EAC Approves Draft Model Laws on Countering Foreign Interference in the Infosphere and Cyberspace

A regular meeting of the Expert Advisory Board under the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO PA) was held in St Petersburg today, March 28, and chaired by Anatoly Vyborny, deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security and Corruption Control.

“The meeting considered 17 issues related to the improvement and harmonization of the CSTO Member States’ legislation in the areas of security, defence, countering cybercrime, terrorism, biothreats and illegal migration. CSTO draft model laws On Security of Critical Information Infrastructure, On Information Protection and Cybersecurity and On Prevention of Non-Medical Use of Drugs were presented at the meeting,” Anatoly Vyborny said.

The experts also discussed the possibility of introducing criminal liability for crimes against military service in the CSTO Member States. Reports were presented on the progress on draft recommendations on the elaboration of general principles of development of national legislation regulating formation and use of big data and recommendations on harmonization of legislation on digital signatures and on military patriotic education, in particular, development of a draft model law on military patriotic youth organizations.

According to Anatoly Vyborny, Chairman of the Expert Advisory Board under the CSTO PA Council and Chairman of the CSTO PA Standing Commission on Defence and Security, it is very important to create a unified legislative platform regulating this sphere for all CSTO Member States amidst an expanding spectrum of national security threats.

“The system of model laws common for all six Member States of the Organization will allow to act promptly and coherently in case of a threat without losing time and effort. This is especially relevant today, when information technology is used to cause destruction from the outside, among others by third countries and private companies interfering in the domestic affairs of the CSTO Member States. And neo-Nazism is entering new battlefields, including the information domain,” the parliamentarian said.

Summing up the meeting, Anatoly Vyborny stressed the importance of the CSTO PA Expert Advisory Board’s mission. “Our Board carries out meticulous and extremely important work of improving, developing and thoroughly and comprehensively discussing at every stage the normative legal acts that will work in the entire CSTO territory. We develop a common understanding and take into account all opinions,” Anatoly Vyborny summed up.