Declining to review for NeurIPS due to policy on sanctioned institutions - Pastebin.com

I am declining to review for NeurIPS this year in light of its newly adopted policy to refuse submissions from individuals affiliated at institutions subject to US sanctions. While I am not affiliated with any institution on the list, or a citizen of any sanctioned country, I believe this is an absurd policy that unfairly harms researchers based on arbitrary determinations by the US government, and will also lead to further fragmentation and decoupling of the AI research ecosystem. Indeed, the new policy has already resulted in the China Computer Federation advising all computer scientists who are Chinese nationals to avoid submitting any papers or provide review services for NeurIPS (see https://www.ccf.org.cn/Focus/2026-03-25/865918.shtml) I do not believe this was the intended outcome of the policy.

Notwithstanding any legal advice NeurIPS may have received, I would also like to note that other US-based academic publishers do not appear to have adopted similar policies with respect to US sanctions. ACM allows publications from individual authors based in sanctioned countries (https://www.acm.org/publications/policies/acm-publications-policy-on-trade-sanctions), while a 2004 OFAC ruling allowed IEEE to engage in peer review and copyediting services for authors in sanctioned countries (https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/js1295).

Modulo any reciprocal reviewer requirements, I will reconsider reviewing for NeurIPS as a volunteer only if this policy changes.