The integration of digital public infrastructure, like digital identity and wallets for accessing public and private services, has made Internet access a necessity in India. In 2024, India ranked second globally in Internet usage. Yet, only 49.15 percent of its population has Internet access, with rural and remote regions remaining significantly...
What should become of the World Summit on the Information Society? The WSIS+20 review process, culminating at the UN General Assembly in December 2025, will assess progress made since the original WSIS and chart a course for its future. The UN is preparing a "Zero draft" and asked for comments...
The future of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process will be one of the main topics of the 2025 Internet Governance Forum. Many in the IG community are heavily invested in the renewal of WSIS. They imply that if it is not renewed, there will be major, negative...
Across all three terms, the Modi government has tried to position India as a global technology hub. The state's strategy involves pursuing self-reliance or “Atma Nirbharta.” The self-reliance strategy is being taken forward through a two-pronged approach — reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign technologies and nurturing domestic technology providers...
The Internet Governance Project (IGP) filed these comments on the report of the Subcommittee on ‘AI Governance and Guidelines Development’ constituted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). General comments on the subcommittee's report The term AI should more accurately be referred to as advanced machine learning. Machine...
The concept of a ‘fair share’ will likely lead to additional costs for consumers which can have significant economic and operational consequences. With a staggering 900 million Internet users, India has seen a transformation in the communication and media ecosystem. By enabling user-generated content, real-time interaction, and personalised user experiences,...
In the evolving landscape of digital news dissemination, there is a symbiotic yet contentious relationship between news publishers and technology companies. Publishers depend on these platforms for hosting content and traffic referrals, which they monetise through advertising. Technology platforms, such as Meta, act as intermediaries, driving traffic to news websites...
For over a century, India’s interception laws, grounded in the colonial-era Indian Telegraph Act 1885, had allowed the government to monitor communications. Despite updates in 2007 that introduced some safeguards, such as requiring telecom providers to prevent unauthorized interceptions and penalties, the law suffered from limitations. The amendments failed to...
Today (October 21, 2024) is Global Encryption Day. IGP participates in this worldwide event as Saumya Jain and Jyoti Panday examine India’s evolving assaults on private communications. End-to-end (E2E) encryption ensures that only the sender’s and recipient’s devices have access to the keys needed for encryption and decryption. This setup...
As smartphone adoption surges and wireless broadband becomes increasingly accessible, we're witnessing a major shift in the digital landscape. Internet-based platforms are rapidly overtaking traditional services, from Facebook and WhatsApp challenging conventional SMS and voice calls to streaming giants like Netflix disrupting traditional TV broadcasting. This shift is especially pronounced...
Declaring Independence in Cyberspace tells the story of the struggle between governments and the global Internet community over control of the Internet registries (IANA). It offers new insights into a pressing question with profound implications: is state sovereignty the immutable foundation of global governance, or can new technological capabilities change the model?
“This is a book that needed to be written, and no one is better placed to write it than Milton Mueller. This full, rigorous account provides researchers and policymakers with a precious resource on global internet governance.”
