Overview
- U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is scheduled to attend Saturday’s ceremony in Hanoi with delegates from dozens of states.
- The European Union and Canada say they will sign, while the United States has not confirmed whether it will send a representative.
- The pact would take effect after 40 ratifications and is intended to speed cross‑border action against offences ranging from phishing and ransomware to online trafficking.
- A coalition including Meta and Microsoft brands it a “surveillance treaty,” and activists warn it could criminalise ethical hackers and enable politically motivated extraditions.
- UNODC says the text contains human-rights safeguards, lets states deny requests that conflict with international law, encourages legitimate research, and critics question Vietnam’s role as host given arrests over online speech.