Das Internet als Bedrohung für den Weltfrieden? Die Rolle der Vereinten Nationen in der Cyber-Sicherheitspolitik

Panel discussion with Dr. Matthias Kettemann, organised by the United Nations Association of Germany in cooperation with the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at Universität Hamburg (IFSH) on Monday, 24 June 2019, 6 p.m. - 8 p.m., in the Hamburg State Library (lecture room, 1st floor).

Internet censorship, hacker attacks and trolls on social media - the Internet has become an important factor in international security policy.

In 2011, Egypt's access to the Internet was completely blocked for a short time to fight the Arab Spring protest movement. Bots and trolls on Facebook and Twitter heavily influenced the 2016 American presidential election. The online publication of government documents has also uncovered massive human rights violations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and social networks are used in Syria for civil conflict management.

These examples show how relevant the Internet is for peace and security worldwide. However, the concrete political consequences of these developments are not easy to identify. Digital information and communication technologies lead to new security threats. The Internet is militarised when states specifically use malware or national IT infrastructures become potential targets for attacks. However, they also offer the potential for new forms of conflict management or crisis prevention. Digital spaces are also characterised to a large extent by unclear international rules, a mingling of state and private areas of responsibility, the dominance of technology groups such as Google and Facebook, and an enormous acceleration of cross-border communication flows.

Like no other international organisation, the United Nations has the mandate to develop norms and rules for peaceful global coexistence. But what are appropriate rules and standards of cyber security policy? What can and must governments, security agencies and technology companies do to ensure peaceful and free use of the Internet while effectively preventing security risks? What ethical rules are required for the handling of private data? And what role should the United Nations play in such processes?

Paneldiskussion mit , organisiert von der Deutschen Gesellschaft für die Vereinten Nationen in Kooperation mit dem Institut für Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik an der Universität Hamburg (IFSH) am Montag, den 24. Juni 2019, 18–20 Uhr, in der Staatsbibliothek Hamburg (Vortragsraum 1. Obergeschoss).