In a recently released paper by the Council of European National Top-level Domain Registries (CENTR), authored in collaboration with Chris Buckridge, the spotlight is once again on the multistakeholder approach to Internet governance. more
As governments convene to discuss the UN Cybercrime Treaty, Google is urging caution, warning that the current draft could endanger online security and free expression. more
The European Union's Network and Information Security Directive (NIS1), introduced in 2016, aimed to strengthen cybersecurity among Member States. However, market fragmentation and growing digital threats led to the enactment of the NIS2 Directive. more
This follows a general meeting on November 14, 2023, and comes ahead of the 2024 EU elections. The initiative outlines strategies for protecting Europe's digital future in the coming decade, especially considering potential strategic shifts in the next legislative term. more
The UK's Online Safety Bill has received Royal Assent and is now officially the Online Safety Act. This law mandates tech companies to incorporate new standards for the design, operation, and moderation of their platforms. more
Russia's communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, intends to block Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) starting March 1, 2024, according to Senator Artem Sheikin of the United Russia party. more
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) commemorates 25 years of fostering international cooperation in managing the Internet's naming system. Originally established by the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1998, ICANN's primary objective has been to ensure a stable and secure operation of the Internet's unique identifiers, most notably the Domain Name System (DNS). more
The UK Parliament has given the green light to the controversial Online Safety Bill, putting Ofcom, the communications watchdog, in charge of internet regulation. This step brings the legislation closer to becoming law. more
ICANN, APNIC and ARIN recently voiced concerns about comments made by the United Nations (UN) Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology (OSET), Ambassador Amandeep Gill. These remarks seem to conflate the roles of the technical community and civil society in the Internet ecosystem. more
In a call for "fairness and justice" in cyberspace, China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, has encouraged emerging economies to collectively resist any attempts at dominance in science, technology, or the internet. more
France's forthcoming SREN Bill could mandate web browsers to block websites deemed illicit by the government, setting a precarious standard for digital freedoms, warns Mozilla Foundation in a recent blog post. more
In light of the ongoing Internet shutdowns, such as the recent government-ordered Internet disruption in Algeria aimed at curbing cheating during national exams, the Internet Society (ISOC) has unveiled a tool, the NetLoss Calculator. This tool calculates the economic costs of internet shutdowns, a feat that has been a significant challenge until now. more
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has voiced concerns about the European Union's proposed Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), saying it could pose significant threats to open-source developers and cybersecurity. more
Chinese state-owned telecom firms plan an extensive undersea fiber-optic internet cable network to link Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. The cable, to be named EMA (Europe-Middle East-Asia), would cost approximately $500 million to complete and be manufactured and laid by China's HMN Technologies Co Ltd, a fast-growing cable firm whose predecessor company was majority-owned by Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. more
The Government of India and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) organized a two-day event on Universal Acceptance Day (UAD) on the 27th and 28th of March to promote multilingual Internet and digital inclusion in India. The event highlighted the necessity of providing emails and websites in native languages to enable access to the Internet and bridge the digital divide across the nation. more