Saving the Internet We Want: Why 2024 and 2025 are Make or Break Years for the Internet

The Current Internet Governance Structure is Under Attack

• Today, if you send an email, you can be sure that as long as the account is valid, it will reach its destination no matter where it is in the world
• You can connect with like-minded advocates around the world
• Though governments can restrict access to the internet, it’s the same one that the rest of the world accesses

…All that could change next year

In 2025, the Current Internet Governance Structure Could Change

A series of processes, both multistakeholder and multilateral, will be held in 2024 and 2025 that could reduce who runs the internet

From this…

to this.

In This Presentation, You Will

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• Catch up on how the internet has been working
• Understand what changes could happen in 2025
• Discuss what you can do

Events in the Next Year

• Stakeholders from every sector will gather at fora all over the world
• The debate over the future of internet governance is on the table

Key Topics Will Include

The underlying question in all of them is:

What is the Future of Multistakeholder Internet Governance?

How is the Internet Working Now?

Internet applications and services have been transformative, continuously challenging expectations. no one predicted the impact and popularity of Facebook or texting…

The multistakeholder model

Open standards allow every network to connect to every other network

Anyone can set up any system anywhere. No permission needed.

👍

The Internet has gone from being a network run by government agencies and researchers, to being one run by a mixture of research and commercial interests that has fundamentally changed societies.

Internet Ecosystem

(Oversimplified)

The Internet is Complex and Multilayered

• OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) is a reference model for how applications communicate over a network.
• In the beginning of the internet, these layers had discernible and clear borders. As the internet evolved, some of the participating actors began to engage in different layers - for instance, Facebook, Google and Amazon started at the application layer but currently they are also engaging in laying down fiber, which makes them relevant all the way down to the physical layer. This makes the OSI model more of a useful analogy than an accurate depiction of the current state of networking.

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• Services like social media, e-commerce and web browsing are part of the Application Layer
• Internet Protocol (IP)–the unique identifying number of every device connected to the internet–exists at the Network layer as well as all of the standards that underpin it.

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That's where the whole debate is.

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Whoever controls IP, controls communication.

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Why should I care?

Everyone does (in theory)

Who Operates the Network Layer?

• Unlike the telephone network, which for years in most countries, was run by a single company, the global Internet consists of tens of thousands of interconnected networks run by service providers, individual companies, universities, governments, and others.

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• Anyone can create content, offer services, and sell products without requiring permission from a central authority.

But Who’s in Charge?

It Operates Through These…

Registration and repository IP addresses and domain names

Phonebook of the internet

e.g., AFOL, Verizon, Telmex, Pacific Internet

Coordinates DNS Root, IP addressing, and other Internet protocol resources

Responsible for IP protocols (Network Layer)

UN specialized agency focusing on ICT issues

There Were Some Meetings to Agree to Some Rules…

2005

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WSIS in Tunis: Internet Governance as we know it is cemented. This is under review in 2025

2003

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WSIS in Geneva:

Adoption of declaration of principles and plan of action on governing information and communication technologies

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1998

ITU in Minneapolis: Preparations for the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), dedicated to issues of development and information and communication technologies (the first of its kind), begins.

Compromise: ITU agreed to establish WSIS instead of holding onto certain internet governance controls

The Asia Bloc coined the term ‘Internet Governance’ for the first time at this conference!

These meetings established constants of a free and open internet that all stakeholders should strive for:

Global Reach, Integrity:

General Purpose:

Innovation without Permission:

Information can be shared as intended across networks, countries, and contexts without restriction

There are no inherent limitations on the technologies that use the internet. It is capable of supporting a wide range of uses

Accessibility:

Interoperability & Mutual Agreement:

Collaboration:

Reusable Building Blocks:

No Permanent Favorites:

Any person or organization can set up a new service that follows existing best practices without special permission from anyone. Best example: World Wide Web

Anyone can access the internet

Different systems can communicate with each other seamlessly. Ex. any browser can open any webpage. This is achieved through open standards and agreements between operators

Beyond basics of interoperation, the best solutions to new issues come from willing collaboration between stakeholders (ex. competing businesses, technologists and policymakers

Technologies have been built and deployed on the Internet for one purpose, only to be used at a later date to support some other important function

While some technologies, companies and regions have flourished, their continued success depends on continued relevance and utility, not strictly some favored status

Source: The Internet Society

The Basics

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1. Governments agreed that access to the internet is a human right
• Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, states that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; that this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Communication is a fundamental social process, a basic human need, and the foundation of all social organizations. It is central to the Information Society. Everyone everywhere should have the opportunity to participate and no one should be excluded from the benefits the Information Society offers^[
2. The Internet is different than it was 20 years ago and will be different in the future. We need a system that has proven to adapt, even when under resourced, not new bodies: Even though the Internet’s underlying architecture remains mostly unchanged, the Internet has evolved.
• In 2005 Smartphones did not exist and Facebook was only for select college students
• Dec 2005 15.7% of the world population was on the internet
• Dec 2022 70% of the world population was on the internet
3. The Multistakeholder Model is Inclusive: It took companies, governments, and individuals to build the internet. Everyone should have a stake in how it’s run.
• Fora such as IGF are among the only mechanisms available to civil society to bring attention to the challenges and opportunities around internet governance
4. The Internet Will Not Be Better If Only Governments Are In Charge. Multilateralism is slow, challenging, and comes with high political costs.
• In countries in which the internet is controlled by the government, digital repression is more prevalent

Why this Moment, Why this Year?

Governments around the world are feeling pressure to regulate the internet, accelerated by COVID. Over a quarter of countries worldwide have crafted regulatory codes of conduct in at least one area of the internet by 2022.

In 2015, China released "Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace," a vision for internet governance that promotes a state-controlled version of the internet, also called digital or internet sovereignty.

Two big trends are converging in 2024/2025:

1

2

So, How Are They Trying to Change the Internet?

In 2019, China submitted 238 proposals for new standards related to information technology to the ISO and IEC, and 830 to the ITU (the US submitted 405 proposals to the ITU between 2009 and 2020).

The “New IP” Proposal would allow “internet service providers, usually state-owned, [to] have control and oversight of every device connected to the network and be able to monitor and gate individual access.”

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Q

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Decoding the Language

“Digital sovereignty”: justifies regulation that seeks to control the flow of information and data, centers control of Internet within governments.

“National Security”: is the reason countries claim they must control the internet, but increase in use of this terminology closely dovetails with increased internet controls by governments on citizens.

“Free, universal and secure”: is used to describe the Internet by countries like China instead of “open, global, free and interoperable” as it was originally described in 1998, eliminating “open” and “interoperable”.

“Leaving the Internet”: Countries like Russia have announced their intention to leave the global Internet. This creates incentives for other countries to do the same and weakens the global network of networks.

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What’s at Stake

The current structure is not perfect … but there are opportunities for improvement and iteration

Technical entities like the IETF and ICANN provide opportunities for the technical community to coordinate at a global level

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) has the potential for multistakeholder approaches to policy deliberation, information sharing, and improved collaboration. IGF’s open nature and inclusive design has the ability to facilitate widespread participation more than any other process

The ITU is a multilateral agency in the UN system that coordinates WSIS and has the potential to facilitate coordination between governments.

WHAT’S Next? The 2024-2025 Landscape: Everything, Everywhere All at Once

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The Global Digital Compact

GDC? The Big Picture

• Adopted at the Summit of the Future in September 2024.
• Negotiated by 193 Member states, it is a “comprehensive framework for global governance of digital technology and artificial intelligence”.
• Part of a larger Pact for the Future that seeks to reinvigorate multilateral cooperation.
• Elevates the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology as a key implementer of the GDC.

The GDC

It is broken into five central themes:

2. Expand inclusion in and benefits from the digital economy for all

3. Foster an inclusive, open, safe and secure digital space that respects, protects and promote human rights

4. Advance responsible, equitable and interoperable data governance approaches

5. Enhance international governance of artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity.

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1. Close all digital divides and accelerate progress across the Sustainable Development Goals

A Promotion for the Tech Envoy’s Office?

