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Digital Ceasefire
New technologies increasingly define war and peace, yet current traditional ceasefire agreements lack sufficient human rights guidance and humanitarian guardrails with respect to digital warfare.
The Digital Ceasefire initiative aims to help renew and upgrade the framework that shapes ceasefires in offline or kinetic war for the realities of conflict in the digital era. Traditional ceasefire agreements can be a vital step toward peace by halting violence, prompting negotiations and facilitating humanitarian aid.
Starting with the initial cyber skirmishes that can give rise to a war all the way through to a digitally driven humanitarian response, the lifecycle of warfare is now underpinned by new technology and it is therefore essential that the mechanisms that drive us towards peace and stabilization reflect that.
How Tech is shaping the battlefield
From the military coup in Myanmar and the mass crackdown on protests in Iran, to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza, contemporary national and international conflicts have seen state and non-state actors increasingly use emerging technologies in the various stages of hostilities. And yet the tools and frameworks to resolve these conflicts are not fit for purpose.
There are currently 110 armed conflicts (depending on the definition) affecting up to 2 billion people across the world - none of which are immune to the impacts of technology. This marked increase in conflict since 2019 has taken place alongside the digitization of everything from diplomacy to geopolitics to international development. It helps drive the rise in forcibly displaced persons globally.
There are currently 110 armed conflicts (depending on the definition) affecting up to 2 billion people across the world - none of which are immune to the impacts of technology. This marked increase in conflict since 2019 has taken place alongside the digitization of everything from diplomacy to geopolitics to international development. It helps drive the rise in forcibly displaced persons globally.
The Digital Ceasefire initiative aims to build a new model for peace.
Elements of a Digital Ceasefire
01
New guardrails
Establish guardrails against suspending or disrupting communications or connectivity in conflict affected areas.
02
Restrict digital security attacks
Restrict digital security attacks that threaten members of opposing parties, civil society groups, journalists, anti-war advocates and human rights defenders.
03
Recourse for offensive cyber behavior
Prevent state actors from engaging in offensive cyber behavior without recourse or attribution.
04
Protect encryption
Protect encryption, reducing the asymmetry that allows for superior armed actors to expose, dox, arrest or foil opponents and advocates.
05
Spyware bans
Ban the use of spyware and targeted surveillance programs perpetrated by state actors, within states or between states (including as a weapon in international military conflict).
06
Limit content controls
Limit content controls that simultaneously allow for harrassment, hate speech, calls for genocide, or alternatively the silencing of marginalized voices.
07
Safeguard lifesaving services online
Safeguard civilian rights to lifesaving services online, stay in touch with families, and receive alerts.
08
Reigning in corporate Tech
Ensure that the private Tech sector does not inflame or contribute to conflict, or side with aggressors in a way that escalates hostilities.
Find out more.
Next steps
In the fall of 2024, I will commence a Senior Research Fellowship with UC Berkeley's Human Rights Center at the Berkeley School of Law. I am also looking forward to taking up a visiting appointment at the Tech Policy Design Center at the Australian National University to pursue research, conceptualization and implementation of the Digital Ceasefire initiative.
We have seen a new era which has seen technology firmly situated in contemporary conflict, forcing us to understand how the digital has shaped, inflamed and increasingly defined how war is conducted and peace pursued. It is therefore not surprising that new technologies have and will increasingly define war and peace itself.
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At the front end we see online disinformation campaigns and discriminatory censorship, proliferation of spyware, and digital attacks that exacerbate tensions, polarize populations and set the stages for warfare between parties.
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During conflict itself we see the destruction of telecommunications infrastructure, the full throttle of cyber attacks, cyber mercenaries feeding conflict from afar, and the deep engagement of the private sector. Intentional internet shutdowns or the deliberate throttling of the networks are combined with non-digital tools and kinetic warfare, further enmeshing the technical into the traditional.
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And when the physical conflict recedes, the digital elements can intensify, even as the stabilization, humanitarian and peace efforts kick in.
Phases of war in the digital age
Contact us to find out more.
Background
The Digital Ceasefire concept derives from a proposal I made to the Access Now team and MENA staff that we call for a digital ceasefire in Gaza to accompany the traditional Oxfam ceasefire call from civil society. The current thinking derives from my own work, that of the team at Access Now and a range of stakeholders, including humanitarian actors, digital rights advocates, and affected communities,
working to understand how technology impacts the battlefield.
Next steps
In the fall of 2024, I will commence a Senior Research Fellowship with UC Berkeley's Human Rights Center at the Berkeley School of Law. I am also looking forward to taking up a visiting appointment at the Tech Policy Design Center at the Australian National University to pursue research, conceptualization and implementation of the Digital Ceasefire initiative.
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