The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a lawsuit against Cisco Systems cannot continue under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), a 1789 law sometimes used to bring human rights cases in U.S. courts.
The case was filed in 2011 by members of the Falun Gong movement. They accused Cisco of helping the Chinese government persecute Falun Gong followers by developing technology for the “Golden Shield” surveillance system. According to the plaintiffs, this system was used to monitor, detain, torture, and suppress Falun Gong members in China.
Cisco denied the allegations, calling them false and offensive. A lower court had previously revived the lawsuit in 2023, saying the plaintiffs had plausibly claimed that Cisco knowingly provided technical support that contributed to human rights abuses.
However, the Supreme Court reversed that decision. The justices continued a trend from earlier rulings that have narrowed the reach of the ATS. The Court has repeatedly said that lawsuits involving human rights abuses committed abroad must have a strong connection to actions taken inside the United States.
As a result, it is now even harder to use U.S. courts to hold American companies legally responsible for alleged human rights violations that occur in other countries.
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