On June 10, ICANN80 hosted a plenary session, “Navigating the Multistakeholder Approach: The ICANN Community's Role in Global Internet Governance,” to discuss how ICANN and the Internet community can effectively participate in UN processes related to Internet Governance. During the meeting, the current topic of approaches to Internet Governance was raised - traditional multistakeholder and multilateral, in which governments play a significant role in decision-making. The main discussion revolved around ICANN's Internet Governance model, which consists of steps towards national governments, increasing the role of the GAC, and intensifying interaction with international organizations.
The meeting discussed the role of ICANN members in disseminating ideas for Internet Governance and building relationships with governments around the world. Participants noted that regional and national Internet Governance forums are well suited for these purposes - a good platform for more active interaction between different parties and governments, with country code registries playing a leading role in their organization in most countries. The experts also tried to determine ICANN’s place in the current model of international Internet governance and ways to strengthen the corporation’s influence on this process.
“The multistakeholder approach has undergone significant evolution in the more than 20 years since its official launch in Geneva at the World Summit on the Information Society WSIS2003. And while geopolitics continues to shape the debate, today we are focused on the issues that have emerged over the years. We are looking for opportunities to participate and influence discussions on these issues at the UN. The stakes are high, and ICANN has a responsibility to preserve a multistakeholder approach, a cornerstone of the Internet's development, so that diverse voices can be heard and integrated into decision-making,” Pari Esfandiari, ICANN At Large Advisory Committee Member, said.
Manal Ismail, Director of International Technical Coordination at the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Egypt and Egypt's representative to the GAC, noted that a multistakeholder approach to Internet Governance is the most appropriate way to meet the needs of an ever-evolving global network.
“And is the only way not to end up with policies that are not technically everyone able or technical solutions in violation of the law and ultimately ensure that all such efforts meet end users' needs and expectations In that respect inspired by NetMundial statement, multistakeholder model approaches should be open, inclusive, transparent, accountable, adaptable, and efficient but most importantly be mindful of power asymmetries among and within the different stakeholders, drive to treat stakeholders fairly and equitable and facilitate meaningful discussions, avoid duplication of efforts and long-standing discussions so as not to put less resource the participants at disadvantage and respect diversity It is worth noting that ICANN's technical mission impacted by global processes and at the same time has potential impact far beyond its limited remit. Hence, it is important that ICANN keeps its community informed and updated and participates actively to relevant global processes, facilitates community dialogue and any needed capacity building, maximizes benefit from ICANN's unique multistakeholder nature and from having the GAC within its structure and finally, provides a role model illustrating an effective and efficient multistakeholder model approach” Manal said.
According to Veni Markovski, ICANN's Government and Intergovernmental Engagement Manager, “we just need to make a clear difference between the multistakeholder model of Internet Governance and (people talking about the multi-stakeholder systems of Internet Governance) ICANN's own multistakeholder model of governance which is very different obviously. Sometimes people confuse them. We think that the more the communities engage with their national governments, the better the chances they can impact and provide information and impact their government's national positions.” Veni Markovski also spoke about ICANN’s active work on the Global Digital Compact, preparations for WSIS+20 and a special page on the ICANN website for interaction with governments.
Deputy Director of the International Department of the China Internet Information Center (CNNIC) Wang Lang spoke in support of a multilateral approach, noting that governance of the global Internet is not only a technical issue, it is important to build a fair and inclusive Internet, for this it is useful to listen to the voices of different countries, peoples, crops This diversity makes it possible to take into account the interests of different groups and promote equality policies.
At the end of the session, the participants came to the conclusion that each of those present in the room can contribute to the development and further improvement of the Internet governance model, which should become not just rhetoric, but a real way of working that strengthens the worldwide network.
