The Freedom Online Coalition Advisory Network (FOC-AN) is an independent multistakeholder group composed of civil society, academia, technical community, and private sector representatives who provide advice on aims, objectives and activities of the Freedom Online Coalition, as well as support its mission of advancing Internet freedom and human rights online. The Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) is an intergovernmental coalition of 42 Member States committed to ensuring that the Internet and digital technologies reinforce human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.
The advice is developed independently by the the FOC-AN cohort, and is not a statement on behalf of FOC Member States.
The following proactive advice has been provided to support the Freedom Online Coalition’s (FOC) engagement in the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) +20 Review. It highlights the importance of this process for the governance of digital technologies, identifies challenges, and provides specific recommendations for FOC governments, emphasising, in line with the FOC Program of Action 2025, the need to address persisting and emerging challenges that hinder digital inclusion.
Recommendations
WSIS+20 is an opportunity to reflect and discuss the evolution and progress of the WSIS implementation process, including by affirming the extension of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) mandate and making clear that the implementation of the Global Digital Compact (GDC) is part of the WSIS ecosystem. It also presents an opportunity to further advance the multistakeholder approach to digital policymaking and advance core FOC goals regarding online freedoms, while reinforcing the WSIS goals of building an inclusive information society grounded in human rights.
With those opportunities in mind, the Freedom Online Coalition Advisory Network (FOC-AN) offers the following recommendations for action by FOC member governments:
1. Preserve and enhance the multistakeholder model of digital policymaking by ensuring that all stakeholders have a meaningful voice in the WSIS+20 negotiations. Better policy outcomes are achieved when all stakeholders have a seat at the table. FOC governments should:
- Call for open modalities to the process that allow all stakeholders to meaningfully participate – this applies to all aspects of the process, including the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD)’s 28th session in April 2025, the WSIS+20 High-Level Event to be held in Geneva, Switzerland from July 7 to 11, 2025 and the concluding High-Level meeting of the UN General Assembly;
- Include experts from civil society, the technical community, the private sector, and academia on their delegations;
- Ensure that non-government substantive experts can participate in preparatory panels and be involved in the planning for sessions. In particular, safeguard inclusive participation in negotiations, recognizing that financial disparities create significant barriers for underfunded civil society organizations, and academics, particularly in the Global South. To address this inequity, the FOC should take concrete steps to provide greater financial support to ensure more equitable representation in decision-making processes.
- Safeguard the inclusion of all stakeholders – the technical community, civil society, private sector, and academia – in all outcome documents; and,
- Facilitate national consultation processes in FOC member countries that can be used as part of FOC members’ national WSIS +20 review preparations.
2. Advocate for a long-term or permanent extension of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and strengthen its institutional capacity. The IGF has proven to play key and different roles in facilitating knowledge sharing and collaboration. This important role and the need for the IGF’s continuation was recognized in the GDC. However, the IGF needs the institutional capacity to interact effectively and consistently with governments and key institutions from non-state actors. FOC members should:
- Call for a long-term or permanent extension of the IGF;
- Support the appointment of an executive coordinator, a role that existed during the IGF’s formative phase; and,
- Request that some portion of the UN regular budget be used to support the IGF in addition to voluntary contributions.
3. Seek to have GDC implementation done within the WSIS ecosystem to avoid duplication and make the most efficient use of resources. While the GDC includes new and emerging technologies, it builds upon the last 20 years of WSIS and breaks very little new ground. FOC members should:
- Recognize the overarching WSIS goal to “build a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society” as the foundation on which to align continuing WSIS follow-up and GDC implementation so that the digitally oriented Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be met;
- Call for the integration of GDC implementation into existing processes, specifically the next phase of the WSIS by using the WSIS review to make concrete recommendations on how this integration and non-duplication can be achieved;
- Ensure that discussion on issues like AI governance and data governance, as envisioned by the GDC, are brought before and also deliberated by the IGF community; and;
- Integrate human rights and internationally recognized standards and instruments (i.e. Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and the principles of meaningful multistakeholder participation in all discussions around digital governance, including in the New York-based processes.
