Description: Global internet governance is at a turning point. WSIS+20 events in 2025 will provide an opportunity for reform as well as reflection; it is still uncertain whether the Global Digital Compact (GDC), to be agreed on during a Summit of the Future in September, will create additional fora for internet governance topics; the UN Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) will conclude in 2025, with the content of a subsequent Programme of Action (POA) and potential additional modalities still under discussion; added to uncertainty around the conclusion of the Ad Hoc Committee on cybercrime. This workshop, held under IGF sub-theme 4, “Improving digital governance for the Internet We Want”, will address the rapidly increasing range of institutions, sites, and modes of Internet governance. Its central purpose is to examine what some have called a “paradox of inclusion”, where the sheer range of initiatives overwhelms the ability of low-resourced actors, such as developing countries and civil society, to meaningfully contribute. After an overview of the likely trajectory of internet governance in 2025-2026, the workshop will focus on areas of overlap and potential duplication, including challenges to the authority and constitution of technical internet governance bodies, as well as normative disagreements present across the more policy-oriented fora above. The workshop will also examine potential gaps in the emerging internet governance landscape, such as global digital inequality along gender and other intersectional lines and material resource scarcities. This workshop will adopt innovative methods to crowd-source views from participants, as well as immediate self-reflection to identify potential biases. The concrete result of this workshop will be a publicly available map of internet governance institutions as a shared resource for the Internet governance community. This map will include institution mandates, main backers, and key areas of potential challenge, contestation, and duplication.
Open Zoom
