Morocco Urges AU-PSC to Improve African Governance of Cyberspace

Morocco on Thursday called on the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) in Addis Ababa to improve African governance of cyberspace. At a meeting of the AU PSC held via videoconference and dedicated to a communication on the development of a common African position on cybersecurity in Africa, the Kingdom also called for respect for the principles of international law applicable in cyberspace. The Moroccan delegation cited sovereignty in cyberspace, the prohibition of interference in the internal and external affairs of States, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the prohibition of the threat or use of force, and respect for international humanitarian law and human rights. In order to establish a robust global legal architecture for cyberspace, several levels of regulation must be taken into account, interrelated at the national level, in particular the security of each country’s information systems, as well as at the regional, continental and international levels, the Moroccan delegation affirmed. At the national level, Morocco has decided to establish mechanisms to protect and defend the information systems of government departments, public institutions and vital infrastructures, and to raise awareness among businesses and the general public of the challenges and risks posed by IT threats, the Moroccan delegation stressed. To address the risks posed by the use of information and telecommunications technologies, the Kingdom has been committed since 2003 to establishing a legislative and regulatory framework to monitor cyber activities and ensure the security of citizens and critical infrastructure against cyber threats, the Moroccan delegation said. Since 2012, Morocco has been committed to strengthening its national information systems security capabilities and consolidating digital trust through the development of a national cybersecurity strategy and a national directive on information systems security, whose mission is to raise and standardize the level of protection of all information systems of public administrations and organizations, as well as infrastructures of vital importance, the Moroccan delegation added. At the international level, Morocco considers that international cooperation is essential to enable States to meet the challenges of cybersecurity and stresses the key role of the United Nations in promoting dialogue among its Member States in order to define a common understanding of implementation. Morocco supports the efforts made within the framework of the United Nations on cybersecurity, the Moroccan delegation affirmed, recalling that the Kingdom has always supported the establishment by the General Assembly of all open-ended working groups on the issue of cybersecurity in the context of international security, and actively participates in the various meetings organized in the framework of these groups.