The Internet is a global resource, so which country gets to govern it? The answer is: all of them and none of them!
Internet policy is shaped by a global ecosystem of legislators, regulators, international organizations, civil society groups, and technical and policy experts.
These are the folks who get to decide how much power to give artificial intelligence over your welfare benefits, or whether law enforcement can access a neighbor’s doorbell camera pointed at your house.
These decisions look very different from one jurisdiction to the next. So, while national entities can manage the Internet within their own borders, no one authority controls it for everyone.
Who Shapes Internet Policy?
Governments
Legislators and regulators at the regional, national, state, and local levels all play a part in shaping the Internet. They allocate funds to pay for research and infrastructure, decide how government services and the economy are digitized, and how (and if) we have a safe and private experience online.
Intergovernmental Organizations
These include international organizations like the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and regional decision-making bodies like the African Union, the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity, and the Organization of American States. These bodies may be able to pass legislation or make non-binding recommendations and guidelines.
Businesses
Businesses rely on and benefit from the Internet, so they invest heavily in a seat at the policy table of Internet and technology regulation. Wealthy businesses may financially support politicians who will vote in alignment with their goals, which helps them inform and influence legislation—for better or worse.
Civil Society Organizations
These include nonprofits and community groups that primarily work in the public interest, focusing on advocacy and making positive social change. The Internet Society is an example of a civil society organization that advocates for a safe, globally connected, resilient Internet. Since 2019 alone, we have published 100+ policy statements, mobilized against 50+ legislative proposals that would harm the Internet, and filed eight amicus briefs.
The Technical Community
The “technical community” comprises the engineers, developers, researchers, network operators, and other experts who build and maintain the Internet’s core infrastructure and standards. Through organizations like the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), they provide essential technical expertise and advocate for the principles of an open, stable, secure, and globally interoperable Internet, crucial for its ongoing evolution and reliable operation.
How Is the Internet Regulated?
After legislators develop laws that affect the Internet, it is up to regulators to interpret and implement those laws.
These agencies are appointed or created to manage the implementation of a law and ensure compliance. In essence, legislators tell us what the law is, and regulators have to figure out what the law means in practice.
For example, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act is a United States law that limits the collection of children’s personal information online. Congress passed the law, but the Federal Trade Commission, a federal agency, enforces it and issues regulations related to it.
How Policy Helps the Internet
Policies have helped enable the growth of the Internet by protecting the people who build it. You wouldn’t sue the postal service if someone mailed you a dangerous package, would you? Similarly, Internet platforms aren’t generally held responsible for the illegal actions of their users.
When people are protected, they feel safe creating and participating more, and Internet policy, by offering crucial protections against intermediary liability, has been key to this.
Effective policies are designed to shield against monopolies, aiming to create a space for smaller players to enter and thrive in the ecosystem. Preventing big corporations from monopolizing infrastructure boosts growth and leads to more people having access. Major lawsuits against tech giants are currently making their way through the US courts.
Privacy-protecting legislation has also been crucial in helping people have a safe and secure experience online, which we believe everyone deserves. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation is a European Union law that protects privacy by regulating how organizations can handle the personal data of EU citizens.
How Policy Can Harm the Internet
When people make unilateral or uninformed decisions about the Internet, it can cause significant harm and undermine the Internet’s global nature, either by design or by accident.
This can lead to Internet fragmentation: the division of the global Internet into smaller, isolated networks subject to different rules, regulations, and technical standards, which may not be able to interconnect or interoperate seamlessly.
Policy can also erode privacy. Recently, there have been several efforts from governments around the world to undermine end-to-end encryption and allow law enforcement to access encrypted communications. This creates a major vulnerability, putting the privacy and personal data of millions of people at risk.
Finally, in some cases, government policy can take away access to the Internet altogether. In the past year, there have been 130 Internet shutdowns.
In Manipur, India, for instance, the government has shut down the Internet multiple times in an effort to prevent the spread of misinformation. However, this prevents people from accessing education, employment, communication, and online healthcare. We believe that everyone deserves Internet access and that Internet shutdowns do more harm than good.
The Bottom Line
The Internet is an essential resource, and while we don’t want policymakers to overly restrict access, we do need them to make decisions that influence the Internet, enabling it to grow and evolve.
No one entity controls the Internet for everyone, and not every government wants the same outcomes or has the same political interests or expertise.