In a presidential action the White House announced Thursday that the United States will withdraw from 66 international organizations, including several that focus on cybersecurity and online rights.
KEY FACTS
- Action U.S. withdrawing from 66 international organizations.
- Named groups Global Forum on Cyber Expertise, Freedom Online Coalition, European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats.
- Reason Administration called some groups redundant, wasteful or a threat to sovereignty.
- Concerns Critics say the move will weaken international cyber coordination.
The withdrawals include organizations that work on critical infrastructure protection, cybercrime, cyber skills and hybrid threats. The Global Forum on Cyber Expertise counts governments, law enforcement and private tech firms among its members and supports gender inclusivity in security work.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a State Department statement: “It is no longer acceptable to be sending these institutions the blood, sweat, and treasure of the American people, with little to nothing to show for it.”
Chris Painter: “It’s a non-political capacity-building platform that the U.S. helped establish and that has done good work in the Western Balkans and Asian Pacific, among other places, that I think advances U.S. interests.”
Ron Deibert: “The withdrawal from the forum and cuts at CISA would further erode network security coordination at a time when the magnitude of cyber threats are rapidly increasing.”
Nina Jankowicz: “Exiting the Freedom Online Coalition removes U.S. participation from a group that supports free expression, association and privacy online.” Alexandra Givens: “The U.S. decision will inevitably weaken the rights and security of Americans and people around the world for years to come.”
WHY IT MATTERS
The decision reduces U.S. participation in multinational cyber coordination and may reshape international collaboration on defending critical infrastructure and upholding online human rights, according to observers quoted in the coverage.