- UN says multiple stakeholders needed to create people-centric Internet
- There are still concerns around access, misuse and the environment.
- AI also had an entire section dedicated to its risks.
The UN General Assembly has reached a consensus on who should govern the Internet, and it is good news for censorship, as a multi-stakeholder model prevails.
Under this governance, “governments, the private sector, civil society, international organizations, technical and academic communities and other stakeholders” will have a voice, which remains in line with the vision set out at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2003 for a people-centred Internet.
“We reaffirm our commitment to the vision of the World Summit on the Information Society of building a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society, where everyone can create, access, use and share information and knowledge,” the UN wrote in its final document.
UN: no body should govern the Internet
In its document of December 16, 2025, the UN recognized that several developing countries still face barriers not only in terms of access to the Internet, but also in terms of stakeholder participation in governance issues. International cooperation, financing and public-private partnerships were highlighted as some key solutions.
The UN is also concerned about internet affordability and access; gender divisions; the exclusion of vulnerable groups such as older people, indigenous peoples and migrants; human rights violations; the misuse of digital technologies for cybercrimes, surveillance and child exploitation; misinformation and disinformation; and the environmental impacts of digitalization.
The document, presented by General Assembly President and German politician Annalena Baerbock, even has an entire section dedicated to artificial intelligence, with the UN recognizing the benefits of the technology for humanity and highlighting unknown risks associated with the speed, scale and autonomy of development.
Among the human-centered resolutions are demands for more education and training, open source models, accessible training data, and broader access to high-performance computing infrastructure.
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) has now become a permanent body of the UN, whereas before it was just an annual meeting.
The next review is planned for 2035, when the UN calls on all stakeholders to engage at all stages of the process to “identify areas of continued focus”.
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