Internet Governance Policies And Regulations In The Digital Sphere

As the internet continues to shape our world, understanding the policies and regulations that govern this digital space becomes increasingly critical. "Internet Governance: Policies and Regulations in the Digital Sphere" provides a comprehensive exploration of the frameworks and strategies that define internet governance today. This book delves into the complex landscape of global internet policies, examining key issues such as data privacy, cybersecurity, digital rights, and the role of international organizations. Through in-depth analysis, expert insights, and real-world case studies, this guide offers valuable knowledge for policymakers, business leaders, legal professionals, and anyone interested in the future of the internet. Equip yourself with the tools to navigate and influence the digital governance landscape effectively.

The volume explores the consequences of recent events in global Internet policy and possible ways forward following the 2012 World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12). It offers expert views on transformations in governance, the future of multistakeholderism and the salience of cybersecurity. Based on the varied backgrounds of the contributors, the book provides an interdisciplinary perspective drawing on international relations, international law and communication studies. It addresses not only researchers interested in the evolution of new forms of transnational networked governance, but also practitioners who wish to get a scholarly reflection on current regulatory developments. It notably provides firsthand accounts on the role of the WCIT-12 in the future of Internet governance.

This Open Access volume provides an in-depth exploration of global policy and governance issues related to digital platform regulation. With an international ensemble of contributors, the volume has at its heard the question: what would actually be involved in digital platform regulation?. Once a specialised and niche field within internet and digital media studies, internet governance has in recent years moved to the forefront of policy debate. In the wake of scandals such as Cambridge Analytica and the global techlash against digital monopolies, platform studies are undergoing a critical turn, but there is a greater need to connect such analysis to questions of public policy. This volume does just that, through a rich array of chapters concretely exploring the operation and influence of digital platforms and their related policy concerns. A wide variety of digital communication platforms are explored, including social media, content portals, search engines and app stores. An important and timely work, Digital Platform Regulation provides valuable insights into new global platform-orientated policy reforms, supplying an important resource to researchers everywhere seeking to engage with policymakers in the debate about the power of digital platforms and how to address it. Terry Flew is Professor of Digital Communications and Culture at The University of Sydney. He is the author of 14 books, including Regulating Platforms (2021) and Understanding Global Media (2018). Fiona R. Martin is Associate Professor in Online and Convergent Media at the University of Sydney, Australia. She is the author of Mediating the Conversation (2022), co-author of Sharing News Online (2019) and co-author and editor of The Value of Public Service Media (2014).

The information society is a key issue in everyday life and a phenomenon enc- passing social, cultural, economic, and legal facettes. Currently, an information society’s legal framework is gradually crystallizing under the newly introduced term of “Internet governance”. During the last few years, intensive discussions about the contents of Internet governance have addressed manifold aspects of a possible regulatory regime. In light of the general comprehension that an international treaty structure is mi- ing and that self-regulation as a normative model does not sufce in all respects, new architectural and constitutional theories have been developed; furthermore, the international body of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) came to life. N- withstanding the available literature on IGF, however, a thorough and systematic study sheding light on the main topics of Internet governance (such as legitimacy, transparency, accountability, and participation) and on the key regulatory issues (for example critical Internet resources, access, protection of civil liberties/- man rights, realization of security, safety and privacy standards, as well as the overcoming of the digital divide) from a legal perspective is not yet at hand. The present publication aims at discussing these legal challenges. This book has benefted from many inputs and encouragements from colleagues that I am deeply grateful for. In particular, I am indebted to the very meaningful discussions and valuable support in the preparation of the publication by my - search assistants lic. iur Mirin . a Grosz and lic. iurR . omana Weber, to lic. iur.

The book addresses representation of the public interest in Internet standard developing organisations (SDOs). Much of the existing literature on Internet governance focuses on international organisations such as the United Nations (UN), the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The literature covering standard developing organisations has to date focused on organisational aspects. This book breaks new ground with investigation of standard development within SDO fora. Case studies centre on standards relating to privacy and security, mobile communications, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and copyright. The book lifts the lid on internet standard setting with detailed insight into a world which, although highly technical, very much affects the way in which citizens live and work on a daily basis. In doing this it adds significantly to the trajectory of research on Internet standards and SDOs that explore the relationship between politics and protocols. The analysis contributes to academic debates on democracy and the internet, global self-regulation and civil society, and international decision-making processes in unstructured environments. The book advances work on the Multiple Streams Framework (MS) by applying it to decision-making in non-state environments, namely SDOs which have long been dominated by private actors. The book is aimed at academic audiences in political science, computer science communications and science and technology studies as well as representatives from civil society, the civil service, government, engineers and experts working within SDO fora. It will also be accessible to students at the postgraduate and undergraduate levels.

