States’ Role In Multistakeholder Internet Governance Evolving

By Maëli Astruc for Intellectual Property Watch

As the global internet governance landscape started without states in the foreground, the multistakeholder model and the participation of governments in it is still evolving, a recent panel of experts said.

An event co-organised by the Information Society (ISOC) and the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP) on 12 June alongside the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) +10 High Level Event of the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) discussed the evolving internet governance multistakeholder process and assessed the role of governments in that process.

“There is a challenge to reconcile the concept of national sovereignty with the internet model,” said ISOC’s Markus Kummer.

This was underlined by the NetMundial conference in Brazil, according the Geneva Internet Platform’s Jovan Kurbalija. The multistakeholder process was open and inclusive during the preparatory process and discussions, but was undermined in the drafting of outcome documents with a stronger participation of states, Kurbalija said. “Ultimately, the best design process cannot overcome different interests,” he said.

Other panellists discussed different perceptions of the multistakeholder process in Africa, the importance of technical standards and advantages of a multistakeholder states’ delegation.

A summary of the event is available in the GIP website.