Government's Stand on Internet Governance Draws Applause from Civil Society Organisations

Synopsis
A day after communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said India will support the multistakeholder model, reactions poured in on Tuesday, largely hailing the move.

NEW DELHI: India's decision to support the multistakeholder model of internet governance has drawn mostly applause from civil society organisations and individuals who have been following the issue, even as they cautioned that implementation will determine the success of the model.

A day after communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said India will support the multistakeholder model, reactions poured in on Tuesday, largely hailing the move to break the longstanding status quo on the issue.

"What matters now is how the approach articulated by the minister is translated into coordinated action across various fora, including ICANN, BRICS, and perhaps most crucially the UN WSIS+10 Review Process, which culminates in the meeting of the UN General Assembly in December 2015," said Vinay Kesari, a lawyer specialising in ICT and internet governance.

Not just at international fora, India also needs to figure out its stakeholder stand within the country, said Arun Mohan Sukumar, senior fellow at the Centre for Communication Governance, National Law University. "Multistakeholderism is very attractive in principle but, as the ICANN experience shows, it is susceptible to concerns like elite capture and lack of accountability to the general public, he said.

Prasad made the announcement in a video address during the opening ceremony of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)'s 53rd public meeting in Buenos Aires on Monday. ICANN manages the Domain Name System (DNS), which helps organise the internet with the allotment of domain names such as .com, .org and .net and has often come under the scanner for not being transparent enough.

The multistakeholder model involves all stakeholders such as businesses, civil society, governments, research institutions and non-governmental organisations in the dialogue, decision-making and implementation of policymaking and governance.

The external affairs ministry, telecom department and the department of electronics and IT have long held divergent views on issues of internet governance, with no clear stand being made at international platforms. While welcoming the announcement, Sunil Abraham, executive director at the Centre for Internet and Society, said the minister could have explained in greater detail, especially the ongoing transition of internet governance control from the US government to a multistakeholder model.

"He also spoke about the government being responsible for security and human rights over the internet, which adds to the confusion over whether India will really let the internet be a fair and free medium," he said.

Prasanth Sugathan, counsel for the Software Freedom Law Centre, said the government should seek the views of other stakeholders as well on the issue. "When you talk of multistakeholderism, it should not be only at an international level. It should also happen at a national level. The government should have other parties also contributing to issues of internet governance," he said.