Session
Avoiding Internet Fragmentation
Digital Sovereignty
Organizer 1: Natalia Filina, 🔒At-Large (ICANN)
Organizer 2: Sébastien Bachollet, 🔒ISOC Fr
Speaker 1: Natalia Filina, Private Sector, Eastern European Group
Speaker 2: Sébastien Bachollet, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Tijani BEN JEMAA, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 4: Glenn McKnight, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 5: Paris Esfandiari, Intergovernmental Organization, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 6: Abdulkarim Oloyede, Technical Community, African Group
Speaker 7: Yik Chan Chin, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 8: Dunsin Fatuase, Intergovernmental Organization, African Group
Speaker 9: Laura Margolis, Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Sébastien Bachollet, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Natalia Filina, Private Sector, Eastern European Group
Sébastien Bachollet, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Round Table - 90 Min
A. How can we prevent the Internet fragmentation but follow the national interest to preserve digital sovereignty?
B. How does the multistakeholder model (MSM) fill gaps in the internet Governance processes under fragmentation risks and threats?
What will participants gain from attending this session? The purpose of this workshop is two folds: To show all components of the "Internet fragmentation" concept, to highlight the current trends and initiatives from around the world that pose Internet fragmentation risk, and to present unique concerns of different world regions over their national sovereignty (views of representatives of 5 regions (Africa, Latin America and Caribbean, Europe, Asia Pacific, and North America).
2. Our consolidated work (responsible for the interests of Internet end users in the ICANN process of developing policies and in addressing issues of global Internet Governance). We demonstrate a practical example of the advantages of a multistakeholder approach to the Internet Governance, uniting and involving in the process those that are usually left out of the decision-making process.
Description:
Different regional visions but united regional approaches: is the tension between the Internet fragmentation and national digital sovereignty inevitable? How does the multistakeholder model (MSM) fill gaps in the internet Governance processes under fragmentation risks and threats?
Fragmentation, Sovereignty, Balkanization, and Splinternet are terms used interchangeably to refer to the problem of Internet segmentation within the international Internet Governance (IG) discourse. However, the misinterpretation, the highlighting of some features and the ignoring of others have led to disharmony and incomprehensive understanding of the multicomponent of this concept and process.
Increasingly, it is becoming hard to maintain the Internet as a universal digital space with equal access and with benefits and rights for all. The combination of polarity of interests and the lack of contractual capacity of the actors of a single internet Governance mechanism, competition within the system of supranational regulation, lack of consensus from those who offer various models of Internet Governance are presenting complex challenges.
We are joining together to expand the dialogue and offer a more rounded view of the challenges in preventing Internet fragmentation while observing the interests of states internet sovereignty. We also focus on the importance of a Multistakeholder Model of Internet Governance, as a way to minimize the risks of fragmentation.
We will provide a complete report of the panel discussion and the workshop's findings.
The result of this workshop will be the opening of a permanent dialogue within the IGF and establishing a working group on "Overcoming Internet fragmentation and preserving sovereignty". These will offer opportunities for continuous exchange of ideas, sharing of experiences, and potential solutions among all participants in the Internet Governance process.
Hybrid Format: Two moderators - online and offline - will facilitate interaction between speakers and visitors on the spot and online.
We will develop a session schedule with equal time slots for each speaker and for the "free microphone" time, we will allocate time for summing up.
We are interested in listeners' opinions, so we plan to use the collection of opinions from the chat room to create a whiteboard with talking points from the audience if it will be possible.