anti-corruption law to create more than 100 anti-corruption offices
at local levels.
Croatia
is implementing a multi-year anti-corruption plan to increase
government transparency and better oversee public procurement.
And there are many more examples I could give, but I’m not going to
take the time, in many other countries for every person, from countries
taking the first steps toward reform to well-established democracies of
people making real changes to protect and strengthen their democracy.
Look,
all we know, it’s not easy. It’s not — this has never been easy.
Democracy is hard work. The work of democracy is never finished. It’s
never laid down and that’s it, all you have to do. It must be protected
constantly.
We have to continually renew our commitment,
continually strengthen our institutions, root out corruption where we
find it, seek to build consensus, and reject political violence, give
hate and extremism no safe harbor.
We have to continue our
efforts to advance the rights and dignity — and I emphasize the word
“dignity” — of all people, including women and girls — you know, because
wherever women and girls are under threat, democracy, peace, and
stability are at risk as well. And we can’t achieve our goals if we’re
leaving more than half the world’s population out of the solution.
We
just heard from two incredible women who made an incredible case about —
regarding Belarus. They are — they’re not only women, they’re
leaders. They deserve and all women deserve to be represented.
Moreover,
when we advance eq- — equality and racial justice, and invest in young
people, protect the LGBTQ+ individuals, our societies are not only
fairer but they’re stronger and more successful.
Democracy
demands full and equal participation of all — all of our citizens.
That’s how we unleash the human potential and put ourselves in the
strongest possible position to take on the shared challenges — and I
emphasize “shared” challenges.
And when democracies stand
together, we reinforce and amplify each other’s efforts to great
effect. And we’ve seen it over and over again — democracies stepping up
to lead and to solve problems together, not just for our own people but
for the world.
From our work to coordinate a global response
to the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen global health security so we have
be- — we’re better prepared to prevent and respond to future global
health threats; to our commitment to raise our ambitions on climate
goals that we have to preserve our planet — literally preserve our
planet for future generations; to making sure parents can feed their
children, strengthening food security by building more sustainable and
resilient food systems around the globe; and to the unprecedented unity —
the unprecedented unity we’ve seen from democracies condemning Russia’s
brutal war of aggression against Ukraine and standing in solidarity
with the brave Ukrainian people as they defend their democracy.
So, today, the United States is building on our enduring commitment to boost democracy globally.
At
the first Summit of Democracy, I launched the Presidential Initiative
for Democratic Renewal, committed more than $400 million to shore up
transparent and accountable governance, support for media freedom, to
fight for international — fighting international corruption, stand with
democracy and democratic reformers, promote technology that advances
democracy, defend elections.
Now, working in close cooperation
with the United States Congress, we plan to add another $690 million for
new funding for the Presidential Initiative over the next two years.
And
over the course of three years, my administration intends to work with
Congress to commit $9.5 billion across all our efforts to advance
democracy around the world. We’re all safer when that occurs.
We’re
creating a new Bureau for — of Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance
at USAID to implement many of these funding commitments to enhance our
support for democratic initiatives globally.
You know, one key
focus of our democ- — of our democracy work will be on making sure that
technologies can continue to develop — continue to develop that are used
to advance democratic governance, not used to undermine it.
As
part of this, earlier this week I signed an executive order here in the
United States to restrict the U.S. government’s use of commercial
spyware that has been abused to target dissidents, activists, and
journalists around the world, including in the United States.
U.S.
taxpayer dollars should not — should not support companies that are
willing to sell their products to abate [sic] human rights and
violations — excuse me — abet human rights violations.
And I want to thank those countries who are joining us this week in committing to regulate the use of commercial spyware.
This
effort is one of many — many my administration is leading in the
digital space for strengthening tools for Internet freedom; to better
protecting activists and journalists from cyber threats, harassment,
abuse; and — and shaping emergency [sic] — emerging technologies like
artificial intelligence so that they deliver and develop things that are
in line with our values — our values.
And as you can probably tell, strengthening democracy
is a subject about which I am somewhat passionate. I believe this is a defining challenge of our age.
