Global Digital Governance & Multistakeholder Cooperation for WSIS+20
Freedom Online Coalition
Session 310
As the global community approaches the 20-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20), inclusive and ethical digital governance remains critical to upholding human rights and advancing sustainable development. This roundtable will examine how to strengthen multistakeholder engagement—across civil society, the academic and technical communities, the private sector, and end users—to advance WSIS Action Lines C10 (Ethical Dimensions of the Information Society) and C11 (International and Regional Cooperation).
Recognizing the inextricable link between human rights and equitable global progress, the session will focus on best practices, challenges, and strategies for rights-based digital governance and enhanced international collaboration. A central theme will be the role of artificial intelligence (AI)—particularly generative and decision-making systems—in shaping the integrity of online information and public discourse. Participants will explore how AI influences trust, democratic participation, and human rights, and how governance frameworks can promote transparency, accountability, and equity while safeguarding freedom of expression, privacy, and non-discrimination. As AI technologies increasingly amplify existing trends, such as the spread of disinformation and the erosion of trust, the session will also consider to what extent current international agreements, human rights frameworks, and platform regulations remain adequate to address these compounded challenges.
The session will also highlight practical, collaborative approaches to bridging the digital divides through inclusive and rights-respecting strategies. Emphasis will be placed on how responsible AI governance and the promotion of healthy, trustworthy information ecosystems contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while preventing emerging technologies from deepening existing inequalities.
By fostering meaningful engagement and generating concrete policy recommendations, particularly around the WSIS+20, this session aims to help shape a more inclusive, sustainable, and human rights-based digital future.
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C10. Ethical dimensions of the Information Society
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C11. International and regional cooperation
This session directly supports WSIS Action Line C10 by addressing the ethical dimensions of the information society, particularly in the context of AI's impact on human rights, trust, and public discourse. By examining how emerging technologies can both reinforce and challenge ethical standards, such as those related to disinformation, privacy, and non-discrimination, the session fosters dialogue on promoting transparency, accountability, and equity in digital systems. Additionally, the session contributes to Action Line C11 by emphasizing the importance of international and regional cooperation in developing inclusive, rights-based governance frameworks. It highlights the need for coordinated global responses and multistakeholder collaboration to ensure that digital transformation advances sustainable development and respects fundamental rights.
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Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
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Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries
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Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies
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Goal 17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
This session contributes directly to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by promoting inclusive, rights-based approaches to digital governance and technology use. In particular, it supports SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) by addressing the integrity of information ecosystems, transparency, and accountability in AI systems, and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) by exploring strategies to prevent emerging technologies from exacerbating digital divides. The session also aligns with SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) through its focus on ethical innovation and resilient digital infrastructures, and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) by fostering international cooperation and multistakeholder collaboration. By centering human rights in digital development, the session reinforces the broader 2030 Agenda commitment to leaving no one behind in the digital age.