With a strong commitment to multistakeholderism and clear messages on harnessing innovation and balancing risks in the digital space the 19th edition of the United Nation’s Internet Governance Forum ended on Thursday, Dec. 19th 2024.
After nearly a whole week of debates and exchanges of knowledge and expertise among thousands of participants either onsite in Riyadh, Saudi-Arabia or online the host-country’s representatives thanked all of them for their contributions to building our multistakeholder digital future.
After the adoption of the Pact for the Future and Global Digital Compact in September 2024, The IGF 2024 has set a landmark for thriving forward the main objectives as laid down in the GDC. In a rapidly evolving and innovative field where new technologies, applications and services are emerging almost daily, balancing risks and opportunities was a priority topic during many of the debates in Riyadh.
In particular, the handling of artificial intelligence is at the centre of the IGF 2024 messages as follows:
“Progress has been made in global AI governance, but significant work remains to ensure the responsible, fair, safe, accountable, inclusive and sustainable development and use of AI for all, and build trust for its widespread adoption. AI and its applications must uphold human rights, democratic values and the rule of law, while being inclusive, transparent and explainable.”
“There is a critical need for trusted, inclusive, and secure digital identity systems as foundational infrastructure for global digital transformation. Privacy and security must be balanced to foster user trust while leveraging emerging technologies such as blockchain, biometrics, and AI to enhance identity verification.”
Today, children already grow up in a world where AI-shaped information influences their worldview. So no wonder in the light of these developments, children’s well-being and their growing-up safely with respect to their evolving capacities featured prominently in more than ever sessions at IGF 2024, an overview with links to the videos on the respective Youtube-channel can be found in our article IGF 2024: “Building our Multistakeholder Digital Future”
According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Art. 2 children should not be discriminated neither in the analogue nor in the digital environment. This is reflected in the following IGF 2024 message:
“Meaningful and universal connectivity is essential for advancing human rights and digital inclusion, allowing full participation in the digital economy, while also enabling other socio-economic rights. It can only be achieved with affordable access to services and devices, obtainable digital literacy and skills, and equal occupancy of the online space by both men and women, boys and girls, young and old, urban and rural, local and global communities.”
And at the same time stakeholders are reminded of their duty of care towards children as follows:
“Governments, tech companies, civil society, parents, and educators share a collective responsibility to safeguard children's rights in the digital world. While technology holds transformative potential to empower children, proactive measures are essential to protect them from risks such as cyberbullying, misinformation, and exploitation.”
With these tasks and challenges in mind, the Internet Governance stakeholders will spend the next six months preparing for the Internet Governance Forum 2025, which will take place from 23 to 27 June 2025 in Lillestrom, Norway.