In 2022, the UN member states will commence negotiations on a global treaty to counter cybercrime. More international cooperation in this field is urgently required. But there are risks as well. Vague commitments – on the monitoring of Internet traffic, for example – could be used by authoritarian regimes as a pretext to clamp down on activists and opposition forces, ostensibly in order to combat crime. To prevent this, human rights must be strengthened as a frame of reference, Dr Mischa Hansel writes in Global Governance Spotlight 5|2021.