Coming up at 15:00 UTC (REAL TIME TEXT)

The session's announcement precipitated some fairly vigorous discussion on GigaNet.

Pari Esfandiari cited her CircleID essay How Trump’s Trade War is Reshaping the Global Internet which includes
"What began as a debate over tax fairness has morphed into a contest over who gets to write the rules of the internet economy. With the United States aggressively defending its tech sector and other countries asserting fiscal sovereignty, the world is entering an era of contested digital governance. Whether the internet evolves as a shared global commons or fragments into isolated walled gardens will depend on choices being made right now."

Wolfgang Kleinwächter responded

"A landmark moment was last week in Geneva during the UNCSTD session. During the negotiations on the WSIS+20 resolution it was mainly Iran which watered down proposals to make the IGF a "permanent institution" and to refer to the "Sao Paulo Multistakeholder Guidelines" (SPMGs). Nevertheless, the final text included some positive language on human rights, sustainable development goals, AI and against "duplication" of processes and institutions. But when the resolution was ready for adoption, it was the US which asked for a "roll call". The US rejected all references to SDGs, gender and climate and voted as the only country with "No". The UNCSTD resolution will go to ECOSOC and constitutes the main reference for the "intergovernmental prepratory process" (as mentioned in 79/227) for the WSIS+20 high level review conference in December 2025. So far, all WSIS documents were adopted by consensus. An interesting "Road to NYC" is ahead of us. Will we move from the "WSIS Spring" (Tunis) to the "WSIS Winter"?"

Milton Mueller, then chimed in
"I think as part of the Oslo IGF and the WSIS+20 process, we need to start asking hard questions about whether participating in multilateral UN processes is our friend, our enemy, or just unnecessary baggage in the quest for a free and open internet. I think we need to shore up the independence and legitimacy of the native internet institutions, such as ICANN, RIRs, IETF, and yes, IGF (which was supposed to provide a link to, not control by, the UN system). Agree with Alexander that ICANN's tendency to keep itself out of the line of fire by saying nothing is short-sighted and cowardly. If they won't stand up for self-governance by the Internet community, who will?"

So, should be interesting, to say the least!

On Wednesday April 23, 2025, at 11:00-12:30 EDT (15:00-16:30 UTC), the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, as part of its Global Digital Governance series, presents a webinar 'International Cooperation on Internet Freedom and Openness'.

In recent years there has been debate in U.S. foreign policy circles about ways to strengthen cooperation among democratic countries seeking to promote Internet freedom and openness. In this context, the Biden Administration considered spearheading a new alliance to work alongside other initiatives on democracy promotion and Internet freedom, and in April 2022 launched a Declaration for the Future of the Internet with sixty partner countries. But two years on, the policy environment has changed dramatically. Digital cooperation among the liberal democracies is now complicated by a host of new disagreements over trade, regulation, security, information and geopolitical alignments. At the same time, digital cooperation among nondemocratic governments is proceeding without such disruptions and is producing results. These trends raise a number of pressing questions about the future of global digital governance in general and the international coalitional dynamics around Internet freedom and openness in particular.

What has and has not been achieved in this issue-area, and what is the state of play today? How might the apparent weakening of the coalition of liberal democracies impact the international politics of Internet freedom and openness in the years ahead? How might key countries, regions and multinational companies adapt to the new environment? Can multistakeholder cooperation help to fill in any gaps and influence the trajectory of change?

This webinar will take stock of these and related questions. A panel of experts with hands-on experience in this field will lead off the conversation, and then the rest of the session will be devoted to open discussion among all interested attendees.

The session is simulcast live by ISOC LIVE.

INTRODUCTION
Eli Noam, Director, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, Columbia Business School.

PANEL
Eileen Donahoe - Former U.S. Special Envoy for Digital Freedom
Ambassador David A. Gross - Wiley Rein LLP / Former U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy
Jason Pielemeier - Executive Director, Global Network Initiative,

MODERATOR
William J. Drake, Director of International Studies, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information

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X #internetfreedom @wjdrake @Columbia_Biz | MASTO | BLUESKY | INSTA | LI

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Joly MacFie +12185659365

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