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Civil society's role in the Internet governance debate

Document Citado por Related
Vincent
AutorAmalia Toledo
Páginas136-138

Page 136

See note 54

A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to organize and moderate a panel discussion at the Online Freedom Coalition (FOC) conference, which took place in Tallinn, Estonia, from 28th to 29th April 2014. The panel "Experiences of Civil Society to nurture the international debate on Internet Governance" aimed to generate a dialogue on how to promote civil society participation in the global Internet agenda.

The panel was formed from activists from Latin America and Africa – Paz Peña from the NGO Derechos Digitales (Chile) and Lilian Nalwoga from Collaborative on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (Uganda) –, and academics from North America and Europe – Robert Guerra from CitizenLab (Canada) and Kristina Reinsalu from the e-Governance Academy (Estonia). As ideas were shared and developed, the dialogue with the audience became vibrant and passionate, allowing us to share, relect and present concerns and opinions about civil society involvement on Internet governance.

During the conversation, it was emphasized how the multistakeholder model has allowed an increasing civil society participation in international discussions on this matter. However, this has not been translated into an entirely democratic and egalitarian model for stakeholders. Many times, those who hold political and/or economic power cornered civil society

Page 137

and the many interests that it brings to the table. In this sense, Paz Peña said that, at the international debate, the public interest has lost place, so it is time to put back into the agenda the recognition that the Internet is a public good. She added that the cyberspace, on the other hand, is a place that offers the opportunity for networking, bringing distant and disparate groups close together sharing many needs and interests. And this may serve, among others, to challenge the dominant patriarchal models in order to empower women and transform the established power structures in the interest of creating a more egalitarian society.

On the other hand, Kristina Reinsalu shared some Estonian efforts intended to promote citizen participation, leveraging digital technologies and, thus, fostering more transparent models. One example she offered us was the notion of crowdsourcing for the development of initiatives that arise from civil society and which are made possible thanks to the networks woven in the cyberspace. In Estonia, she told us, civil society has developed...

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