U.S. Supreme Court Deals Final Blow to Corporate Human Rights Accountability
For the past two decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has been slowly weakening the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) , a key human rights law that allows foreign nationals to sue persons or entities in civil court for harms resulting from violations of international law . The court’s recent ruling in Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Doe I dealt the law a final blow, foreclosing—absent new legislation by Congress—any…
The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a definitive ruling that effectively ends the ability of plaintiffs to hold technology companies accountable under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) for aiding and abetting human rights abuses. The landmark decision in Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Doe I effectively ends any future legal recourse for victims of human rights violations by major corporations.
The ruling, which was supported by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), concludes that the ATS cannot be used to create new causes of action to remedy international law violations. The Supreme Court's decision in Cisco leaves technology companies, such as Cisco, without any liability for their role in enabling or contributing to human rights abuses.
This includes the company's involvement in building and deploying the "Golden Shield" surveillance system in China, which was used to target and oppress political dissidents and religious minorities. Plaintiffs, including members of the Falun Gong religion, were subjected to horrific abuses, including torture, forced labor, and detention.
Despite the plaintiffs' allegations being well-documented and supported by extensive evidence, including a 2025 Pulitzer Prize-winning AP investigation, Cisco is now free to continue its actions without consequence. The ruling sent a clear message to American tech companies that they can act with impunity, even when their involvement leads to egregious human rights violations.
Advocates argue that this decision places a significant burden on victims of corporate human rights abuses, as they will no longer have a legal avenue to seek justice through the federal courts.
Written by urgent.news from EFF Deeplinks's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
