+1 to Farzaneh. To build on that, my concern isn't that we're discussing AI, but that it's pulling focus from the critical, on-the-ground challenges our region is facing. AI is the buzzword of the moment, but we have far more urgent issues that directly impact people's lives and safety. Our discussions would be much more relevant if they centered on the specific crises we're living through. This means bringing in speakers and experts from our ME community who can speak firsthand about these threats and what meaningful support from ICANN would actually look like. We should focus on how the war in Sudan and the genocide in Palestine are actively destroying internet infrastructure, destabilizing ccTLDs, and denying people their fundamental right to connectivity. We need concrete action from ICANN on how DNS abuse is being weaponized amid these challenging times. We are seeing humanitarian scams related to Gaza/Palestine through spoofed aid domains, coordinated disinformation campaigns using fake news portals in Libya, systematic takedowns of independent media websites in Sudan, and complete communication blackouts in Afghanistan. And ultimately, AI is not going to fix any of this. Best, Dima On Fri, Oct 17, 2025 at 1:00 PM farzaneh badii via Middle-East < middle-east@icann.org> wrote:
So, nobody from this community was included on the panel or was even consulted on the topics. (At least I didn’t see any) How is this panel even related to the Middle East? I thought these sessions are going to talk about the pressing Middle East issues and we are not even giving a chance to the community to actually bring about their challenges? We don’t want to hear from Palestine on how they operated the past few years and what they need to recover? We don’t want to hear from Syria what support they need? Or Yemen? What happened to our friends in Afghanistan? Did we solve all their problems with AI?
Farzaneh
On Thu, Oct 16, 2025 at 10:13 AM Abdalmonem Galila via Middle-East < middle-east@icann.org> wrote:
*Dear Colleagues,*
I hope this message finds you in great health and high spirits.
On behalf of the ME Space Co-Chairs, it is our pleasure to cordially invite you to attend the *ICANN84 Middle East Space (ME Space) session*, which will take place as follows:
🗓 *Date:* Wednesday, 29 October 2025 🕒 *Time:* 15:00 – 16:00 GMT 🎯 *Session Title:* *Harnessing AI to Strengthen DNS Abuse Mitigation*
This session brings together experts and community members to explore the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence in combating DNS abuse—an issue of growing relevance for our global and regional Internet ecosystem.
We encourage your participation in this timely and insightful discussion. Your engagement will help enrich the dialogue and guide future collaborative efforts in the Middle East and beyond. ------------------------------
*Session Agenda:*
- *Opening & Welcome [5 min]* *Abdalmonem Galila & Amin Hacha*, ME Space Co-Chairs - *ICANN Middle East Updates [5 min]* *Seher Sağıroğlu Ayhan*, GSE Middle East Manager, ICANN - *Introduction of Topic: Policy and Technical Perspective [5 min]* *Abdalmonem Galila & Amin Hacha*, ME Space Co-Chairs - *Using AI for DNS Abuse Mitigation [10 min]* *Christian Hesselman*, Research Director, SIDN - *The AI Shift in Cybersecurity and DNS Abuse [15 min]* *Samaneh Tajalizadehkhoob*, Director, Security Stability and Research, ICANN - *Next Steps for the Space [3 min]* *Abdalmonem Galila & Amin Hacha*, ME Space Co-Chairs - *Introduction of ICANN84 Fellows – Middle East Region [4 min]* - *Q&A Session [10 min]* - *Closure & Acknowledgements [3 min]*
------------------------------
We sincerely hope you will be able to join us and contribute to this important conversation. Should you have any questions or require further information, please feel free to reach out to me directly at any time.
Looking forward to your valued presence.
*Warm regards,*
Thanks a lot.
All the Best,
*Abdalmonem Galila*
Director , Numbering Affairs,
Market Governance Sector.
EX : MCIT , IBM, Java Innovations
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