Internet governance about to get its quadrennial stress test at ITU meeting
This year's ITU meeting is therefore a moment at which stakeholders can stress-test the delicate balance between the ITU, internet governance bodies, and the emerging IGF.
- In 2022, Russia and China backed a candidate for the ITU presidency who favored giving nations a stronger role in internet governance, potentially by having the ITU take over some standards work.
- That decision effectively endorsed multi-stakeholder governance, and kept the ITU out of internet standards.
- Governments participate in work at those internet governance bodies but are just one voice among many and can't override the consensus-driven decision-making process they use, under a system which has come to be known as the multi-stakeholder governance model.
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) kicks off its quadrennial plenipotentiary on Monday, and internet governance organizations are bracing in case the event becomes a forum for nation-states to try to challenge their roles.
Such a test could see ITU members try to have it pursue new fields that overlap with work performed by internet governance organizations.
- At a 2025 event called WSIS+20, the United Nations endorsed multi-stakeholder governance by deciding that its Internet Governance Forum (IGF) should become a permanent body.
- China tried to have the ITU work on " New IP" – a major revision to internet protocol, a technology the IETF manages.
- Those bodies include the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF); the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees the domain name system; and the regional internet registries (RIRs), which manage IP addresses.
- It is, however, possible for ITU members to amend proposals during meetings, leaving open the possibility of significant policy changes coming up for a vote during the 18 days the event occupies.
- It also observes that decisions are yet to be made on which bodies should oversee governance of low-earth orbit satellite constellations, submarine cable resilience, and spectrum policy.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →