WSIS+20 High-Level Event | Global Digital Governance & Multistakeholder Cooperation for WSIS+20
2025-07-10 10:00 - 10:50 (Europe/Helsinki)
Date & Time: 10:00 – 10:50 CEST, Thursday, 10 July

Location: Plenary Room C, Palexpo, and online
As the global community approaches the 20-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20), inclusive and ethical digital governance remains critical to upholding human rights and advancing sustainable development. This roundtable will examine how to strengthen multistakeholder engagement—across civil society, the academic and technical communities, the private sector, and end users—to advance WSIS Action Lines C10 (Ethical Dimensions of the Information Society) and C11 (International and Regional Cooperation).
Recognizing the inextricable link between human rights and equitable global progress, the session will focus on best practices, challenges, and strategies for rights-based digital governance and enhanced international collaboration. A central theme will be the role of artificial intelligence (AI)—particularly generative and decision-making systems—in shaping the integrity of online information and public discourse. Participants will explore how AI influences trust, democratic participation, and human rights, and how governance frameworks can promote transparency, accountability, and equity while safeguarding freedom of expression, privacy, and non-discrimination. As AI technologies increasingly amplify existing trends, such as the spread of disinformation and the erosion of trust, the session will also consider to what extent current international agreements, human rights frameworks, and platform regulations remain adequate to address these compounded challenges.
The session will also highlight practical, collaborative approaches to bridging the digital divides through inclusive and rights-respecting strategies. Emphasis will be placed on how responsible AI governance and the promotion of healthy, trustworthy information ecosystems contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while preventing emerging technologies from deepening existing inequalities.
By fostering meaningful engagement and generating concrete policy recommendations, particularly around the WSIS+20, this session aims to help shape a more inclusive, sustainable, and human rights-based digital future.
Moderator: Ernst Noorman, Cyber Ambassador, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Speakers:

Rasmus Lumi, Director General, Department of International Organisations and Human Rights, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia
Dan York, Chief of Staff, ISOC
Gitanjali Sah, Strategy and Policy Coordinator, ITU
Isabel Ebert, Strategic Adviser, B-Tech Project, OHCHR
Jan Gerlach, Public Policy Director, Wikimedia Foundation

WSIS+20 High Level Event | Embedding Human Rights in AI Standards: From Principles to Practice
2025-07-10 16:00 - 16:45 (Europe/Helsinki)
AI Governance Dialogue at WSIS+20

Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) – International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

Date & Time: 16:00 – 16:45 CEST, Thursday, 10 July
Location: Room E, Palexpo, and online
Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming societies at an unprecedented pace. While they offer vast opportunities, they also pose risks to the enjoyment of human rights. Technical standards, as foundational elements of digital infrastructure, can either safeguard or undermine these rights depending on their design and implementation.
In the Global Digital Compact, Member States call on standards development organizations (SDOs) to collaborate in promoting the development and adoption of interoperable artificial intelligence standards that uphold safety, reliability, sustainability, and human rights. In line with this vision, the Compact also recommends establishing an AI Standards Exchange to maintain a register of definitions and applicable standards for evaluating AI systems. Moreover, the Freedom Online Coalition’s 2024 Joint Statement urges SDOs and all stakeholders to embed human rights principles in the conception, design, development, and deployment of technical standards.
Thus, this side event will explore how such standards and tools can be developed to uphold human dignity, equality, privacy, and non-discrimination throughout the AI lifecycle.
Moderator: Ernst Noorman, Ambassador at Large for Cyber Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
Speakers:

Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General, ITU
Peggy Hicks, Director of Thematic Engagement, OHCHR
Karen McCabe, Senior Director of Technology Policy, IEEE
Caitlin Kraft-Buchman, CEO & Founder, Women at the Table
Dr. Florian Ostmann, Director of AI Governance and Regulatory Innovation, Alan Turing Institute

UNGA 80 | Building on the Foundations: Securing the Future of the Open Internet
2025-09-25 10:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | New York
On the margins of the UNGA 80 High-Level Week in New York, the Republic of Estonia, 2025 Chair of the FOC, will convene representatives from government, the technical community, civil society, academia, and the private sector for the side-event “Building on the Foundations: Securing the Future of the Open Internet”.
As the global community marks the 20-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20) and advances efforts toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring that the Internet remains free, open, globally connected, accessible, interoperable, secure, and rights-respecting has never been more critical.
This side-event will examine how to strengthen resilience, mitigate risks such as Internet shutdowns and attacks on critical infrastructure, and promote meaningful connectivity, particularly for marginalized communities. Together, speakers will examine how technical, policy, and rights-based approaches can protect the architecture of the Internet and support a digital environment that upholds human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The event will commence with opening remarks from the 2025 FOC Chair, followed by interventions from high-level representatives of FOC Member States, Members of the Advisory Network, and other key stakeholders. Nabiha Syed, Executive Director, Mozilla Foundation, will provide a keynote address in advance of a multistakeholder panel discussion moderated by Lea Kaspar, Executive Director, Global Partners Digital, and featuring:

H.E. Margus Tsahkna, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia
Dr. Jamal Tonzua Seidu, Deputy Director-General, Regulatory Affairs, Cyber Security Authority of Ghana
Alex Walden, Global Head of Human Rights, Google; Member of the FOC Advisory Network
Avri Doria, Principal Researcher, Technicalities; Member of the FOC Advisory Network
Sabhanaz Rashid Diya, Executive Director, Tech Global Institute; Member of the FOC Advisory Network

Please note attendance at this event is by invitation. If you would like more information, please contact events@freedomonlinecoalition.com.

Tallinn Digital Summit | FOC Engagements
2025-10-09 - 2025-10-10 | Tallinn, Tallinn, Estonia
Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) Member States, Observers, and the FOC Advisory Network will convene on the margins of the upcoming Tallinn Digital Summit (TDS), taking place from 9 – 10 October 2025.
Further information on FOC engagements at TDS will be shared in the coming weeks. Should you have any enquiries, please reach out to events@freedomonlinecoalition.com.