4. Reinforce that digital inclusion was at the heart of the WSIS and continues to be a priority as digital inequality persists. While much progress has been made in this area, more needs to be done. FOC members should:
- Continue to work with stakeholders to achieve meaningful connectivity, especially in remote and underserved areas, by focusing on innovative initiatives including diversifying access through locally-driven efforts such as community networks;
- Encourage the creation of innovative ways to finance connectivity with a particular focus on blended financing mechanisms;
- Pursue national policy and regulatory improvements, including fully deploying Universal Service and Access Funds (USAFs);
- Leverage and build upon the commitments to digital inclusion in the GDC, including closing all digital divides such as the gender digital divide.
Background
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was a United Nations Summit held in two phases: the first concluded in Geneva in 2003 and the second, in Tunis in 2005. WSIS established a common vision, and commitment endorsed by all UN member states to build a people-centred, inclusive, and development-oriented information society. It also affirmed that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as good governance at all levels are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Among other things, it asserted the multistakeholder model for Internet governance and established the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
The Tunis Agenda called for a review of the WSIS outcomes in 2015. The UN General Assembly’s WSIS+10 resolution largely reaffirmed the existing framework, called for the creation of a working group on enhanced cooperation, and extended the IGF mandate until 2025. It called on the General Assembly to hold a high-level meeting on the 20-year review in 2025 (WSIS+20), involving the input and participation of all stakeholders.
Although the last 20 years of WSIS-related activity worked to mainstream the principle of multistakeholder participation in many of the UN expert agencies (i.e. ITU, UNESCO, CSTD), the New York-based processes remain government-dominated. This was evident throughout the 2024 Global Digital Compact (GDC) negotiation process where stakeholder engagement was largely performative and the processes used were vague, opaque, and hard to follow, even for some governments. While the final agreed GDC was largely status quo, the end-of-year annual negotiation on the Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D) resolution saw some difficult negotiations and pushback.
While the modalities for the negotiation of the UN resolution on WSIS +20 have yet to be established, there are a variety of preparatory workstreams in the first half of the year that will influence the final outcome. These include the February meeting of the ITU Council Working Group on WSIS&SDGs, the April CSTD 20-year progress report of the implementation of the WSIS outcomes, the June IGF, as well as the national and regional IGFs throughout the year, the June UNESCO Global Forum on AI and Digital Transformation in the Public Sector, and the July ITU organized WSIS+20 High-Level Event.
Resources
Association for Progressive Communications (APC). Submission on “The developmental aspects to strengthen the internet.” https://www.apc.org/en/node/40366
Association for Progressive Communications (APC). Inside the Digital Society: How should we review a 20-year-old Summit? What makes it relevant today? https://www.apc.org/en/blog/inside-digital-society-how-should-we-review-20-year-old-summit-what-makes-it-relevant-today
Digital Watch Observatory (2024). Enhancing CSO participation in global digital policy processes: Roles, structures, and accountability | WSIS+20. https://wp.dig.watch/updates/enhancing-cso-participation-in-global-digital-policy-processes-roles-structures-and-accountability-wsis20
GISWatch.(2024). WSIS+20: Reimagining horizons of dignity, equity, and justice for our digital future.https://www.giswatch.org/2024-special-edition-wsis20-reimagining-horizons-dignity-equity-and-justice-our-digital-future
Global Alliance on Media and Gender (2024). Gender Equality and Inclusion in our Digital Future: A new gender deal for WSIS+20. https://gamag.net/2024/06/05/gender-equality-and-inclusion-in-ourdigitalfuture-a-new-gender-deal-for-wsis20/
Global Digital Justice Forum (2024). The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 Review. https://globaldigitaljusticeforum.net/the-world-summit-on-the-information-society-wsis20-review-civil-society-perspectives-and-proposals/
Global Partners Digital. Everything you need to know about the WSIS+20 Review. https://www.gp-digital.org/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-wsis20-review/
