Internet Governance Forum
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.
Gender and internet governance emerged as one important takeaway for consideration and reflection during the IGF main session “Development, Innovation and Economic Issues: Focus on the SDGs”.
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) welcomes the initiative by the Internet Governance Forum's Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) to further develop the IGF’s intersessional work on “Policy Options for Connecting and Enabling the Next Billion(s)”.
As more Schools on Internet Governance pop up around the globe, it has become clear that there’s an appetite for greater collaboration, collective curriculum development and networking between organisers as well as a clearer picture of who is working on internet governance education and where.

Association for Progressive Communications (APC) 2022
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