In November 2020, a discussion club on internet development and regulation was launched by the Coordination Center for TLD.RU/.РФ.
Online meetings of the club primarily focus on internet governance and cover a wide range of topics, from technical and regulatory issues related to implementing new internet protocols to the responsibility internet platforms have for the content they post. Graduates of the Summer School on Internet Governance make up the core members of the club, but anybody interested in internet governance is welcome. Every participant in these informal meetings can express their views on the discussed issues, take part in debates with invited experts, and talk with other club members.
One of the previous meetings dealt with the results of the IGF 2020 youth track. The guest speaker was Yulia Morenets, founder of the Youth IGF Movement, an initiative launched by TaC (Together against Cybercrime International) in cooperation with the Council of Europe, the French Ministry of National Education and other partners. Yulia Morenets shared the results of the public forum organized by TaC on the sidelines of the IGF while Youth IGF Russia co-coordinator Natalya Filina spoke about the Youth IGF Movement and upcoming events in Russia, including the December debates on digital education. Following the meeting, three summer school graduates decided to join the Youth IGF Movement debates.
The past meetings also covered the general results of the IGF 2020. For the first time in history, the forum was held online, which allowed more than 6,000 people from all over the world to attend. The club members also met with Leonid Todorov, General Manager of the Asia Pacific Top Level Domain Association (APTLD); Pavel Khramtsov, DNS Project Manager at MSK-IX; Yury Kolotayev, a postgraduate student from the Department of Internet Relations at St. Petersburg State University; and other renowned experts.
Two club meetings are scheduled for January 2021, on free access to crucial internet resources, cyber regulation and the participation of businesses in negotiations. Event announcements are posted regularly on the Internet Governance channel on Telegram (https://t.me/youthIGrus) and in the Youth IGF Russian Community group on Facebook. Recordings of the past meetings are available on the club’s YouTube channel.
The discussion club has been launched without a proper name. Right now you can take part in a naming contest and suggest a name for the discussion club. Send in your picks by January 10 using this form. The winner will get a cozy hoodie that says “Call things by their names” from the Coordination Center. We look forward to receiving your suggestions and welcoming new club members.
