IT Law & Cyber Diplomacy Foundation’s Post

And so it starts again... an as yet unpublished draft of a G77 (inter-governmental) response includes the words: “ensuring the right of States to equally participate in the management and distribution of basic international Internet resources is crucial.” States can participate today in internet governance processes, and the multistakeholder approach means they have equal standing with industry, civil society, academia and more. Let's keep it that way. Please.

Nothing can happen for decades, and decades can happen in weeks.” A quote often attributed to Vladimir Lenin seems most apt these days for the fast-moving world of internet governance. As the UN carries forward its “Summit for the Future” seeking to update its approach to a changing world, some countries are using the opportunity to reopen debates about how the internet is managed. A perfect storm of unclear process and intention, genuine frustrations with the status quo from the bulk of the “G77” block, and a global rush to figure out artificial intelligence (AI) is converging in ways that could upend the open internet. And while the Summit for the Future process has been underway now for close to a year, in the last few weeks it’s taken some wild turns. My latest for the Atlantic Council Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) with special thanks to the amazing Kenton Thibaut and Rose Jackson for their contributions! #GDC #Internetgovernance #UnitedNations #PactForTheFuture #NetMundial #multistakeholder #China #G77 #internet #infrastructure https://lnkd.in/eCpEaMvm

The British Government announced last week that it was transferring the sovereignty of an island in the Indian Ocean to the country of Mauritius, spelling the end of the .io domain suffix. This article looks at how geopolitical changes can unexpectedly disrupt the digital world. It explores historical precedents and office valuable context for tech founders, users, and observers. It also provides a look at the unexpected intersection of international relations and internet infrastructure. https://lnkd.in/gKuzbtiz

New paper from yours truly published in Policy & Internet (FREE access) Models of State Digital Sovereignty From the Global South: Diverging Experiences From China, India and South Africa https://lnkd.in/d-XZ5WRd

The British Government announced last week that it was transferring the sovereignty of an island in the Indian Ocean to the country of Mauritius, spelling the end of the .io domain suffix. This article looks at how geopolitical changes can unexpectedly disrupt the digital world. It explores historical precedents and office valuable context for tech founders, users, and observers. It also provides a look at the unexpected intersection of international relations and internet infrastructure. https://lnkd.in/dhzk35m2

June is almost over but it's never too late to catch-up with the monthly issue of our journal, #TelecommunicationsPolicy. 📰 https://lnkd.in/dfqR9jCT This is special issue edited by Roxana Radu, Riccardo Nanni, PhD & Jamal Shahin, exploring novel lines of inquiry in the study of #Internet #governance. 🌍 Stephanie Arnold proposes a model for #African #agency in the choice of #network equipment providers, highlighting the influences of foreign finance and donors' digital development agendas: https://lnkd.in/dDXfbtq8 📲 Sabrina Maaß, Dr. Jil Wortelker & Rott evaluate the impact of #NetzDG, the new German regulation on #socialmedia, finding no evidence of chilling effects or overblocking: https://lnkd.in/dkpvvWJz 🛰 Berna Akcali Gur & Joanna Kulesza contribute to the discussion on the global governance of #satellite #constellations, arguing that developing countries have a legitimate interest in participating in norm development processes: https://lnkd.in/d6yfM4Aq ⚖ Rosa, Kimberly Anastácio, Maria Vitoria Pereira de Jesus & Hemanuel Jhosé Alves Veras examine the #gendergap in internet governance references, finding that female names name citations represent only 20% of all #citations analyzed: https://lnkd.in/d2aM7JWF 🎒 Nadia Tjahja & Diāna Potjomkina look at youths meta-participation at the #InternetGovernanceForum, concluding that their engagement is not deterred when existing processes do not meet their needs or expectations: https://lnkd.in/dvTymBgg 🏷 Christopher Choy, Ellie Young, Megan Li, Lorrie Cranor & Jon Peha study consumers' satisfaction with the #broadband disclosure labels mandated by the Federal Communications Commission, highlighting that the current labels lack key information desired by consumers: https://lnkd.in/duXPYimE 👩💻 Judit Bayer discusses how #contentranking #algorithms are positioned within the #AIAct, claiming that they should be subject to strict ethical requirements: https://lnkd.in/d48uAKxF 🌎 Thales Bueno & Renan Gadoni Canaan assess the impact of the EU #DigitalServicesAct on #Brazil's #FakeNewsBill, finding limited #BrusselsEffect due to criticism of its incapacity to address local platform liability concerns : https://lnkd.in/d7T_TgRG 💻 Liu, Wu, Lin, Song & Hsu explore users' #privacy perceptions regarding #IP location display in #China, estimating that the perceived costs of self-disclosure outweighed its benefits: https://lnkd.in/drqsqcaZ 🎓 Nir Kshetri proposes an institutional theory framework to explain the dynamics underpinning #academic institutions' assimilation of #generativeAI: https://lnkd.in/dVfJkjnW