And
today we can say with pride that the democracies of the world are
getting stronger, not weaker. Autocracies of the world are getting
weaker, not stronger.
That’s a direct result of all of us — all
of us coming together with confidence in ourselves and conviction in
our cause: governments from around the globe, representatives of civil
society and business, democratic activists and trade unionist — people
who refuse to stand silent at attempts to erode their rights.
All
— all of us are making the choice to be leaders of our world and what
our world needs to make democracies stronger, to keep the torch of
liberty burning for ourselves and generations to come.
We have to keep going, and we will.
Thanks
to the Republic of Korea for stepping forward to host the next Summit
for Democracies. And we’ll sustain this forum as a driver of progress —
for progress and an anchor for our commitment to one another.
So thank you all again for participating. I look forward to all of you — each one of you, to hearing from you.
And I know — I’m now going to turn — turn this over to the President of Slovakia. Madam President, it’s all yours.
(Participating leaders begin remarks.)
(Participating leaders conclude remarks.)
PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, thank you, Mr. President, for your last comments. I agree with you completely.
Let me just close by thanking all of you again for making a priority, for your country and for the world, more democracy.
You
know, we’re covering a lot of ground in these sessions today on all
ways democracy can — is at — at the heart of all that we hope to achieve
and for our people: spurring economic growth; shared prosperity;
unfolding justice and upholding it as well; strengthening our
institutions; taking global challenges — tackling them head on;
advancing inclusion and equity for all our people.
The great
strength of democracy is that it gives us all the tools we need for
self-government and self-improvement. And I’m proud to stand with all
of you to defend those fundamental values we all share: justice, the
rule of law, free speech, assembly, freedom of the press, freedom of
religion, and our core belief in the interest of human rights for every
single individual in the world.
You know, we’ve accomplished a
great deal together, but we all know how much work lies ahead. We’ve
proven we’re up to the challenge. But with the Republic of Korea
hosting the next Summit of Democracy, we’re going to keep going,
together, all of us.
So, I thank you all very much. I won’t
take any more of your time. But I’ve been impressed by what you’ve had
to say. Thank you all very, very much.
12:37 P.M. EDT
* * *
Background Press Call Previewing Day Two of the Summit for Democracy
Via Teleconference
4:35 P.M. EDT
MODERATOR: Great. Thank you so much. Thanks, everyone for joining. I’ll let our speakers go ahead and get started.
But
for your awareness, this call is on background, attributable to “senior
administration officials,” and it is embargoed until the end of call.
For
your awareness, not for attribution, the speakers on the call today are
[senior administration official], [senior administration official],
[senior administration official], and [senior administration official].
With that, I’ll turn it over to [senior administration official] to get us started.
SENIOR
ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Great. Thanks, [Moderator]. And thanks to
everybody that’s on the line right now for your interest in the second
Summit for Democracy, which President Biden officially kicked off this
morning with his four co-hosts: President Chaves of Costa Rica, Prime
Minister Rutte of the Netherlands, President Yoon of the Republic of
Korea, and President Hichilema of Zambia.
As [Moderator]
mentioned, I’ll just kick us off with an overview of the summit and the
President’s engagement and announcements today. It should say a little
bit by way of our agenda on advancing technology for democracy.
Then
I’ll hand over the floor to [senior administration official], who will
lay out in more detail what we consider to be some of our cornerstone
technology-focused initiatives under our efforts to counter the
proliferation and misuse of technology.
And then lastly, we’ll
go to [senior administration official] to highlight a few of the other
key announcements on the technology front.
So just by way of
overview of the summit: Over the course of the day today, we heard, in
total, from 85 world leaders on issues related to how they’re working to
bolster democratic institutions and protect human rights and fight
corruption. And additionally, how democracies are in need to continue
to work together when it comes to the many major challenges facing the
world on everything from Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, to combating
the climate crisis, to food security, and so on.
President Biden
used his remarks to make the case for how, here in the United States,
we’re still doing big things when it comes to things like rebuilding
infrastructure and tackling the climate crisis through legislation and
creating jobs.