Historically, decision-making power on internet governance at the UN level sat in Geneva, where the ITU, UNCTAD, and other relevant expert organizations could work with UN Members directly. The Tech Envoy was an advisory role to the Secretary General.

The GDC seeks to change that. It wants to consolidate power under the UN Secretary General’s Tech Envoy office in New York City, towards a more distilled multilateral approach.

The GDC: Key Questions

• Will moving power towards New York mean fewer opportunities for multistakeholder contributions?
• Do we need new offices and processes? Or should we invest in existing structures?
• How will the GDC incorporate human rights as a key pillar of implementation?
• What about artificial intelligence?

What does it all mean for existing structures?

Internet Governance Forum (IGF)

December 2024

Meant to “outline shared principles for an open, free and secure Internet for all”. Unlike the other UN processes above, driven by the UN Secretary General and his Tech Envoy. Was adopted at the Summit of the Future and is multilateral.

Global Digital Compact (GDC)

2023 -

2024

Some governments want this…

a multilateral “review the overall implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)”.

WSIS+20 Review

July 2025

to matter more than this…

and use it to get rid of this

A multistakeholder event open to all that came out of WSIS 2005. No decision-making power but a critical place for stakeholders to engage with the UN.

Why the IGF is Critical

Though flawed, the IGF represents the most effective tool to gather the complex actors that make up internet governance stakeholders.

The IGF encourages human-rights based, consensus-driven, and bottom-up discussions and policy suggestions, which follows the principles of an open, free, and interoperable internet.

Lack of concrete results does not mean there has not been a significant impact over the last 19 years!

All Roads Lead to WSIS

WSIS+20 Forum High-Level Event

Annual ITU event where UN and multistakeholder actors gather to discuss tech and advancing the SDGs. This year, discussions of WSIS Process leading up to the 2025 20-year review

May 2024

UN Summit of the Future

A multilateral event to “enhance cooperation on critical challenges and address gaps in global governance” including global digital cooperation (the GDC). Outcome was a negotiated Pact for the Future.

September 2024

Internet Governance Forum (IGF) - KSA

A multistakeholder event open to all that came out of WSIS 2005. No decision-making power but a critical place for stakeholders to engage with the UN.

December 2024

WSIS+20 Finalized at UNGA

a multilateral “review the overall implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)”.

September 2025

Meant to “outline shared principles for an open, free and secure Internet for all”. Unlike the other UN processes above, driven by the UN Secretary General and his Tech Envoy. Was adopted at the Summit of the Future and is multilateral.

Global Digital Compact (GDC)

2023- 2024

this

Internet Governance Forum (IGF) - NOR

June

2025

What Can We Do? 🤷

What Does Civil Society Want?

The same thing we wanted in 1998… and 2003… and 2005… and 2014… and 2024

An Internet that is…

Accountable

Collaborative

Transparent

Inclusive and Equitable

Open and Consensus-Driven

Meaningfully Participatory

Agile

Multistakeholder

Distributed

Accessible

What is at Stake?

Multistakeholder Internet Governance

Future of the Internet Model

Human Rights Considerations

Internet Governance Forum (IGF)

The ability of a diverse set of stakeholders, especially civil society actors, to participate in the discussions about the future of the Internet

The open, global, and interoperable Internet should not be taken for granted

With the WSIS+20 review taking place in 2025, one of the issues that member states will be asked to reconsider is the future of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)

Human rights have played a key role in Internet governance. China and others are working to shift the focus of human rights to development (economic rights) rather than freedom of expression and the right of participation (political rights)

But Definitely Pay Attention to This

WSIS+20 Forum High-Level Event

Annual ITU event where UN and multistakeholder actors gather to discuss tech and advancing the SDGs. This year, discussions of WSIS Process leading up to the 2025 20-year review

May 2024

UN Summit of the Future

A multilateral event to “enhance cooperation on critical challenges and address gaps in global governance” including global digital cooperation (the GDC). Outcome was a negotiated Pact for the Future.

September 2024

Internet Governance Forum (IGF) - KSA

A multistakeholder event open to all that came out of WSIS 2005. No decision-making power but a critical place for stakeholders to engage with the UN.

December 2024

WSIS+20 Finalized at UNGA

a multilateral “review the overall implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)”.

