Around the world, our 130 chapters and special interest groups work locally, regionally, and globally to keep the Internet a force for good: open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy. October has been a busy month for our community! Here are just a few of the things they achieved last month.
Supporting a Secure and Trustworthy Internet
🇧🇮 Burundi Chapter hosted the SecureNet Summit 2025 in Bujumbura, bringing together key stakeholders for a high-level discussion on digital security. The central theme of the summit was online security and encryption in the age of artificial intelligence.
🇨🇦 Canada Chapter hosted an AI Infrastructure and Governance Policy in Canada roundtable session, bringing senior voices from government, industry, and academia together to explore the role of encryption in safeguarding trust and how to strengthen Canada’s broader AI ecosystem. The chapter incorporated insights gained into its submission to the Federal AI Policy Consultation.
🇹🇩 Chad Chapter recently partnered with a women-led local organization, ElleStarTech, to empower young women with digital and online safety skills. The courses were taught through the chapter’s Training Center (LabNet), which has been funded by an Internet Society Foundation Beyond the Net grant.
🇨🇴 Colombia Chapter hosted the 3rd Encryption Gathering—Internet Society Community 2025: Uniting Colombia with the World through Encryption. Technologists, academics, civil society, and Internet users explored why encryption is essential for security and privacy. Discussions included real-world cases, threats to encryption, and practical tools for protecting personal data. The event closed with a call to strengthen global collaboration to ensure a secure, encrypted Internet.
🇬🇭 Ghana Chapter marked Global Encryption Day by highlighting the fundamental right to secure communication with a dedicated public awareness campaign. The event reinforced encryption as a core pillar of digital trust, helping citizens protect their data and maintain secure online communications.
50 chapters received grants to hold Global Encryption Day 2025 events and activities. Thanks to all who participated to highlight how encryption keeps us all safe in uncertain times.
🇭🇰 Hong Kong Chapter hosted Cybersecurity for All x AI Discovery Fun Day! focusing on practical digital safety tips and the fast-growing risks of AI-driven scams. Hands-on talks and demos highlighted misuse prevention, while accessibility sessions supported vulnerable groups.
🇮🇳 India Chennai Chapter celebrated Global Encryption Day by co-hosting a Crypto Carnival Awareness Program with KriVin Academy. The event offered a day of fun, games, and learning for children and adults, raising awareness about online privacy and encryption
🇮🇱 Israel Chapter worked to protect vulnerable communities online. The chapter’s Internet Safety Hotline manager ran a webinar for 50 older adults to help them identify and avoid digital financial scams, especially those powered by AI. Additionally, the chapter published an English translation of its research on disinformation during times of conflict.
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan Chapter hosted a workshop on strong encryption for 20 people in Almaty to educate the local community about the importance of Internet security.
🇰🇪 Kenya Chapter kicked off its Digital Internet Resilience and Safety Champions Training Initiative. The initiative aims to empower young people and women in underserved communities with digital and online safety skills and create an enabling environment for digital inclusion. The chapter also held a Community Digital Safety Training workshop in Kisumu County in western Kenya to empower grassroots communities to champion online safety, trust, and an open Internet. These activities are part of a Beyond the Net project funded by the Internet Society Foundation.
🇱🇸 Lesotho Chapter celebrated Global Encryption Day in Leribe, hosting a productive session on data security education. The event featured detailed presentations on encryption fundamentals and key data protection principles for secure digital communication.
🇱🇷 Liberia Chapter hosted a webinar on mobile encryption and its role in personal and economic security for low-income communities.
🇲🇱 Mali Chapter celebrated Global Encryption Day by training 60 young women on how encryption protects privacy and strengthens online trust. Organized in partnership with WomenTech Mali, the event empowered a new generation of digital security champions.
🇲🇽 Mexico Chapter celebrated Global Encryption Day with full auditoriums in Tepatitlán, Jalisco, and Mérida, Yucatán. Over 430 participants learned why encryption matters in everyday life and explored current threats to online security. A hands-on session taught participants how to protect communications and data. The event concluded with an interactive panel and a call to make encryption a daily habit.
🇳🇪 Niger Chapter travelled to Djibo Hamani University of Tahoua to host a major conference and training sessions onEncryption, Privacy, Data Protection, and Digital Ethics. Over 200 people attended, including university officials, and 40 participants completed hands-on training in encryption fundamentals.
