The Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace was launched in 2018 by French President Emmanuel Macron with the goal of promoting a multi-stakeholder, multilateral solution to improve trust, security, and stability in cyberspace. When this public call for global action was made in 2018, the US did not answer it. But this past month, the Biden administration changed the US position when Vice President Kamala Harris endorsed the Paris Call in person during a meeting with Macron.

Cybercrime costs the US and Europe billions of dollars per year and generates trillions in profits for criminals. Cybercrime was front-page news after an attack derailed critical American infrastructure earlier this year; the Paris Call specifically calls out this type of activity as contrary to the international document’s guidance for global security. It specifically calls out “indiscriminate or systemic harm to individuals and critical infrastructure,” which would include shutting down an electric grid.