The Geopolitics of Internet Governance – Towards “Digital Cold War” or “Digital Cooperation”?

The Geopolitics of Internet Governance – Towards “Digital Cold War” or “Digital Cooperation”?

The landscape of Internet governance has changed in recent years due to the establishment of various geopolitical-based international cooperation.  For example, the European Commission’s declaration on digital rights and principles for the digital decade. The EU also intends to promotes the values across the world.  Another example is that, leaders of China and Russia met in early February and resulted a joint statement on “the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development”, indicating that all the countries have equal rights to regulate the Internet. 

On April 28, the United States and 60 Global Partners Launch “Declaration for the Future of the Internet” to form an alliance with strong values on human rights and democracy.  Confronting the current global Internet government split, the United Nations also announced its advocates for “Global Digital Compact”.

Observed by Wolfgang Kleinwächter, a professor at Aarhus University in Denmark, the competition for Internet Governance models in 2021 has grown polarization. On one hand, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which is composed of nine countries such as China and Russia, promotes new agreement on strengthening the state’s control over the Internet.  On the other hand, the Biden Administration host “The Summit for Democracy” last December gathering more than 100 government leaders, to talk about the approach to counter digital authoritarianism. 

Fortunately, the efforts from the international community to mitigate the digital conflicts have continue.  In addition to the above-mentioned the UN Global Digital Compact, the “Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace” has been signed by 81 governments already.

The panel invite various stakeholders to address issues such as: with the high involvement of geopolitics and economic interests, will the global Internet governance regime head to “Digital Cold War” or “Digital Cooperation”?  Taiwan has took part in both “Declaration for the Future of the Internet” and “The Summit for Democracy”, but will the current international agenda affect Taiwan’s approach to Internet governance?

Time: 2022/7/27 02:00-04:00PM

Venue: IEAT International Conference Center Meeting 8F Room 2 (No. 350, Songjiang Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City)

Moderator: Mr. Vincent Chen (National Information Infrastructure Enterprise Promotion Association, Consultant)

Panelists:

  • Ms. Lee, Chyungly (Institute of International Relation, NCCU, Professor)
  • Mr. Peng, Jui-Jen ( The department of political science, Soochow University, Professor)
  • Mr. Kenny Huang (TWNIC, CEO)
  • Mr. Liu, Da-Nien (Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, The Regional Development Study Center Research Fellow,Director)
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