🇵🇾 Paraguay Chapter celebrated Global Encryption Day at the Catholic University of Carapeguá by holding an event for over 200 participants. Sessions covered the importance of encryption for digital life and Internet stability, including DNS security. Hands-on demos explored encryption algorithms and DNSSEC setup. The event closed with a clear message: protecting encryption means protecting people.
🇷🇼 Rwanda Chapter reminded participants in its Global Encryption Day event that encryption isn’t just about technology—it’s about protecting our privacy, data, and digital freedoms.
People need an Internet they can trust. We’re fighting to make that happen. Together with our community, we advocate to keep the Internet secure and functioning and educate people to make safer choices online.
🇸🇸 South Sudan Chapter celebrated Global Encryption Day with an Encryption Awareness Training in Juba. The event brought together stakeholders from civil society, academia, the media, and government to explore the role of strong encryption in protecting data, enhancing privacy, and fostering trust in online communication and transactions.
🇺🇦 Ukraine Chapter led several initiatives for Global Encryption Day, co-organizing an interdisciplinary roundtable on cryptographic business practices that engaged over 600 young people in the movement for a more secure Internet. It also held a Digital Security Day conference for 68 students and teachers.
🇾🇪 Yemen Chapter held an event titled Encryption and a Parent’s Guide to Child Online Safety as part of Global Encryption Day, highlighting the importance of encryption in keeping children safe online.
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe Chapter conducted a cybersecurity training session for 40 women, focusing on enhancing the digital safety skills of informal traders and self-employed women, to recognize scams and other cyber threats.
Connecting the Unconnected
🇦🇷 Argentina Chapter held the 9th CIT Conference at Palermo University, featuring sessions on spectrum, connectivity, and business opportunities. The event brought together industry leaders, researchers, and academics for discussions on advancing digital innovation and collaboration.
🇹🇬 Togo Chapter has begun implementation for the Atti Akakpé Community Network project. A solar power system has been installed, and village cabling is scheduled next to connect approximately 500 households.
Connectivity gaps often fall hardest on marginalized groups. Find out how we’re trying to achieve universal connectivity.
🇿🇲 Zambia Chapter launched the Digital Education Hub, a free and open-source platform offering offline access to Zambian primary and secondary education materials via school labs or Wi-Fi. The initiative, supported by an Internet Society Foundation Beyond the Net grant, aims to bridge the education gap in underserved areas.
🇨🇦 🇺🇸 The North America Region hosted Community Day on 9 October, with a theme of the Internet and its role in emergency response and preparedness. The event included a presentation by the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center (ITDRC) as well as presentations on initiatives by the US New York and Canada Manitoba Chapters and a panel discussion on Internet resiliency with representatives from chapters across the region.
Infrastructure, Resilience, and Capacity Building
🇮🇱 Israel Chapter has successfully launched the new Israeli Internet Exchange (IL-IX), a major step forward for the country’s Internet infrastructure. For nearly three decades, the chapter has operated Israel Internet Exchange (IIX). This new, advanced exchange is open to a wider range of organizations, including global cloud providers, content delivery networks (CDNs), and commercial enterprises. By enabling more entities to connect directly and exchange traffic locally, IL-IX will significantly enhance network performance, reduce costs, and bolster the resilience of Israel’s connection to the global Internet.
By keeping local traffic local, Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) create faster, more efficient networks for entire countries and regions. Keep track of how many IXPs there are in the world on the Internet Society Pulse IXP Tracker.
🇲🇲 Mali Chapter spent three days helping over 30 seniors master search engines and service platforms, helping them to feel included in digital life.
🇷🇴 Romania Chapter focused on developing the next generation of Internet leaders. At the FTTH Congress CEE 2025, it presented on Romania’s Internet resilience to 400 attendees. The chapter also hosted the Romanian Internet Technology Event (RITE 2025) for 170 participants and organized multiple university events, including a “How the Internet Works” meeting with RIPE NCC for 50 students, and a unique “Three Generations Meeting” that connected students with Internet pioneers.
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe Chapter organized the first-ever Zimbabwe Peering Forum to support the growth of the country’s Internet peering and interconnection ecosystem. This milestone event is part of the chapter’s sustainable peering infrastructure (SPI) project funded by an Internet Society Foundation SPI grant.
