Under Secretary Zeya’s Remarks at the University of Notre Dame Keough Symposium on Digital Technology for Democracy

AS DELIVERED.

Good morning, and thank you, Andrés, for that kind introduction. And I’d also like to thank Notre Dame’s Keough School for hosting us today and for its partnership with the State Department.

Friends and colleagues, it is a distinct pleasure to join you – a diverse and brilliant group of practitioners, experts, and advocates – to engage on digital technologies and their impact. It is no secret that digital technology is transforming our world, and opportunities like this symposium allow us to turn lessons learned into best practices and to leverage digital tools to defend democratic institutions and principles.

Technology has the potential to do tremendous good – to advance sustainable development, civic engagement, and access to government services and information. Globally, this potential translates into tremendous progress across continents and oceans. In Nigeria, engineering students enhance their learning through online tutorials posted on YouTube by educators in India. U.S.-based blockchain startups collaborate with real estate registries in Brazil and Ghana to build secure record-keeping systems for land and property registration and protect against fraud and corruption. Meanwhile, tactile ballot and audio guides enable blind voters in the Republic of Georgia to vote independently and privately.

And yet, we are acutely aware that behind every positive use of technology, there are malign actors seeking to leverage the same tools to stifle democratic progress and repress populations. Nobel Laureate and our keynote speaker, the indomitable Maria Ressa, knows this all too well. A champion of digital technologies to connect, inform, and strengthen freedom of expression online in the Philippines, she has faced intensive digital surveillance and online harassment. During an interview with Secretary Blinken in June 2022, she warned that the growing misuse of tech leaves frontline users increasingly defenseless against digital attacks.

Maria points out that “…what happens online is what happens in the real world. So impunity online is impunity offline.” I couldn’t agree more. In our interconnected world, impunity online has profound ripple effects. States are watching and learning from one another. Adapting. Building on techniques to repress human rights and hamper democratic governance. They shut down the Internet, target election infrastructure with malicious cyber activities, and sponsor AI-facilitated disinformation campaigns and synthetic content aimed at shifting elections results and suppressing the political participation of marginalized groups. In this super-year of elections, when a record-breaking 40% of the world’s population will vote, the impacts of mis- and dis-information could be catastrophic. If what happens online is what happens in the real world, democracies will be tested in ways were unimaginable than even just a few years ago.

And for that reason, the Biden administration has prioritized support for technology that enhances democratic governance and improves our daily lives. To that end, we are taking steps domestically and abroad to achieve an affirmative vision for digital technologies in five key ways.

First, our support for access to digital technologies truly spans the globe. At the Africa Leader’s Summit in December 2022, we committed to invest in digital transformation. Since that commitment, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency has funded eight feasibility studies to advance the implementation of over $1 billion in digital connectivity, clean energy, and healthcare infrastructure projects across the continent. Last April, the U.S. Agency for International Development in partnership with Prosper Africa, launched the Africa Tech for Trade Alliance and has provided some $274 million in long-term financing for affordable housing across West Africa.

Second, we have made significant progress in protecting the open Internet and advancing rights-respecting digital technologies. Last October, President Biden issued an Executive Order on AI that establishes new standards for AI safety and security, protects Americans’ privacy, advances equity and civil rights, stands up for consumers and workers, and promotes innovation. On its heels, the President signed another Executive Order to protect Americans’ sensitive personal data from exploitation by countries of concern. As Vice President Harris said, “we have a moral, ethical, and societal duty to make sure that AI [and digital technologies are] adopted and advanced in a way that protects the public from potential harm and ensures that everyone is able to enjoy its benefits.”

Third, we are also taking a government-wide approach to counter the misuse of surveillance technologies, including commercial spyware. In addition to a 2023 Executive Order, restricting U.S. government use of commercial spyware that poses a threat to human rights or national security, the Department of Commerce added four commercial spyware companies to the Entity List for Enabling Human Rights Abuses. These actions send a strong signal that the United States will promote accountability for the misuse of surveillance technologies and those who furnish them to facilitate human rights abuses and targeting of journalists, activists, and perceived critics.

