ICANN to EU: Global internet governance depends on multistakeholder cooperation
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has submitted a detailed contribution to the European Commission’s Call for Evidence on a forthcoming Joint Communication on an International Digital Strategy. The document, dated 21 May 2025, outlines ICANN’s assessment of the challenges facing the global internet and provides recommendations for how the EU should position itself in international digital governance.
According to the submission, the EU’s continued support for a globally interoperable network is essential to preventing fragmentation and ensuring that billions of users can connect across borders. The introduction also welcomes the EU’s commitment to transparency and broad stakeholder participation in international digital policy, describing this as fundamental to the resilience of internet governance.
A central theme of the contribution is the importance of the multistakeholder model. ICANN describes how policies related to the Domain Name System are developed through community-led processes involving governments, technical experts, businesses and civil society. The organisation warns that abandoning this model in favour of more centralised, state-driven approaches could weaken the technical coordination needed to keep the internet stable and interoperable. ICANN encourages the EU to continue advocating for multistakeholder cooperation at global forums and to use its digital partnerships to expand participation from underserved regions, particularly in the Global South.
The submission also highlights the growing risk of internet fragmentation, which ICANN defines as technical or policy divergence that results in incompatible networks or conflicting naming systems. The document explains that fragmentation can arise from national legislation that contradicts globally coordinated approaches, or from alternative standards that break interoperability. ICANN cautions against expanding concepts such as “digital sovereignty” into areas that affect the internet’s core technical architecture. It recommends that the EU integrate fragmentation-risk assessments into its legislative impact analyses to identify where policy choices might unintentionally disrupt global connectivity.
Looking ahead to the WSIS+20 review at the UN General Assembly in December 2025, ICANN urges the EU to defend the multistakeholder model and avoid shifts toward multilateral decision-making structures that sideline technical expertise. The document stresses that the technical community must remain a distinct stakeholder group, given its role in maintaining the daily operation of the internet. ICANN expresses strong support for extending the mandate of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), potentially establishing its permanence, and improving its ability to address emerging digital challenges. It also recommends clarifying the relationship between WSIS+20 and the Global Digital Compact to avoid duplicating mandates.
In its concluding section, ICANN reiterates that the EU has a significant role to play in upholding a global, stable and secure internet. Protecting multistakeholder institutions, resisting measures that could fragment the network and supporting the IGF are presented as core elements of a coherent international digital strategy. ICANN states that continued collaboration between governments, civil society, the private sector and the technical community is essential to ensuring that the internet remains open, interoperable and resilient.