In recent years, we have witnessed the mushrooming of pro- democracy and protest movements not only in the Arab world, but also within Europe and the Americas. Such movements have ranged from popular upheavals, like in Tunisia and Egypt, to the organization of large-scale demonstrations against unpopular policies, as in Spain, Greece and Poland. What connects these different events are not only their democratic aspirations, but also their innovative forms of communication and organization through online means, which are sometimes considered to be outside of the State’s control. At the same time, however, it has become more and more apparent that countries are attempting to increase their understanding of, and control over, their citizens’ actions in the digital sphere. This involves striving to develop surveillance instruments, control mechanisms and processes engineered to dominate the digital public sphere, which necessitates the assistance and support of private actors such as Internet intermediaries. Examples include the growing use of Internet surveillance technology with which online data traffic is analysed, and the extensive monitoring of social networks. Despite increased media attention, academic debate on the ambivalence of these technologies, mechanisms and techniques remains relatively limited, as is discussion of the involvement of corporate actors. The purpose of this edited volume is to reflect on how Internet-related technologies, mechanisms and techniques may be used as a means to enable expression, but also to restrict speech, manipulate public debate and govern global populaces. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Information Technology and Politics.

As this publication explains, freedom of expression is not just a by-product of technical change; it must be protected by legal and regulatory measures that balance a variety of potentially conflicting values and interests in a complex global ecology of choices. The impetus that this report provides for the prioritization of research in this field encourages further scrutiny of the multifaceted issues that govern the conditions for freedom of expression on the Internet. The findings of this research point to the need to better track a wider array of global, legal and regulatory trends. It is my hope that this publication proves to be a useful and informative resource for all users working in this domain, whether individual researchers, students or policy makers.

This open access book is one of the first academic works to comprehensively analyse the dilemma concerning global content governance on social media. To date, no single human rights standard exists across all social media platforms, allowing private companies to set their own rules, values and parameters. On the one hand, this normative autonomy raises serious concerns, primarily around whether companies should be permitted to establish the rules governing free speech online. On the other hand, if social media platforms simply adopted international law standards, they would be compelled to operate a choice on which model to follow, and put in place mechanisms to uphold these general standards. This book examines this topic from a multidisciplinary perspective, drawing from the expertise of the authors in law, political science and communication studies. It provides a carefully reconstructed theory of the content governance dilemma, as well as pragmatic solutions for companies and policymakers. In this way, the book not only benefits academics by advancing the debate on content moderation issues, but also informs new policies and regulatory strategies by offering an up-to-date overview of rules and tools for content moderation, as well as an evaluation of their current level of compliance with standards emerged in international human rights law and digital constitutionalism initiatives. Edoardo Celeste is Assistant Professor of Law, Technology and Innovation and Director of the European Master in Law, Data and AI at the School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Ireland. Nicola Palladino is a Research Fellow under the Human+ Co-Fund Marie Skodowska-Curie Programme at the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Dennis Redeker is a Postdoctoral Researcher at ZeMKI, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research, University of Bremen, Germany. Kinfe Yilma is Assistant Professor of Law at the School of Law, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.

Rikke Frank Jrgensen has given us a thoughtful and competent contribution to a debate of increasing global importance. Her theoretical analysis and practical case-study stimulate critical reflection on how we should connect the primary moral domain of our time human rights with the primary infrastructure for global communication, the Internet. This book is a must read for all who engage with the search for meaningful and practical normative directions for communications in the 21st century. Cees J. Hamelink, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Understanding the Internet is key to protecting human rights in the future. In Framing the Net, Rikke Frank Jrgensen shows how this can be done. Deconstructing four key metaphors the Internet as infrastructure, public sphere, medium and culture she shows where the challenges to human rights protection online lie and how to confront them. Importantly, she develops clear policy proposals for national and international Internet policy-makers, all based on human rights. Her book is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of human rights on the Internet: and that should be everyone. Wolfgang Benedek, University of Graz, Austria Jrgensens examination of whether Internet governance can be better aligned with the rights and freedoms enshrined in human rights law and standards of compliance should be read by everyone in the academic, policy and legal practitioner communities. From womens use of ICTs in Uganda to Wikipedia in Germany, information society developments make it imperative that scholars and practitioners understand why it matters how the issues are framed. This book successfully analyses a decade or more of debate in this field in an engaging and very illuminating way. Robin Mansell, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK This important book examines how human rights are being applied in the digital era. The focus on internet freedoms and internet rights has risen considerably in recent years, and in July 2012 the first resolution on the promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the internet was adopted by the U.N. Human Rights Council. This timely book suggests four framings to examine human rights challenges in an internet era: the Internet as Infrastructure, the Internet as Public Sphere, the Internet as Medium and the Internet as Culture. These propositions, and the questions that arise from them, are considered in the broad context of the way human rights are translated and applied in the information society, both in academic research and the international communitys policy discourse. The author points to the role of private actors vis-^-vis human rights as one of the most crucial and cross-cutting themes that needs to be addressed in order to advance human rights protection on the internet. Combining research themes that are often dealt with separately, this book will appeal to civil society organizations, journalists, and policy makers in the field of internet and communication policy making. The books overview of internet-related academic discourse combined with human rights-based policy analysis will be useful for scholars, students, and practitioners working within these fields.