Just last month, Secretary Blinken announced a new visa restriction policy targeting individuals involved in, or enabling, the misuse of commercial spyware. Earlier this month, Treasury designated two individuals and five entities for their roles in developing, operating, and distributing commercial spyware technology used to target U.S. citizens.

Fourth, we are working to advance global understanding of the impacts of disinformation, including synthetic content, on democracy and human rights. Through the Framework to Counter Foreign State Information Manipulation, we have partnered with nine like-minded governments to deepen cooperation, establish a common foundation, and support the development of resilient, fact-based information ecosystems.

At the same time, the United States is investing in independent media and digital literacy all over the world to encourage partners to support civil society efforts and to build resilience against disinformation in all segments of society. Ultimately, we need to increase multidisciplinary, multistakeholder, empirical research on the impact of disinformation on democracy and human rights. I hope you all will explore this topic today – and please let me know what solutions you find!

And finally, the fifth key way we are working to advance our affirmative vision for digital technology is through work with strong, committed partners who share our affirmative vision for technology. One key avenue is through multiple Summits for Democracy. Since the first in 2021, we have convened hundreds of leaders from governments, civil society, and the private sector to strengthen democratic governance, protect human rights, and advance the fight against corruption.

The Summit’s Technology for Democracy cohort, co-led by Estonia, the United Kingdom, and Access Now, promoted the development and governance of digital technologies to strengthen democracies and enhance human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Information Integrity cohort, co-led by Canada, Latvia, and the Alliance for Securing Democracy, highlighted best practices to strengthen a healthy information ecosystem.

Since 2023, the U.S. Government has contributed over $31 million to the Surge and Sustain Fund for Anti-Censorship Technology, supporting 30 million users of circumvention tools such as VPNs each month. This brings the total U.S. contributions since the fund was established at the first Summit for Democracy to over $46 million.

The third Summit for Democracy, hosted by the Republic of Korea in just four short days, will demonstrate how diverse democracies are meeting the world’s most pressing challenges and delivering for their citizens. I will be there along with the Secretary of State. We intend to galvanize multistakeholder participation in digital governance and commit them to combat the misuse of commercial spyware together with us.

But before I leave for Seoul, I am proud to share another vital way we are working together with our partners. Earlier this week, we released a first-of-its-kind joint guidance with the European Union, which will advance our efforts through the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council to protect human rights defenders online. This guidance outlines best practices online platforms can take to identify, mitigate, and provide access to remedies for digital attacks targeting human rights defenders. Actions to promote democracy in our increasingly digitized world are not just incumbent upon states – businesses also have a responsibility to respect human rights online and offline. Our hope is that private companies will utilize this guidance to better protect defenders and uphold this responsibility, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Global coalitions where governments work hand in hand with civil society, technical, and private business stakeholders have promoted and protected democracy worldwide. In line with our own commitments at the Summit for Democracy, the United States was honored to chair the Freedom Online Coalition in 2023. We were proud to develop and release with our partners there the Guiding Principles on Government Use of Surveillance Technologies and published the Donor Principles for Human Rights in the Digital Age.

The promise of digital technologies, including emerging technologies, stands in stark contrast to the peril posed by their misuse in repressing human rights and limiting the exercise of fundamental freedoms.  But let me repeat: we have an affirmative vision. To get there, we call on governments and other key stakeholders to take these important actions going forward:

• commit to open access to the Internet and condemn shutdowns and network restrictions;
• employ digital technologies more effectively to administer free and fair elections;
• counter the misuse of commercial spyware and other surveillance technologies,
• leverage all tools as governments to promote and incentivize respect for human rights by the tech sector in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,
• and develop, procure, and use AI technologies in a rights-respecting manner.

In committing to these five actions and working together we can advance the rights-respecting digital ecosystem that promises tech for the good of all.

We are standing on a precipice – an unprecedented moment in tech history – with a unique opportunity to influence digital technologies. And it is our responsibility to rise to the occasion, filled with hope on technologies’ promise while clear-eyed on the immense potential for malign use. By harnessing the power of digital technologies, we all can create a more inclusive, informed, and engaged democracies.

Thank you.