Internet governance involves an array of activities related to the policy and procedures of the management of the internet. It encompasses legal and regulatory issues, such as privacy, cybercrime, intellectual property rights and spam. It is also concerned with technical issues related to network management and standards, and economic issues such as taxation and internet interconnection arrangements.
Because the growth of the mobile industry is tied to the evolution of internet-enabledservices and devices, decisions about the use, management and regulation of the internet affect mobile service providers and other industry players and their customers.
Internet governance requires input and collaboration from diverse stakeholders relating to their interests and expertise in technical engineering, resource management, standards and policy issues, among others. Relevant stakeholder groups will vary depending on the specific internet governance issues that are being addressed.
Debate
Who ‘owns’ the internet?
Should certain countries or organisations be allowed to have greater decision- making powers than others about the management of the internet?
How should a multistakeholder model be applied to internet governance?
“Only a concerted joint global effort by governments, businesses, the technical community and civil society will produce a governance architecture that is as generic, scalable and transnational as the internet itself. No single actor or group of actors can solve this alone.”
– Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist at Google and Co-inventor of the Internet Protocol suite, February 2018
Industry position
The internet should be secure, stable, trustworthy and interoperable, and no single institution or organisation can or should manage it. The existing multistakeholder model for internet governance and decision-making should be preserved and allowed to evolve.
Given the ubiquity of the internet today, any architecture designed to govern its use should be capable of addressing a range of issues and challenges in a manner that is more agile and flexible than traditional government and intergovernmental mechanisms.
Collaborative, diverse and inclusive decision- making models are required for stakeholders to participate in internet governance.
The decentralised development of the internet should continue, without the control of a particular business model or regulatory approach.
Some internet governance issues warrant a different approach at the local, national, regional or global level. An effective and efficient multistakeholder model ensures that stakeholders, within their respective roles, can participate in building a consensus on such issues.
Technical aspects related to the management and development of internet networks and architecture should be addressed collaboratively by different stakeholder groups through relevant standards bodies, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and other forums.
Economic and transactional issues, such as internet interconnection charges, are best left to commercial negotiation, consistent with commercial law and regulatory regimes.
Resources
Internet Governance Forum website
WSIS+20 and IGF+20 Review by the UN General Assembly (2025), Internet Governance Forum