The Global Digital Justice Forum and the Global South Alliance issue a joint statement leading up to the Global Dialogue on AI Governance

The Global Digital Justice Forum (GDJF) and the Global South Alliance (GSA) issued a joint statement in July 2026 addressed to the United Nations Global Dialogue on AI Governance. The statement says that ‘the current trajectory of Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation has consolidated the neocolonial structures of development’ and that ‘a handful of US and Chinese transnational corporations dominate global AI systems’, controlling ‘over 90 % of global AI data centre capacity’. GDJF describes itself as a coalition of 45 civil‑society organisations from the Global South, while GSA is a network of 26 civil‑society organisations from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The joint statement urges the Global Dialogue on AI Governance to adopt a South‑led AI paradigm anchored in rights‑based development, respect for planetary boundaries, intergenerational justice and human rights. It sets out five specific calls:

1. End AI extractivism – the statement calls for AI innovation to embrace the precautionary principle, to be ethically and transparently developed, democratically accountable, and grounded in a globally agreed minimum floor for dignified work, pluralistic knowledge, diversified economies and planetary flourishing.

2. Apply the Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) principle in international AI cooperation – the statement argues that the current path of data and AI technologies, designed and controlled by a few, creates predatory value capture and disadvantages developing countries in trade, taxation and intellectual‑property regimes. It calls for global commitments to underwrite the development of regenerative, locally‑led AI infrastructures and models in the South.

3. Address corporate impunity in data and AI value chains – the statement proposes a global moratorium on the sale and use of AI systems that pose a high risk to human rights, such as remote biometric recognition, social scoring, spyware and AI‑driven autonomous weapons. It also calls for the rapid adoption of the proposed UN Binding Treaty on Transnational Corporations to hold global businesses accountable for human‑rights violations and environmental degradation in data and AI value chains.

4. Design a data‑governance framework that delivers on global equity – the statement says a ‘one‑size‑fits‑all’ policy playbook for cross‑border data flows will not deliver equitable development. It calls for recognition of development sovereignty as a core principle, safeguards for collective privacy and community stewardship of non‑personal data, and strong personal data‑protection rights.

5. Invest in the development of global public compute – the statement proposes a ‘CERN for AI’, a global facility for public compute that would support a distributed network of AI research centres coordinated by a central hub and provide access to innovators and researchers from developing countries.

The statement links to earlier submissions made to the Global Dialogue’s official consultations in April 2026:
GDJF’s April 2026 submission – https://gdjf.globaldigitaljusticeforum.net/submission/submission-to-the-global-dialogue-on-ai-governance-on-themes-structure-and-outcomes/
GSA’s April 2026 submission – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1shUlFAUgNiXLgi2wizzYvoCRDKsk3wyh/view