Authoritarianism these days is not really about which nation state is doing it, whether democratic or undemocratic. Authoritarianism can be in individual State decisions and the tools they use, for example I believe France’s ban of TikTok for 10 days in New Caledonia during an uprising might have had elements of authoritarianism. IP blocking and DNS level blocking could also be another authoritarian tool. In general “assertion of digital sovereignty” can lead to authoritarianism. In undemocratic countries, I don’t think we see many cases of digital sovereignty, because their laws in essence have not been promulgated in a democratic way and sometimes violate human rights (fining, prosecuting and confiscating women possessions because of not wearing hijab is one, which will soon be applied to social media)

https://lnkd.in/g6EZBW8T Part of Democracy vs Authoritarianism #gpc "In 2014, those at NetMundial affirmed the need for human rights protections on the internet, the importance of a limited role for the state in managing the internet, the requirement for affordable and high-quality access to the internet, the value of open and interoperable standards, and urgency to close the digital divide. NetMundial also set in motion the The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition, the last trace of US governmental control over the technical functions of the internet. Collaboration and multistakeholder participation were identified as the only way to address these issues...ten years later, amidst all the geopolitical posturing around digital issues, there was great pressure for this non-Western-led gathering to come together and matter. Something remarkable happens when you put more than 700 people in one room and ask them to work toward a shared goal. People put politics aside, roll up their sleeves, and collaborate. This is how I would describe last week’s intense two days...But the excitement coming out of NETmundial10 was short-lived...the G77+China had spent more than a week coordinating their responses...[and] taken a stance amounting to an alarming encroachment on the technical architecture of the internet, catching everyone in the internet governance community off guard... China’s influence can be seen throughout...[it] includes policies China has advocated for, for years...designed to undercut human rights in the global system. This includes refuting the importance of human rights by arguing that development trumps all or is the supreme human right itself, as well as for internet governance to be centralized within the UN system, which would de facto mean a multilateral, state-controlled set of mechanisms. Many of these proposed standards are developed by domestic Chinese companies whose ultimate aim is to ensure the CCP’s continued political security...[and]...tailored to the end use goals of a political party that has made surveillance, censorship, and control of online spaces a cornerstone of its approach...Mexico surprisingly put forward some of the most controversial language on internet governance, mirroring longstanding Chinese proposals for alternative models...Its position on the GDC caught most of the diplomatic community off-guard and underscored just how dynamic and unpredictable this process is becoming. We can’t be sure what is currently driving Mexico’s extreme position; it may be economic factors or it may just be out of ideology. In any case, this language presents us with a whole new reality of how some member states view internet governance...The events of NETmundial10 bring home the dynamics at play; as countries debate the management of the internet, their equities and efforts to shape the world toward their interests are playing out in a number of places at once." Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) Konstantinos

How geopolitics is reshaping digital infrastructure: When will the .io domain disappear? Dive into the complex world of domain politics and what it means for the future of the internet.  #digitalinfrastructure #internet #domain