UN backs down on government-only Internet governance review

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 21 December 2010 09:18

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

The United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) has bowed to pressure from the Internet community and agreed to include non-government members in a working group set up to review Internet governance.

In an extraordinary meeting on 6 December the CSTD decided to create a Working Group on Improvements to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) with a membership made up only of governments.

The decision provoked an angry response across the Internet community. As a result the CSTD met on 17 December to discuss formation of the working group and, according to the Internet Society (ISOC) "after many hours of debate '¦ partly overturned its earlier decision, reaching a compromise that left membership in government-only hands with twenty-two members [but which] permits the chair of the CSTD to 'invite' 20 [non-government] representatives to take part."

This group of 20 additional participants will comprise: five private sector (business) representatives; five civil society representatives; five representatives of the technical and academic community; and five from inter-governmental organisations.

ISOC said: "The precise status of the 20 new representatives is not entirely clear at time of writing, nor is the way they will be selected. But this decision is important as a recognition that the multistakeholder model cannot be completely discarded, despite the earlier attempt."

After the original decision, excluding non-government members, was made known ISOC joined the International Chamber of Commerce - Business Action to Support the Information Society, the Internet Governance Caucus, and many other Internet, business and civil society organisations to send a protest letter to the CSTD, saying the decision was unacceptable and asking that it be overturned.

The Internet Society also launched an online petition asking the UN to set up an open and inclusive process that would allow full involvement of all stakeholders. To date it has been signed by more than 2600 individuals and groups.