GNI and GPD release new report on country positions for the WSIS+20 review

The Global Network Initiative and Global Partners Digital have released a significant new publication, ‘The Road to WSIS+20: Key Country Perspectives in the Twenty-Year Review of the World Summit on the Information Society,’ developed under the Shaping the WSIS+20 Review for a Unified Internet Multistakeholderism project supported by the inaugural ICANN Grant Program. The report is designed to strengthen global engagement in the WSIS+20 review by providing detailed insights into the digital-policy positions of governments whose stances will shape negotiations in the lead-up to the High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly in December 2025.

The publication situates the review in the broader evolution of international digital governance. WSIS 2003–2005 created the first global framework for thinking about the societal impact of ICTs and established principles that continue to underpin internet governance today. Two decades later, the environment has shifted. The rise of generative AI, intensifying security threats, geopolitical tensions around technology, and widening digital divides have transformed expectations for global governance. At the same time, new processes such as the Global Digital Compact and the UN Office on Digital and Emerging Technologies are redefining institutional roles. The report therefore examines whether the WSIS framework remains fit for purpose and how governments understand its relevance in a crowded governance landscape.

Drawing on research across Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ghana, India, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia, the report provides an in-depth look at national priorities, including connectivity policy, rights-based governance, data protection, cyber norms, and approaches to multistakeholder participation. It also incorporates chapters on China, the EU, Indonesia, the UK, the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, offering a comparative view of how influential actors interpret WSIS principles in the context of competing regional and global strategies. The analysis highlights substantial variation in how countries perceive issues such as the future of the Internet Governance Forum, the relationship between WSIS and the Global Digital Compact, and the degree to which multistakeholder approaches should be institutionalised.

The report is a collaborative publication edited by Global Partners Digital and written by a network of leading academic and civil-society organisations, including the Centre for Communications Governance at National Law University Delhi, Data Privacy Brazil, Derechos Digitales, Digitally Right, Fundación Karisma, Media Foundation for West Africa, Paradigm Initiative, Research ICT Africa, and contributors such as Konstantinos Komaitis and Anriette Esterhuysen. It offers a detailed, comparative evidence base to inform negotiations and provides stakeholders with a clearer understanding of the strategic interests shaping the WSIS+20 process.