Multi-Stakeholder Internet Governance: Power and Participation in the Digital Age
Introduction: The Internet’s Foundational Ideal of Openness
The Internet was built as a decentralised network to foster open communication and global collaboration. Unlike traditional media or state infrastructure, no single government, company, or institution controls the Internet. Instead, it has historically been governed by a consensus of the multiple communities, like universities, independent researchers, and engineers, who were involved in building it. This bottom-up, cooperative approach was the foundation of Internet governance and ensured that the Internet remained open, interoperable, and accessible to all. As the Internet began to influence every aspect of life, including commerce, culture, education, and politics, it required a more organised governance model. This compelled the rise of the multi-stakeholder internet governance model in the early 2000s.
The Rise of Multistakeholder Internet Governance
Representatives from governments, civil society, technical experts, and the private sector congregated at the United Nations World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), and adopted the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society. Per this Agenda, internet governance was defined as “… the development and application by governments, the private sector, and civil society in their respective roles of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.” Internet issues are cross-cutting across technical, political, economic, and social domains, and no one actor can manage them alone. Thus, stakeholders with varying interests are meant to come together to give direction to issues in the digital environment, like data privacy, child safety, cybersecurity, freedom of expression, and more, while upholding human rights.
Internet Governance in Practice: A History of Power Shifts
While the idea of democratizing Internet governance is a noble one, the Tunis Agenda has been criticised for reflecting geopolitical asymmetries and relegating the roles of technical communities and civil society to the sidelines. Throughout the history of the internet, certain players have wielded more power in shaping how it is managed. Accordingly, internet governance can be said to have undergone three broad phases.
In the first phase, the Internet was managed primarily by technical experts in universities and private companies, which contributed to building and scaling it up. The standards and protocols set during this phase are in use today and make the Internet function the way it does. This was the time when the Internet was a transformative invention and optimistically hailed as the harbinger of a utopian society, especially in the USA, where it was invented.
In the second phase, the ideal of multistakeholderism was promoted, in which all those who benefit from the Internet work together to create processes that will govern it democratically. This model also aims to reduce the Internet’s vulnerability to unilateral decision-making, an ideal that has been under threat because this phase has seen the growth of Big Tech. What started as platforms enabling access to information, free speech, and creativity has turned into a breeding ground for misinformation, hate speech, cybercrime, Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), and privacy concerns. The rise of generative AI only compounds these challenges. Tech giants like Google, Meta, X (formerly Twitter), OpenAI, Microsoft, Apple, etc. have amassed vast financial capital, technological monopoly, and user datasets. This gives them unprecedented influence not only over communications but also culture, society, and technology governance.
The anxieties surrounding Big Tech have fed into the third phase, with increasing calls for government regulation and digital nationalism. Governments worldwide are scrambling to regulate AI, data privacy, and cybersecurity, often through processes that lack transparency. An example is India’s Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which was passed without parliamentary debate. Governments are also pressuring platforms to take down content through opaque takedown orders. Laws like the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act, 2016, are criticised for giving the government the power to indirectly mandate encryption backdoors, compromising the strength of end-to-end encryption systems. Further, the internet itself is fragmenting into the “splinternet” amid rising geopolitical tensions, in the form of Russia’s “sovereign internet” or through China’s Great Firewall.
Conclusion
While multistakeholderism is an ideal, Internet governance is a playground of contesting power relations in practice. As governments assert digital sovereignty and Big Tech consolidates influence, the space for meaningful participation of other stakeholders has been negligible. Consultation processes have often been symbolic. The principles of openness, inclusivity, and networked decision-making are once again at risk of being sidelined in favour of nationalism or profit. The promise of a decentralised, rights-respecting, and interoperable internet will only be fulfilled if we recommit to the spirit of Multi-Stakeholder Internet Governance, not just its structure. Efficient internet governance requires that the multiple stakeholders be empowered to carry out their roles, not just talk about them.
References
- https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/05/can-the-internet-be-governed
- https://www.internetsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ISOC-PolicyBrief-InternetGovernance-20151030-nb.pdf
- https://itp.cdn.icann.org/en/files/government-engagement-ge/multistakeholder-model-internet-governance-fact-sheet-05-09-2024-en.pdf\
- https://nrs.help/post/internet-governance-and-its-importance/
- https://daidac.thecjid.org/how-data-power-is-skewing-internet-governance-to-big-tech-companies-and-ai-tech-guys/
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Introduction
Criminal justice in India is majorly governed by three laws which are – Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act. The centre, on 11th August 2023’ Friday, proposes a new bill in parliament Friday, which is replacing the country’s major criminal laws, i.e. Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act.
The following three bills are being proposed to replace major criminal laws in the country:
- The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023 to replace Indian Penal Code 1860.
- The Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023, to replace The Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
- The Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023, to replace The Indian Evidence Act 1872.
