IGF 2023: Strengthening civil society participation in multistakeholder internet governance

The session called ‘How to enhance participation and cooperation of CSOs in/with multistakeholder IG forums’ at IGF 2023 Open Forum #96 aimed to explore strategies to improve and enrich the involvement of civil society organisations (CSOs) in multistakeholder forums. Its objectives included identifying the challenges these organisations face and discussing approaches to ensure that the perspectives of Global South CSOs are effectively represented in international multistakeholder forums, including ITU, ITF, and ICANN standardisation processes.

Speaker insights: empowering civil society for inclusive global internet governance

Pavlina Ittelson, Executive Director of Diplo US, highlighted that the European Commission has recently launched the Civil Society Alliances for Digital Empowerment (CADE) initiative, led by the DiploFoundation and funded by the European Commission. The project’s primary objective is to bolster the involvement of civil society in global internet governance, with a particular emphasis on regions in the Global South. The overarching goal is to tackle the existing challenges in internet governance, which include fragmented forums, limited capacity and understanding of human rights impacts, and the evolving technological landscape.

She stressed the significance of promoting a more inclusive approach to internet governance. Ittelson also emphasised the need to engage civil society in a multistakeholder manner, enabling diverse perspectives to be heard. She pointed out that this approach could shed light on underrepresented issues, such as women’s rights, language and culture aspects, and the rights of indigenous groups. Moreover, she highlighted the lack of diversity and inclusion within specialised standardisation bodies and called for efforts to address these disparities.

Viktor Kapiyo, a Member of the Board of Trustees at the Kenya ICT Action Network, pointed out the financial barriers that civil society organisations in the Global South often face when participating in global processes. He emphasised the importance of increasing internet access in the Global South and highlighted the role of capacity development initiatives like the Kenya School of Internet Governance. Kapiyo also stressed the need for collaboration and coalition-building among civil society organisations to overcome the lack of linkages between digital rights organisations.

The representative of the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting (ECNL), Marlena Wisniak, discussed the importance of meaningful multistakeholder engagement, calling for proper resourcing and capacity-building for CSOs, including marginalised communities. She addressed power imbalances between stakeholders and the need for mechanisms for safe participation, emphasising the importance of CSOs participating for increased transparency and accountability. Wisniak highlighted the significance of creating a safe environment for CSOs to contribute effectively to discussions and decision-making processes.

Jovan Kurbalija, Executive Director of DiploFoundation, discussed the impact of triviality on participation in large systems. He spoke about the role of navigation experience in shaping individuals’ engagement and accessibility issues with documents from international bodies. Kurbalija called for more inclusive perspectives and innovative approaches in policy development.

Peter Marien,  leader of Digital Governance at the European Commission, underscored the EU’s commitment to digital governance centred around human development. He emphasised the importance of a global approach that involves multiple parties and stakeholders, highlighting the limited engagement of CSOs in these global digital governance processes. Marien pointed out challenges related to CSOs, including capacity limitations and knowledge gaps. He stressed the need for aligning discussions with the principles outlined in the UN Charter of Human Rights. Furthermore, he mentioned existing collaborations between the EU and international bodies such as ITU, IGF, UNESCO, and OHCHR.

Tereza Horejsova, Outreach Manager at the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise and IGF MAG Member, underscored the importance of civil society in policy development and the role of platforms like the IGF. She also stressed the importance of fostering a culture of multistakeholderism to enhance policy-making and underscored the necessity of safeguarding the independence of CSOs in the internet governance process. Horejsova discussed the need for effective consultation processes and the value of embracing diversity in panel discussions.

The speakers emphasised the importance of civil society engagement, collaboration, and inclusivity in global governance and policymaking, including internet governance, stakeholder engagement, standardisation processes, and capacity development. They highlighted the challenges and opportunities facing civil society organisations, particularly those in the Global South, and called for more diverse perspectives and innovative approaches to address global issues. The CADE project was presented as a hopeful endeavour aimed at tackling these issues and nurturing substantial involvement of CSOs in global internet governance.

Additional insights

The panellists delved deeper into the critical elements of capacity-building, resource allocation, and knowledge acquisition essential for CSOs to engage effectively in international governance bodies. They shared the perspective that collaboration between CSOs from both the Global North and Global South holds the potential to facilitate more meaningful participation from the latter. Additionally, they underscored the importance of forming local partnerships to bring often-overlooked issues to the forefront. Moreover, the value of adopting coalition-building and collaborative approaches was reiterated alongside the call for enhanced coordination among CSOs.

These discussions also identified challenges in fragmented forums dedicated to internet governance, limitations in capacity, particularly among CSOs and governments in grasping the human rights implications of advancing technologies, and the prevailing dominance of strictly technical spaces by Global North organisations. These findings further emphasise the need for proactive measures to overcome these challenges and advance more inclusive and effective global governance processes.