Cross-Community Collaboration
🛡️ The Online Safety Special Interest Group (SIG) and 🇬🇭 Ghana Chapter co-hosted a regional online safety event in Accra. The hybrid event was well attended with active in-person audience engagement. Ghana’s only 24-hour news channel covered the event interviewing SIG leader Godsway Kubi and Ghana Chapter President Maud Ashong Elliot.
Advocacy
🇦🇺 Australia Chapter submitted feedback to the Australia Senate Committee’s Internet Search Engine Services Online Safety Code policy proposal consultation. Full report here.
🇳🇴 Norway Chapter was a strong voice for digital rights. The chapter submitted formal responses to the Norwegian Parliament regarding proposals on the disclosure of IP data and age limits for social media. It also participated as resource providers at the “Big Tech must go” festival for digital counterculture.
🇵🇱 Poland Chapter educated policymakers about the dangers of the proposed EU Chat Control legislation at a parliamentary conference, working to preserve end-to-end encryption.
🇵🇹 Portugal Chapter presented technical arguments against the proposed EU Chat Control legislation at a hearing of the European Affairs Parliament Commission.
A sustained campaign by Internet Society community over the last three years has culminated in a major win when a scheduled vote on the Chat Control proposal within the Council of the EU was postponed. Find out how our voices are making a difference in the fight for strong encryption.
Internet Governance
🇦🇲 Armenia Chapter organized the 2025 Armenia School on Internet Governance for 40 participants in Goris. The school’s curriculum was dedicated to digital libraries and improving digital safety for children.
🇸🇻 El Salvador Chapter co-organized the El Salvador Internet Governance Forum. Day one was fully dedicated to Encryption Day 2025 with sessions focused on encryption as the backbone of digital trust. Discussions covered online security, zero-trust models, and privacy as a fundamental right. The day concluded with a talk on encryption as the “secret language” that protects data and communications.
🇫🇮 Finland Chapter co-organized the annual Finnish Internet Forum for 70 stakeholders, including legislators and ICANN’s CEO. The event featured discussions on critical topics, such as the resilience of digital infrastructure, tackling cyber harassment, and the upcoming WSIS+20 review.
Regional Internet Governance Forums (IGFs) support inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogue. Schools of Internet Governance ensure that people have the skills and knowledge to participate. Find out how we’re supporting Internet governance.
🇷🇸 Serbia Belgrade Chapter helped preserve cultural heritage by donating digitization equipment to the Osečina Public Library, making historical materials accessible to a global online audience. The chapter also organized a panel at SEEDIG 10 on the future of multistakeholder Internet governance.
🇵🇾 Paraguay Chapter co-organized IGF Paraguay. With an average of 180–200 participants per day, the event featured discussions on AI and education, digital democracy, IXPs, and post-quantum cryptography.
🇳🇮 Nicaragua Chapter hosted an event at the Law Faculty of Universidad Americana (UAM). Internet Society alumni, Dr. Germán Lopez, delivered a lecture titled Legislative Challenges to an Open and Global Internet. The session explored how legal frameworks affect the Internet’s openness and accessibility.
Other Chapter Activities
🇮🇳 India Chennai Chapter signed a memorandum of understanding with Hindustan College of Arts and Science and launched a new Students Hub to advance digital literacy and inspire learning around emerging technologies.
🇮🇳 India Mumbai Chapter ran a dynamic Women in Leadership session on the geopolitics of AI, sparking insightful discussions among future tech leaders.
🇮🇹 Italy Chapter celebrated its 25th anniversary with a conference titled The Internet as a Common Good, bringing together 200 people to co-create solutions for a more humane digital future. At the Internet Festival in Pisa, the chapter also organized an interactive workshop for 200 students called A Network of the Future Waiting to be Invented! where they explored human-centric networks.
🇯🇵 Japan Chapter hosted the 38th ISOC-JP Workshop: Considering AI Infrastructure, bringing the community together for collaborative conversations on the future of AI systems and the evolving role of digital architects.
Get involved! Find your local Internet Society chapter or join a special interest group to take action to make global change.
Image © Internet Society Zimbabwe Chapter, © Houphet le Soldat, © Internet Society Colombia Chapter, © Internet Society Lesotho Chapter, © Internet Society Mali Chapter, © Internet Society Mexico Chapter, © Internet Society Niger Chapter, © Internet Society South Sudan Chapter, © Internet Society Ukraine Chapter, © Internet Society Finland Chapter, © Internet Society Serbia Belgrade Chapter