The 19th Internet Governance Forum (IGF 2024) is underway in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, from December 15 to 19. This year’s overarching theme is Building Our Multistakeholder Digital Future. The forum traditionally gathers leading experts, researchers, and professionals to discuss topical issues of digital development.
Experts from the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ attending IGF 2024 include Director Andrey Vorobyev, Deputy Director Andrey Romanov and Chairman of the Youth Council Andrey Aleynikov, as well as Senior Lecturer at St. Petersburg State University of Technology and curator of the Russian Summer School on Internet Governance, Anastasia Savelyeva.
This year, the Youth Council of the CC, together with the School of International Information Security (IIS School), organized two sessions in the Lightning Talk format, which took place on December 15, the forum’s day zero.
The session Digital Doppelgangers: Avatars, Relics, Ghosts began with a video presentation by Arevik Martirosyan (Russia), PhD in Law, author and head of the School of International Information Security, who discussed the concept of digital doppelgangers and their use in the modern world. In a discussion moderated by Jasmine Ko (Hong Kong), participants Aaron Promise Mbah (Nigeria), Matilda Moses Mashauri (Tanzania), and Anastasia Savelyeva (Russia) addressed the phenomenon of digital twins – virtual avatars that can persist and function in digital space even after a person’s death. The speakers explored the ethical and psychological challenges of this phenomenon, including issues of identity, the changing perception and experience of grief, possible manipulation and distortion of personality, and emphasized the need to develop legal and ethical frameworks to regulate such technologies.
The session Personal Sovereignty on the Internet: Our Future or Utopia?, moderated by Alim Khapov (Russia), featured presentations by Daniele Turra (Italy), Athanase Bahizire (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Denise Leal (Brazil), and Anastasia Savelyeva (Russia), who discussed the concept of personal sovereignty on the internet. Particular attention was paid to the barriers and opportunities of decentralized systems such as Tim Berners-Lee’s Solid, as well as the interaction of personal and state interests. Participants noted that technical, economic, and social barriers must be overcome to achieve personal sovereignty.
Andrey Aleynikov, Chairman of the Youth Council of the CC, spoke about the importance of working with the younger generation to involve them in the discussion of global topics at events of this level: “Forums like IGF allow young people not only to delve deeper into the context of internet governance but also to present their views on issues of concern. We need to encourage connectivity among youth coalition members across the globe to try our hand together at what we think is really worthwhile and engaging.”
“The IGF forum provides a unique opportunity to discuss significant topics such as personal sovereignty and the ethical challenges of digital technologies at such a high level. It is an incredibly important step towards shaping a fair and secure digital future for all,” noted Anastasia Savelyeva, Senior Lecturer at St. Petersburg State University of Technology and member of the CC Youth Council.
The sessions were organized by Andrey Aleynikov, Chairman of the Youth Council of the CC; Arevik Martirosyan and Daria Stepovaya, members of the CC Youth Council and the Executive Directorate of the IIS School. The preparation of the sessions was carried out with the active participation of Youth Council members: Marina Moiseyeva, Alena Gerashchenko, and Marina Linnik, who found relevant news on the topics raised during the sessions and collected sources; Karina Strebkova, who prepared the texts of the reports; and Nikita Solovyev, who conducted surveys for the session attendees.
The forum will last until December 19, and our delegation’s work is ongoing.
