Working together for a safer digital environment

• 06/25/2025

On Tuesday, the 20th United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) officially opened in Lillestrøm, Norway. Under the motto “Shaping and governing the digital environment together”, the internet community from the fields of politics, business, science and civil society is coming together this year to discuss aspects of trust and resilience, sustainable and responsible innovation, universal access and digital rights, and the design of digital cooperation. In her welcome address, Norway's Digital Affairs Minister, Karianne Oldernes Tung, emphasised that democratic values, transparency and trust are the crucial foundations on which her country must build a shared digital environment. This collaborative approach, involving all interest groups, is particularly important today, as trust, openness and freedom are central not only to the digital world, but also to human interaction. The Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, echoed this sentiment in his speech, stating that “the internet should not be shaped by a few, but by everyone”. This would best reflect the fact that the digital environment forms the basis of our everyday lives. The fact that this view is shared beyond Norway was made clear by statements in support of a new mandate for the IGF from EU Commissioner Henna Virkkunen and Polish Digital Minister Janusz Cieszyński.

The concrete significance of the multi-stakeholder model and the role of the values mentioned above in this context were also demonstrated in other sessions on the first day of the conference. For example, the Dynamic Coalitions for the Internet of Things, for Standards, Safety and Security together with the Dynamic Coalition for the Rights of the Child in the Digital Environment deliberated in the session "Safety and Security? Learning the hard way. Cybersecurity and Safety lessons for the 21st century", which current challenges and developments call into question safe participation in the Internet and digital networking. In this context, Jutta Croll emphasized that threats to infrastructures, services and devices lead to threats for users of these. Therefore, it is not enough for devices and applications to work well and communicate securely with each other; people must also be able to interact securely and without risk. To achieve this, the other speakers argued that trust in the security of services and applications must be strengthened. This could be achieved by adhering to norms and standards. However, this would also require regular security updates, encryption and design principles such as 'safety by design', as well as knowledge of the functions and potential risks of applications. It became clear that introducing Internet standards is a task for many stakeholders, and that governments can promote secure design through their own decisions, for example with regard to equipment procurement.

Im Forum von UNICEF zum Thema „Building a Child-Rights Respecting & Inclusive Digital Future” wurde darüber hinaus dargestellt, wie Kooperationen von Nichtregierungsorganisationen mit Partner:innen aus der Wirtschaft dazu beitragen können, gemeinsam positive Veränderungen für Menschen herbeizuführen. Caroline Eriksen von Norges Bank Investment Management informierte darüber, wie sie ihre wirtschaftliche Kraft nutzen, um Unternehmen dazu anzuhalten, die Rechte und Interessen von verletzlichen Gruppen in ihrem unternehmerischen Handeln zu berücksichtigen. Alexander Galt von der Inter IKEA Group beschrieb, wie das Unternehmen seine Selbstverpflichtungen zur Berücksichtigung und Umsetzung der Kinderrechte realisiert.