September 2025

Meant to “outline shared principles for an open, free and secure Internet for all”. Unlike the other UN processes above, driven by the UN Secretary General and his Tech Envoy. Was adopted at the Summit of the Future and is multilateral.

Global Digital Compact (GDC)

2023- 2024

this

Internet Governance Forum (IGF) - NOR

June

2025

The Time is Now: Renewed Interest, Different World

• Scope & scale of digitalisation: When WSIS met in Geneva in 2003, the Internet was still at its infancy. Today, it is ubiquitous.
• Renewed interest: Processes like the GDC or the WSIS+20 imminent review have led to a revival of interest in Internet governance.
• The Internet & Emerging Technologies: WSIS was an overwhelmingly optimistic summit. Since then the Internet has changed, our perception about it has changed; technologies like AI have added pressure.
• Geopolitics: Internet governance discussions will take place in the context of an international order which is not willing to collaborate. Opportunity for G77 + China group to push for more government control.

How do we get the #InternetWeWant?

Without Getting on a Plane

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• RAISE AWARENESS: Share this deck with your community, it’s open source! Hold a discussion about what’s at stake.
• GET INVOLVED: PARTICIPATE IN MULTISTAKEHOLDER MODELS: attend your regional or national IGF, show up at national government consultations
• Raise awareness about the state of internet governance and the dangers to the open internet
• JOIN GPD’s MAILING LIST: This resource brings activists working on internet governance together across the globe.
• JOIN ICANN’S MAILING LIST: This resource “facilitates communication and information exchange about the 20-year review” of WSIS

In your communities:

• ADVOCATE: Who is your country’s delegation to the WSIS and implementing the GDC? ICT Ministers, telcos, and independent regulators all play a role in WSIS. Let them know what is at stake and encourage them to support the multistakeholder process at various international processes.
• COMMUNICATE: Establish and maintain communications channels and coordinate with other stakeholder groups.
• STAND UP FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: Reframe conversations to show how the internet will help achieve the SDGs, especially connectivity, digital public infrastructure and human rights.

GDC Next Steps

• Non-governmental stakeholders have the opportunity to endorse the GDC and/or take an ‘active part in the next steps’ of GDC implementation
• Organizations do not have to endorse the GDC to express interest in participating in next steps
• The deadline is December 31, 2024
• Specific actionable engagement is not yet available but more information is expected in early 2025

WSIS Next Steps

• SUBMIT INPUTS: The ITU is soliciting feedback from stakeholders on its work on the WSIS+20, specifically the WSIS Action Lines.
• Submit feedback here by 31 January, 2025 AND

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• PARTICIPATE IN THE OPEN CONSULTATION PROCESS: The ITU, UNESCO, UNDP and UNCTAD have several opportunities until June 2025 to “shape the event program, identify gaps in the implementation of the Geneva Plan of Action and the WSIS Action Lines, and contribute to the WSIS+20 review process”.
• Submit feedback through the Official Submission Form by 14 March, 2025

What are Groups Already Doing?

• Advocating for increased resources (financial, technical, and time) allocated and consolidated to create a platform that can facilitate coordination and participation
• Pushing for more inclusion from the Global Majority and underrepresented communities and sectors
• Incorporating better processes and procedures to guarantee the platform is accountable, inclusive, and transparent
• Creating concrete mechanisms to implement policies and recommendations

Additional Resources

• Français and Español Versions
• Global Digital Partners’ Digital Technology Governance Hub
• Resolution on the promotion of “safe, secure and trustworthy” artificial intelligence (AI) systems 
• Declaration for the Future of the Internet
• African declaration on Internet governance
• NetMundial multistakeholder statement
• World Summit on Information Society – Geneva and Tunis
• Global Digital Compact
• Summit for the Future
• Influencing the Internet

Key Contributors:

Konstantinos Komaitis

Moira Whelan

Sarah Moulton

Amara Shaker-Brown

Marley Berk

Saving the Internet We Want: Why 2024 and 2025 are Make or Break Years for the Internet © 2024 by National Democratic Institute is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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For any questions or want to use this further? Please contact nditech@ndi.org