Internet Governance Forum

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.