The Internet Governance Project has awarded two fellowships to young scholars from Poland and China to enable them to attend the Hyderabad Internet Governance Forum and present their research at the 3rd annual Symposium of GigaNet (the Global Internet Governance Academic Network).

Dr. Joanna Kulesza, of the University of Lodz Faculty of Law and Administration, will present a paper titled “Internet governance and the jurisdiction of states.” Kulesza's paper discusses the traditional principles of international jurisdiction, shows their practical applications and contrasts them with the new circumstances of the Internet. The paper analyses the principles of territoriality, effects, active and passive personality, protective principle and the universality principle and examines each of the discussed principles for their applicability to the Internet.

Dr. Zhuo Zhang, of the Wuhan University School of Journalism and Communication, China, will present her paper (co-authored with Handong Wang): “Two Kinds of Violence: Internet Governance and Internet Mob in Mainland China.” This paper probes the relationship between the Chinese government's attempts to control the internet and the formation of “internet mobs” among Chinese users. It argues that the peremptory blocking of international information sources functions objectively to promote excessive, “violent” reactions by internet users in China.

“We were impressed with these paper proposals and the commitment of the applicants to engage with the international community forming around Internet governance,” said Milton Mueller, chair of the IGP Scientific Committee.

The GigaNet Symposium is in its third year and has quickly become one of the leading venues for presenting academic research on the Internet and its governance. Held the day before the annual UN Internet Governance Forum, the Symposium features a program of 15 paper presentations and several poster presentations.

The fellowships were made possible by a grant from the Ford Foundation, Peace and Social Justice Program, Governance unit, and the Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom program, Media unit.