As Autocrats Use New Technology to Strengthen Their Grip, Phillips Helps Introduce Legislation to Combat Oppressive Government Surveillance

Press Release

Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) along with Reps. John Curtis (R-UT), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Young Kim (R-CA), and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), announced the reintroduction of the Foreign Advanced Technology Surveillance Accountability Act, a bipartisan bill that would counteract foreign governments who abuse cutting-edge technology to repress their citizens. If passed, this legislation would for the first time designate oppressive government surveillance as a human rights abuse. It would also require a report on whether countries have imported or unlawfully obtained biometric or facial recognition data from other countries.

"The right to privacy is fundamental, and we must ensure that right is protected in our increasingly interconnected world. New technologies provide a powerful tool for enabling a freer exchange of ideas, but they can also threaten our ability to control our private information," said Rep. Phillips. "We must advocate for human rights, both at home and abroad. The Foreign Advanced Technology Surveillance Accountability Act will allow us to assess how foreign governments are using new technologies to threaten civil liberties, so that we can better address it going forward."

"Modern technology is the direct result of innovation by democratic people and countries. However, in many dictatorships, technology has been misused to lessen the accountability of leaders and increase human rights abuses such as torture or unjust detention," said Rep. Curtis. "My bill, the Foreign Advanced Technology Surveillance Accountability Act, brings the State Department's Annual Report on Human Rights Practices into the 21st century to counter the growing adoption of advanced technology surveillance equipment by foreign governments."

"In recent years, we've seen authoritarian governments and one-party states use surveillance technology to repress and persecute religious minorities, political opponents, and the free press. In the face of this concerning trend, the United States has a responsibility to fight for universal human rights and privacy protections," said Rep. Spanberger. "This bipartisan legislation would condemn these behaviors and require the State Department to further monitor governments that weaponize surveillance. I'm proud to join my colleagues in standing up against this growing trend of tech-enabled human rights abuses."

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