[Excom] Fwd: Re: [InternetOrgs.Collaboration] [Ext] Heads up: the UN Technical Envoy's definition of Civil Society

[barrack at aftld.org]

Dear EXCOM,

Any comments on this?

Best Regards
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [InternetOrgs.Collaboration] [Ext] Heads up: the UN 
Technical Envoy's definition of Civil Society
Date: 2023-07-10 13:02
 From: "Adiel Akplogan via InternetOrgs.Collaboration" 
<internetorgs.collaboration at elists.isoc.org>
To: "internetorgs.collaboration at elists.isoc.org" 
<internetorgs.collaboration at elists.isoc.org>
Cc: Veni Markovski <veni.markovski at icann.org>
Reply-To: Adiel Akplogan <adiel.akplogan at icann.org>

Hello everyone,

On behalf of Sally, find attached (text also copied below) the proposed
joint response to the UN Secretary General Technical Envoy statement.
Your comments and will be appreciated. Please also confirm if you are ok
to join ICANN as co-authors. There is an IGF high leadership panel
meeting this week, which is probably an opportunity to have it released
during or before.

Thanks.

- a.

***[The following blog, co-authored by ICANN, [other members names here
] is intended to raise awareness and highlight the technical
community’s concerns over the UN Office of the Secretary-General’s
Envoy on Technology’s (OSET) recent comments that appear to overlook
an important distinction between the technical community and the civil
society and their respective roles in the Internet Ecosystem.

The technical community is responsible for the development and
functioning of the single interoperable Internet. As such, it should not
be confused with the other stakeholders in the multistakeholder model of
Internet Governance, which sets clear distinction between their roles
and functions. It’s the cooperative balance between all of its
stakeholders that keeps the Internet functioning.

During the European Dialogue on Internet Governance, on 19 June 2023,
the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology (UN Tech
Envoy) Ambassador Amandeep Gill stated, ””… This [the Digital
Cooperation Forum] is a multistakeholder forum. So the preparation -
tripartite, so those words are clearly used across civil society, which
includes all the actors from the technical community, academia, and the
value of scientific, independent  scientific expertise, particularly
around AI, that is clearly understood today, there is private sector and
there is governments.” In other words, the UN Tech Envoy statement
implied that there were only three groups - the private sector, the
governments and civil society, under which everyone else is included.

To describe the technical community as part of the civil society is
clearly against the agreed language from the WSIS process, which defined
the roles and functions of each stakeholder engaged in the development
of the Internet. If intentional, this statement is a significant step
back from the achievements of  the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS), namely the WSIS Tunis Agenda for the Information
Society, as well as from the text of the WSIS+10 Review Outcome
Document.

The WSIS Tunis Agenda recognizes the different stakeholders and their
roles, as stated in paragraph 35:

35. We reaffirm that the management of the Internet encompasses both
technical and public policy issues and should involve all stakeholders
and relevant intergovernmental and international organizations. In this
respect it is recognized that:
Policy authority for Internet-related public policy issues is the
sovereign right of States. They have rights and responsibilities for
international Internet-related public policy issues.

The private sector has had, and should continue to have, an important
role in the development of the Internet, both in the technical and
economic fields.
Civil society has also played an important role on Internet matters,
especially at community level, and should continue to play such a role.
Intergovernmental organizations have had, and should continue to have, a
facilitating role in the coordination of Internet-related public policy
issues.
International organizations have also had and should continue to have an
important role in the development of Internet-related technical
standards and relevant policies.

Furthermore, the WSIS Tunis Agenda continues, in paragraph 36:

36. We recognize the valuable contribution by the academic and technical
communities within those stakeholder groups mentioned in paragraph 35 to
the evolution, functioning and development of the Internet.

In other words, the academic and technical communities are specific
stakeholders that contribute to the work of each of the groups mentioned
in paragraph 35.
  The WSIS+10 Outcome Document is even more specific, as it states
several times that the technical community is different from the civil
society, e.g.:

3. We reaffirm, moreover, the value and principles of multi stakeholder
cooperation and engagement that have characterized the World Summit on
the Information Society process since its inception, recognizing that
effective participation, partnership and cooperation of Governments, the
private sector, civil society, international organizations, the
technical and academic communities and all other relevant stakeholders,
within their respective roles and responsibilities, especially with
balanced representation from developing countries, has been and
continues to be vital in developing the information society.

The WSIS+10 Outcome Document further mentions the technical community in
points 2, 12, 49, 57, 61, 66, and the welcoming paragraph.

In these foundational documents that recognize the multistakeholder
model of Internet governance, there is no “tripartite” structure of
the kind the UN Tech Envoy suggested. Furthermore, there is nothing
setting out having only three participating groups in Internet
Governance.

This “tripartite” concept was introduced in the UN Secretary-General
(UNSG) Policy Brief, and Ambassador Gill expanded on it by providing a
more detailed definition of what the Office of the Secretary-General
Envoy on Technology (OSET) envisions. This concept seems to be based on
a single mentioning of the word in the report by the High-level Advisory
Board on Effective Multilateralism (another body created by the UNSG).
The report talks about inclusion and obligation of the private sector
(recommendation 3, p. 18). And as for the technical community
participation in these UN processes, the report mentions their
“...regular, predictable and structured engagement from civil society,
the private sector, academia and other technical entities, such as
standards bodies…” (p. 41), and this is only used in the broader
argumentation why a new body should be created under the UNSG umbrella -
the Global Commission on Just and Sustainable Digitalization.

We express our support for the multistakeholder model of Internet
Governance, which was discussed at length – with full participation of
all stakeholders – during the two phases of the WSIS and is reflected
in the Report of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG). The
WGIG Report explains in detail the working and functioning of each of
the “principle stakeholders” (see points 29 - 34 in the WGIG
Report), explaining in particular that “...the technical community and
its organizations are deeply involved in Internet operation, Internet
standard-setting and Internet services development” (point 33). The
Civil Society, on the other hand, has a distinct separate role as
described in point 32.

While we are not in the position to influence an internal UN Secretariat
process, we have an obligation not only to our communities, but to the
smooth operation of the Internet that we provide, to kindly remind all
involved in the Global Digital Compact process and all other
Internet-related processes at the UN, that the technical functioning of
the Internet is a result of a delicate and balanced multistakeholder
effort.

As a result of the WSIS and the followup WSIS+10 the multistakeholder
model of Internet governance is globally accepted as the best way for
further deployment and development of the Internet.

Top-down attempts to break this balance, or to suggest eliminating or
merging these critical stakeholder groups would be counterproductive and
damaging to the critical technical functions that keep the Internet
functioning in a secure, stable and resilient way.]***
_______________________________________________
InternetOrgs.Collaboration mailing list
InternetOrgs.Collaboration at elists.isoc.org
https://elists.isoc.org/mailman/listinfo/internetorgs.collaboration

View the Internet Society Code of Conduct: 
https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Response to the UN Tech Envoy - Draft.docx
Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Size: 11675 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mail.aftld.org/pipermail/excom/attachments/20230710/1ffedfc7/attachment.docx>