And President Biden also used his remarks to make
three announcements related to the summit’s themes on the foreign
policy front.
First, he announced that we are reinvesting in
the summit’s flagship deliverable, which is entitled the Presidential
Initiative for Democratic Renewal, with $690 million in new funding.
President Biden launched the Presidential Initiative for Democratic
Renewal at the first Summit for Democracy in December of 2021, with an
initial investment of just over $420 million. So, today’s figure
highlights a significant addition.
The presidential initiative
is essentially an umbrella, and it includes foreign assistance and
policy steps that the U.S. government is taking both unilaterally, in
some instances, and in conjunction with international partners in five
categories of work that we deem essential to strengthening democratic
renewal abroad. And those are supporting free and independent media,
fighting corruption, bolstering human rights and democratic reformers,
advancing technology for democracy, and defending free and fair
elections.
Second, the President announced that he welcomed the
Republic of Korea’s offer to host a third summit for democracy at some
point in the future. And President Biden and President Yoon of South
Korea issued a joint statement on this agreement early this morning,
D.C. time.
And third, the President noted that through the
Summit for Democracy, we’re really leaning into our agenda on ensuring
that technology works for and not against democratic societies.
And
to drive that point home, tomorrow, Secretary of State Antony Blinken
will be joined by Secretary of Homeland Security Ali Mayorkas; USAID
Administrator Samantha Power; our Director of National Intelligence,
Avril Haines; and the Office, here at the White House, of Science and
Technology Policy Arati Prabhakar; as well as members of Congress,
senior foreign government officials, and leading business figures and
researchers and advocates on and — at an event on this issue hosted at
the Washington Convention Center.
This will be our contribution on behalf of the U.S. government to what is entitled the summit’s “co-host day.”
Tomorrow,
each of our four summit co-hosts — again, Zambia, Costa Rica, the
Netherlands, and South Korea — will likewise be hosting in-person
ministerial-level events in their capitals on other themes essential to
well-functioning, liberal democracy.
In advance of tomorrow’s
event, the White House put out a factsheet today that summarizes the new
initiatives that we’re undertaking on our tech agenda. And we’re
hoping to use this call to flesh that out a little bit.
This
agenda recognizes that to harness technology in a manner that supports
democratic values and institutions, the United States and other
democracies need to do three things.
First, they need to put
forward an affirmative vision of what they stand for: persuasive
rights-respecting view of how technology can enable individual dignity
and economic prosperity.
Second, what they stand against, which is the misuse and abuse of technology to repress, control, and discriminate.
And
thirdly, democracies need to continue looking ahead so as to align
emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, with respect for
democratic principles and human rights.
And so, as our
factsheet indicates, we bend our work into these three areas: the
affirmative agenda, how we’re countering misuse and the rise of digital
authoritarianism, and how we’re looking ahead.
So, I’ll hand
over to my counterparts to say a little bit more about those areas and
firsthand to [senior administration official] to speak in particular
about some of the work we’re undertaking under the category of
countering the misuse of technology.
So, with that, [senior administration official], I’ll hand over to you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks, [senior administration official]. And thanks, everybody.
So, one of the areas that we have really honed in on in particular is the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware.
And
we’ve got a number of initiatives that we were able to unveil before
and that we will be unveiling as part of the summit that address what we
view as the multifaceted challenge posed by the proliferation and
misuse of commercial spyware, both in terms of hard national security
concerns with regard to counterintelligence and security risks to our
personnel and their families, but also with regard to our partners and
then also with regard to the misuse abroad to facilitate human rights
abuses.
So as many of you may have seen in his speech today, the
President addressed the threat of commercial spyware directly. And he
highlighted, in particular, an action we took and we unveiled on Monday,
which is an executive order that President Biden signed that would
restrict for the first time use of commercial spyware if it poses risks
from a counterintelligence or security perspective, or in terms of
misuse, for example, to facilitate human rights abuses.
