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Resource Library

Everyone should have access to an open and trusted Internet.
Read our reports, papers, and other documents for insight and vision on how we can get there.

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Action Plan 2025

Our 2025 Action Plan outlines our priorities in 2025, the first year of our 2030 Strategy.

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2023 Year in Review

The Year in Review shows the steps we took in 2023 to ensure the Internet is for everyone. Learn about the positive difference we made for the Internet.

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Internet Impact Briefs

Shorter reports that analyze how different policies or new technologies may affect what the Internet needs to exist and thrive.

Glossary of Internet Terms

Understand key terms and become fluent in the language of the Internet with our new and improved glossary. 

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Policy Briefs

Our perspective on critical Internet issues, including community networks, encryption, open Internet standards, Internet Exchange Points, and more.

Internet Impact Brief: Revised Directive on Security of Network and Information (NIS2) – Presidency Compromise Proposal September 2021

This report uses the Internet Impact Assessment Toolkit (IIAT) to assess how the Presidency compromise proposal from 21 September 2021 may affect the global Internet by impacting what the Internet ...

Reimagining the Summit on Community Networks in Africa during the COVID-19 Pandemic

A five-part webinar series on building, sustaining and funding community networks in Africa ...

Security Through Encryption and Despite Encryption: An (un)Achievable Outcome?

On 16 June 2021 we organised a roundtable to explore in greater detail how to apply the European Council’s position on encryption, following its November 2020 Resolution; “Security through encryption ...

Internet Governance in the Middle East and North Africa

The Internet is a ‘network of networks’ made up of tens of thousands of networks that interconnect and route traffic efficiently between end points. While the interconnections and routing of ...

Moving Toward an Interconnected Africa: The 80/20 Initiative

In 2010, the Africa Internet technical community embraced an ambitious vision to have 80% of all Internet traffic locally accessible with only 20% being sourced internationally by 2020.

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Effective IXP strategies for the Asia-Pacific

In partnership with the Asia Pacific Internet Exchange Association (APIX), we set out to explore how different exchanges fit into their local environment to find best strategies and approaches they ...

The Economic Impact of Laws that Weaken Encryption

Editor's note: The full report and the extracted executive summary are available in pdf format in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Japanese.

Mauritius IGF and Internet Society Response to Mauritius ICTA Consultation Paper

The Mauritius IGF and the Internet Society's input to the proposed amendments to the ICT ACT for regulating the use and addressing the abuse and misuse of Social Media in ...

Encryption unlocks the benefits of a thriving, trustworthy Internet

This analysis is intended to help policymakers worldwide understand how encryption operates throughout the Internet’s infrastructure, and not just in the applications so many of us use each day ...

Guide to Federal Broadband Funding Opportunities in the U.S.

A comprehensive list of organizations offering financial support for Tribal, state, and local governments to expand their broadband infrastructure ...

MANRS Community Report 2020

In this report we highlight success stories, the concrete impacts we made, from our efforts in training and partnership to leadership initiatives. We also outline our goals and plan for ...

How to Make Sure Section 230 Reforms Don’t Harm the Foundation of the Internet

Author: Katie Watson Jordan

We called it in 2020, and barely two months into the new year the increasing trend in the United States to propose reforms to Section 230 ...

Archives

Best Practices: Cyber Incident Response Readiness

  • Complete risk assessments for executive review, operational process and third-party vendors
  • Review security best practices and validate your organization’s adoption or reasoning for not adopting
  • Audit your data and ...

2017 Email Marketing & Unsubscribe Audit

The 2017 Audit found that the vast majority of audited online retailers have embraced unsubscribe best practices, going beyond mere compliance, and have shown improvement since 2014 despite expanded and ...

Issue Paper, Asia-Pacific Bureau: Internet of Things

Building on the framework and concepts presented in the Internet Society Policy Brief on the Internet of Things, this issues paper focuses on concerns and good practices ...

Issue Paper, Asia-Pacific Bureau: Digital Safety of Children and Youth

This issues paper builds on two Internet Society reports, “Children and the Internet” and “Mapping Online Child Safety in Asia-Pacific” to discuss the challenges and opportunities related to the digital ...

Issue Paper, Asia-Pacific Bureau: Local and Localised Content

Building on the key considerations and guiding principles presented in the Internet Society Policy Brief on Local Content, this issues paper focuses on the challenges and opportunities ...

Promoting the African Internet Economy

Author: Michael Kende

Michael Kende is a Senior Fellow at the Internet Society. Many thanks to Dawit Bekele for his leadership and vision, and to Sally Wentworth, Konstantinos Komaitis, Jane ...

Internet Access and Education

The Internet has immense potential to improve the quality of education, which is one of the pillars of sustainable development. This Internet Society briefing outlines ways in which policymakers can ...

Tusheti Case Study

Find out how one of Europe's most remote communities set up a community network, boosting tourism, the local economy and providing an essential communication link for healthcare and emergency situations ...

Timeline & History of the Internet in Asia and the Pacific

The Internet Society's 25th anniversary timeline & history of the Internet in Asia and the Pacific ...

Internet Society contribution to WTDC 2017

The Internet Society submitted the attached contribution to the ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference 2017 (WTDC 2017). The document is available in French and Spanish by the use of the ...

Best Practices: Botnets

A "bot" or "botnet" is a program installed on a system to enable that system to automatically (or semi-automatically) perform a task or set of tasks typically under the command ...

Best Practice: Extended Validation Certificates (EVSSL)

We increasingly live, interact, and do business online, making the concept of online trust more important than ever before. Unfortunately, our increased reliance on Internet-based transactions has also ...

Annual Reports and Financials

On annual basis, we publish annual reports (an Action Plan and Impact Report), as well as financial reports, annual financial statements, and Form 990s.