Topic: 2024-Balancing Human Rights
Country: France (UNSC)
Delegate Name: Will McConnell
The French Republic stands unwaveringly loyal to the utilisation of technology as a tool for countering terrorism and feels that, with the right level of transparency, there is no threat to human rights. If anything, it will aid in expanding human rights. With decreased terrorism, marginalised groups will have a better overall quality of life. For this reason, France feels firmly that, despite recent backlash, our decision to allow AI surveillance at the 2024 Paris Olympics is something all governments should learn from.
As a country with a recent history of internal terrorist attacks against both Islamic and Jewish individuals, France feels that it is of utmost importance to the safety of these groups, as well as other groups, in this day and age to protect them before we’ve no option but to mourn them. The only way to protect them is to use the technology available to us to stop terrorism in its tracks.
Though, as previously mentioned, transparency within the government is an important aspect in the use of technology to aid in countering terrorism. The lack of transparency is what draws the line between necessary surveillance and infringement upon human rights. For this reason, France urges countries hoping to use surveillance to use it for good and to tell their citizens when and where it is being used to avoid the internal conflict it was created to stop.
With this being said, it can not be assumed that all governments will agree on what the right level of transparency is in informing their citizens of AI surveillance. Because of this, France would like to see this committee come to an agreed upon level of transparency for all the world’s governments to go off of.
France wishes to see a specific guideline formed and approved by the committee including the following:
A scale for transparency established to determine what is infringement versus what is precautionary, a set guideline for when surveillance should be used, and a guideline for when U.N. intervention is needed in the event of a human rights infringement due to surveillance.
The French Republic looks forward to working with all of our fellow delegates and is excited to reach an agreed upon solution.