So we’ve
taken a number of initiatives in this space to address in one case — on
the one hand, misuse, for which we have now established robust
guardrails for the United States through the executive order; the
proliferation of these tools through export controls, including placing
commercial spyware vendors on our Department of Commerce Entity List;
the development of these tools, for which we have both export controls
to restrict and prevent the sale of software technologies and goods that
could lead to the development of these tools, but also restrictions on
the ability of members of — or officials from the U.S. intelligence
community who may seek work abroad after leaving government service, for
which our Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued just
last week new binding guidance to implement statutory restrictions on
the ability of intelligence community professionals to go work for
foreign entities abroad.
And then, finally — and we’re very
proud to announce a new diplomatic initiative on commercial spyware,
which is also referenced in the factsheet that was released earlier
today, which is a joint statement on efforts to counter the
proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware.
We are going to
be joining an initial group of now 10 additional partners in endorsing
the joint statement, which is the first time and the first opportunity
to really deepen international cooperation on countering the
proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware.
Now, the initial
group of partners includes Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark,
France, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom,
and, of course, the United States.
And this is really a novel
initiative to underscore that we jointly view the threat and the risk
posed by the misuse of commercial spyware the same way that we agree on
the need for strict domestic and international controls on the
proliferation and use of this technology.
We will be releasing the joint statement tomorrow as part of the U.S. co-hosted event.
And on that note, let me turn over to [senior administration official] to explain that further.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you, [senior administration official].
The
two initiatives that [senior administration official] just outlined in
more detail are part of a broader package of commitments that we’re
making dedicated to countering the misuse of technology and the rise of
digital authoritarianism, which is one of the three buckets that [senior
administration official] outlined that will be highlighted at the event
tomorrow and reflect the administration’s approach to technology for
democracy.
In addition to the EO and the joint statement, we
are also going to be stepping up our support for organizations and
people that may be targeted with spyware and other cyberattacks — so the
potential victims.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure
Security Agency — or CISA, as it’s commonly known — has launched a new
initiative to better protect organizations within the United States that
are at risk of being targeted by transnational repression.
This
will fill an important gap in that the State Department’s activity in
this space to date were focused on supporting organizations abroad
against these threats.
Other countries have witnessed a similar
rise in transnational attacks on activists, so CISA is also partnering
with its counterparts, other national cybersecurity centers, to deepen
international cooperation on how to better protect those at risk within
their borders.
The initial participants in this work include
the United Kingdom, which would co-lead this effort, Australia, Canada,
Denmark, Estonia, France, Japan, New Zealand, and Norway.
I’d
like to briefly highlight two other important initiatives that focus on
technology more broadly in this bucket of countering the misuse of
technology and the rise of digital authoritarianism.
First is:
The United States is proud to join the other members of the Freedom
Online Coalition to release the guiding principles for government use of
surveillance technology, which we will publish tomorrow. And these
guiding principles outline that any government that wants to adhere to
democratic principles and human rights can use such technology in a
responsible manner. And it contrasts with those governments that do
not.
And we are delighted that over 40 summit participating states have already endorsed the principles at this point.
In
addition to the focus on what responsible government behavior looks
like, we also want to make sure that the goods and services that leave
our borders do not unintentionally contribute to digital
authoritarianism abroad.
That is why we’re delivering on our
commitment at the first summit and have developed a code of conduct that
is designed to better integrate human rights criteria in our export
control regime and those of the other 20 countries that have already
endorsed it.
You can find more details about this in the White
House fact sheet that was released today, and the individual documents
will be released tomorrow ahead of the event.
To briefly
highlight a few key announcements that fall into the other two buckets
of the three themes that [senior administration official] outlined at
the beginning:
Within the first bucket, focusing on our
affirmative vision for a free and open Internet and making sure
everybody has access, the President is making sure that we are meeting
the — that we are meeting the increased demand for anti-censorship
technologies and that sufficient funding is available to expand access
to such technologies.
We’ve also announced a new funding
package to strengthen the government of Costa Rica’s cybersecurity,
which is an example of our broader efforts to build capacity to increase
cyber resilience.
