How is the internet governed? - The Global Challenges Foundation

The internet, of course you use it, but how much do you actually know about who runs it?

What is the basic principle behind internet governance?

A multi-stakeholder approach, where users, technology developers, net operators, governments and others who have an interest in the development of the internet collaborate in forming the rules that make communication possible.

A top-down approach, where the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, IANA, determines the rules and imposes them on technology developers, net operators and others who want to use the internet.

Consensus between major internet companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook etc.

Majority voting in the UN General Assembly

Who decided on the current governance approach?

The government of the United States of America

There was not a single decision, but a gradual adoption of roles and functions by stakeholders as need rose with the internet spreading and developing

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) together with the major stakeholders

The UN General Assembly

On 30 September 2016 an event occurred that many in the internet community regard as a milestone in internet history. What happened?

Av Coolcaesar - Eget arbete, CC BY-SA 3.0

Apple released a new version of its operative system

Google made its search algorithm public

The US government handed over control to the UN

The US government handed over control to the non-profit organization ICANN

What function does the Internet Engineering Task Force, IETF, perform?

By the IETF Trust - Public Domain

Surveillance of internet communication to avert acts of cyberterrorism

Administering the domain name system (DNS)

Developing voluntary technological internet standards

Issuing obligatory technological internet standards

What role does the United Nations play in internet governance?

By I, Padraic Ryan, CC BY-SA 3.0

Board members of core internet organizations such as ICANN, IETF and the Internet Society are elected by the UN World Summit on the Information Society

The basic laws of internet communication must be approved by the UN General Assembly

The Internet Governance Forum is organized on a UN mandate

Top-level domain names and protocols are administered by a UN subsidiary organ

What happens at the Internet Governance Forum?

Staff from the Global Challenges Foundation present at IGF 2016 in Jalisco, Mexico

Governments from all over the world discuss how they can control communication on the internet in order to avoid criminality and disclose terrorist plans

Governments from all over the world discuss how they can contribute to free communication on the internet

People from different stakeholder groups – companies, organizations, governments and individual users – from all over the world discuss and vote on the rules and policies that are to be enforced on internet communication

People from different stakeholder groups – companies, organizations, governments and individual users – from all over the world convene to discuss common issues and provide ideas and non-binding input to policy makers

In which city does the Internet Governance Forum 2021 take place?

Berlin, Germany

By Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0

Geneva, Switzerland

Tokyo, Japan

Av Morio - Eget arbete, CC BY-SA 3.0

Katowice, Poland

By MOs810 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0