IGF 2018

Welcome to the 12th round-up of developments impacting your local access networks.

The Dynamic Coalition on Gender and Internet Governance was a unique panel at the 2018 IGF, not only because it was one of the few to have full focus on gender rights, but also because it was a participatory session with presentations from panellists and also engagement by the majority of audience members present.

The session brought together a mixed panel of private, public and government sector representatives. The commentary by panellists reflected their diverse backgrounds, with viewpoints that were at times conflicting and generated discussion among presenters and from audience members alike.

In recent years, the scope and consequences of online disinformation and misinformation campaigns have drawn increasing attention, as concern builds about their ability to exacerbate social polarisation, undermine public trust in the media and influence political decisions.

During the Day 3 workshop “Innovative Approaches to Connecting Underserved Areas”, moderator Sebastian Bellagamba stressed that  "the cost of not being connected keeps increasing for people," noting the link between internet access and socioeconomic development.

As the threat of online radicalisation of youth grows, the need for both pragmatic policy-based, legal and technical responses as well as a larger conversation on youth empowerment, resilience and capacity building in the digital space has become increasingly clear.