In addition, the Treasury is committing to
update its general licenses across relevant sanctions regimes to ensure
that communications technology is available to people in sanctioned
countries so that they can communicate with each other and with the
outside world.
With respect to the third bucket, and to just
close this out — the third bucket is focusing on shaping emerging
technologies to align with democratic principles and human rights. The
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has released a
National Strategy to Advance Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing and
Analytics, which builds on the blueprint for an AI bill of rights that
the White House released last year, as well as the new AI
risk-management framework that the Department of Commerce and NIST
launched in January.
So tomorrow’s discussion will bring
together a unique set of speakers, including the OSTP director, the CEO
and co-founder of Anthropic, and the executive vice president of the
European Commission, alongside two prominent civil society advocates.
So
this hopefully gives you a sense of the — of the breadth of the
commitments the administration is announcing today and demonstrates that
this is truly an effort across departments and agencies, which reflects
the administration’s belief that strengthening and defending democracy
at home and abroad must be a whole-of-government effort.
And with that, I’m turning it back to you, [senior administration official].
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you. Moderator, I think we’re ready to take a couple questions.
Q
Hi, thank you. Thanks a lot. I wonder — it’s a little bit separate
from what you guys have just spoken about, but there’s a governmental
declaration that’s come out via the State Department from the summit.
And, yeah, I wanted to get your comment on, basically, why is that — at
the moment, I can only see the endorsements from 73 countries. I
believe you said 85 leaders spoke today, and 120 countries were
initially invited to the summit. So — so, you know, why so few
countries signing up? And you’ve also got 12 countries registering
disagreement with part of the text.
So, you know, is there — is
there a sense of disappointment that you’re unable to get, you know,
full agreement from everyone involved in the summit to, you know, a
statement that is not, you know, particularly controversial, from my
reading?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks for that,
Simon. So, yes, the — we just issued the declaration. No, there’s not a
sense of disappointment. And let me tell you how the process went
down. Over the course of the past 15 months, more or less, since the
first summit, we established an intergovernmental group of roughly half
of the invited states — so it was in the order of 60 governments or so —
to coordinate the development of what became the declaration and
ultimately to endorse it.
As you might imagine, as is the case with any joint statement, negotiations are — can sometimes be intense. In this case, we were dealing with an extraordinarily large number of governments, and some of the conversations went pretty far down to the wire.
And so, as you can see on the media note that accompanied the declaration itself — and let me know if you don’t have that — we indicate that this is essentially the opening of the declaration, not the closing. And so we want to be sure that we give a little bit more time to the roughly half of summit participants who were not involved in the drafting process itself so as to allow them to come on for endorsement.
Q Thank you for doing this. Sorry not to be on topic about the technology announcements tomorrow, but someone I was speaking with earlier today suggested that Netanyahu’s address to the conference this morning was pre-recorded. And are you all aware if that was the case?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Laura, this is [senior administration official] again. I am not. I would point you to the Israelis on that question. But I don’t have any indication that the remarks were pre-recorded.
Q Thank you.
Q Hi, I don’t know if this is going through, but could you speak to which and how many countries declined the invitation to attend the summit? I know Pakistan said they were, and I know countries like Malaysia and South Africa didn’t attend the previous summit.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, correct on Pakistan. We don’t
actually have a full list. Just to remind, at this point, the summit is
still ongoing. So we have a number of events. We highlighted the
event that the U.S. will hold tomorrow here in Washington.
Our
four co-hosts are also holding events in each of their capitals,
inviting foreign ministers and other ministerial-level participants,
civil society, business leaders, et cetera. So there are lots of ways
for governments to participate. And it will only be on the back end of
tomorrow that we have a full tally for all the various participants.
So, complex summit, and we think that’s appropriate, given the global scope of what we’re trying to do with the Summit for Democracy.
MODERATOR: Thanks, everyone, for joining. That’s all the time we have for today. As a reminder, the speakers on this call can be attributed as “senior administration officials,” and the embargo is now lifted.
4:55 P.M. EDT
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