The Hanoi Convention: Russia’s Blueprint for an Authoritarian Cyberspace

Russia is celebrating a major win in cyberspace. On October 25 and 26, representatives from 110 countries convened in Hanoi, Vietnam, to sign the Russian-drafted UN Convention on Cybercrime. Under the guise of combating cybercrime, the treaty facilitates state censorship of the internet. It amounts to another step forward in Putin’s efforts to rally the international community around an authoritarian vision of cyberspace.

A Controversial Consensus

The Hanoi ceremony is the culmination of five years of negotiations during which tech companies, human rights organizations, and some democratic governments warned that the treaty contains weak human rights protections. For instance, the treaty lacks carve-outs for good-faith research by hackers who probe for vulnerabilities to help prevent hostile intrusions. HackerOne, an international organization connecting companies with ethical hackers, cautioned that the treaty’s lack of carve-outs will place researchers “at heightened risk of potential legal consequences for activities that are both ethical and essential to maintaining global cybersecurity.”

While the treaty maintains vague human rights protections, it prioritizes state deference, noting that signatories are only obliged to abide by “applicable” international human rights law to the extent that it is “consistent” with the state’s “principles of sovereign equality and territorial integrity.” Despite these concerns, the Biden administration voted in favor of the final draft at the United Nations, with State Department officials stating, “It would be unheard of for us to pull out of consensus after we led the system and joined.”

After passing the final vote, the document opened for ratification, the final hurdle to enter international law. While the United States is withholding its signature, the treaty garnered 72 signatories, including U.S. allies like Australia, France, and the United Kingdom; the EU Commission also signed and encouraged all member states to follow suit.

Russia’s Coalition-Building Strategy for Digital Alignment

Russia’s global alliances were critical to catalyzing support. Twenty-one African states, 12 Latin American countries, and 19 countries from the Asia-Pacific region signed the treaty. Specifically, Russia coordinated with China to mobilize alliances like BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). At the BRICS Summit in July, members signed a joint declaration “commend[ing] the adoption” of the treaty and urging “all [BRICS] States to sign it at the earliest opportunity.” Similarly, the SCO’s September Summit Declaration instructed parties to “promote the signing of the UN Convention on Cybercrime.” The effectiveness of these alliances is clear: countries like BRICS member Brazil, which initially opposed the convention, signed in Hanoi. Other BRICS countries that were considered swing voters, like Indonesia, Mexico, and South Africa, also supported the treaty.

With its growing influence in the United Nations, Russia is exporting its authoritarian model for cyberspace from regional alliances to the global stage. In Hanoi, Russia hosted a booth for the Roscongress Foundation, an organization that “offers effective solutions for promoting the investment and export potential” of “the capabilities and latest achievements of Russian information and communication technology.” The foundation has already signed cooperation agreements with ASEAN, BRICS, and the SCO regarding technological infrastructure cooperation. In addition, Russia has already introduced its own mass communications technology to BRICS members in Africa, Latin America, and Central Asia. The United Nations opens the door to even broader influence.

The Path Forward: Countering Russia’s Cyber Diplomacy

While Putin exploits alliances to reshape international law, Washington can still push back, emphasizing the dangers of a treaty drafted by the worst cybercrime offenders. The United States should pressure its allies — even those that signed the treaty — not to ratify it. Instead, the United States should rally states around the 2001 Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. Drafted by Western democracies, it maintains strong human rights protections and currently has more signatories than the UN treaty.

Most importantly, Washington must offer partners and allies an alternative to Russia and China’s financial incentives. BRICS’s membership has doubled in the past year because of the group’s commitment to foreign direct investment. BRICS’s 2025 Strategy for Economic Partnership underlines a desire to address the digital divide by promoting “digital infrastructure, digital skills and digitally enabled services.” To counter Beijing and Moscow, Washington should assist countries in developing critical technological infrastructure and show them the comparative benefits of accessing direct investment from the United States.

Emily Hester is a research analyst with FDD’s Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation and contributes to FDD’s Russia Program. For more analysis from the author and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD and @FDD_CCTI. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.