Iran Chairs AALCO Meeting on Cyberspace in China


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran chaired the 4th Working Group Meeting on International Law in Cyberspace of Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO), held recently in the Chinese city of Hangzhou.

The main topics of the recent meeting were "Challenging Issues of International law in Cyberspace", "Peaceful Use of Cyberspace", and "Online Harmful Content", according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website.

The meeting was chaired by the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Director-General for Legal and International Affairs, and attended by representatives of the member states and experts on the issue.

At the Iranian chairperson’s suggestion and after the members’ approval, the AALCO's secretariat was tasked with drafting a document entitled "Basic Principles of International Law Applicable to Cyberspace", and sharing it with the member states so that it would be reviewed and ratified in the next AALCO meeting.

The representatives of the AALCO member states and some of the experts attending the meeting also elaborated on their views regarding several issues including the international cooperation for combating cybercrime, application of the principle of non-interference in cyberspace, and data sovereignty.

The chairperson's proposal, approved and implemented by the Working Group, is expected to promote the position of the AALCO and have a considerable impact on the developing countries' role in the process of developing norms and rules for the cyberspace.