Cyber law-oriented view of the new shift in criminal lawNotable changes:Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023 Indian Penal Code 1860.
Way ahead for digitalisation
The new laws aim to enhance the utilisation of digital services in court systems, it facilitates online registration of FIR, Online filing of the charge sheet, serving summons in electronic mode, trial and proceedings in electronic mode etc. The new bills also allow the virtual appearance of witnesses, accused, experts, and victims in some instances. This shift will lead to the adoption of technology in courts and all courts to be computerised in the upcoming time.
Enhanced recognition of electronic records
With the change in lifestyle in terms of the digital sphere, significance is given to recognising electronic records as equal to paper records.
Conclusion
The criminal laws of the country play a significant role in establishing law & order and providing justice. The criminal laws of India were the old laws existing under British rule. There have been several amendments to criminal laws to deal with the growing crimes and new aspects. However, there was a need for well-established criminal laws which are in accordance with the present era. The step of the legislature by centralising all criminal laws in their new form and introducing three bills is a good approach which will ultimately strengthen the criminal justice system in India, and it will also facilitate the use of technology in the court system.
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Introduction
Cybersecurity remains a crucial component in the modern digital era, considering the growing threat landscape caused by our increased reliance on technology and the internet. The Karnataka Government introduced a new ‘Cyber Security Policy 2024’ to address increasing cybercrimes and enhance protection measures for the State's digital infrastructure through awareness, skill development, public-private collaborations, and technology integration. Officials stated that the policy highlights various important aspects including raising awareness and providing education, developing skills, supporting the industry and start-ups, as well as forming partnerships and collaborations for enhancing capacity.
Key Highlights
- The policy consists of two components. The initial segment emphasizes creating a robust cyber security environment involving various sectors such as the public, academia, industry, start-ups, and government. The second aspect of the policy aims to enhance the cybersecurity status of the State's IT resources. Although the initial section will be accessible to the public, the second portion will be restricted to the state's IT teams and departments for their IT implementation.
- The Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (e-Governance),and the Home Department, in collaboration with stakeholders from government and private sectors, have collectively formulated this policy. The Indian Institute of Science, the main institute for the state's K-tech Centre of Excellence for Cyber Security (CySecK), also examined the policy.
- The Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (e-Governance),and the Home Department, in collaboration with stakeholders from government and private sectors, have collectively formulated this policy. The Indian Institute of Science, the main institute for the state's K-tech Centre of Excellence for Cyber Security (CySecK), also examined the policy.
- Approximately ₹103.87 crore will be spent over five years to implement the policy, which would be fulfilled from the budget allocated to the Department of Information Technology and Biotechnology and Science & Technology. A total of ₹23.74 crore would be allocated for offering incentives and concessions.
- The policy focuses on key pillars of building awareness and skills, promoting research and innovation, promoting industry and start-ups, partnerships and collaborations for capacity building.
- Karnataka-based undergraduate and postgraduate interns will receive a monthly stipend of INR 10,000- Rs15,000 fora maximum duration of three months under the internship program. The goal is to support 600 interns at the undergraduate level and 120 interns at the post-graduate level within the policy timeframe.
- Karnataka-based start-ups collaborating with academic institutes can receive matching grants of up to 50% of the total R&D cost for cybersecurity projects, or a maximum of ₹50 lakh.
- Reimbursement will be provided for expenses up to a maximum of INR 1 Lakh for start-ups registered with Karnataka Start-up Cell who engage CERT-In empanelled service providers from Karnataka for cyber security audit.
- The Karnataka government has partnered with Meta to raise awareness on cyber security. By reaching out to educational institutions, schools and colleges, it is piloted to provide training to 1 lakh teachers and educate 1 million children on online safety.
CyberPeace Policy Wing Outlook
The Cyber Security Policy, 2024 launched by the Karnataka government is a testament to the state government's commitment to strengthening the cyber security posture and establishing cyber resilience. By promoting and supporting research and development projects, supporting startups, and providing skill training internships, and capacity building at a larger scale, the policy will serve asa positive step in countering the growing cyber threats and establishing a peaceful digital environment for all. The partnership and collaboration with tech companies will be instrumental in implementing the capacity-building initiatives aimed at building cognitive and skill defenses while navigating the digital world. The policy will inspire other state governments in their policy initiatives for building safe and secure cyber-infrastructure in the states by implementing strategies tailored to the specific needs and demands of each state in building safe digital infrastructure and environment.
References:
- https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/bengaluru-news/karnataka-govt-launches-new-cyber-security-policy-amid-frequent-scams-101722598078117.html
- https://ciso.economictimes.indiatimes.com/amp/news/grc/karnataka-govt-launches-new-cyber-security-policy/112214121
- https://cybermithra.in/2024/08/09/karnataka-cyber-security-policy/
Cyber attacks in India besides becoming common are also getting deadlier. Each strike has taken proportions to drive home the fact that no one is safe.
Hacker ‘John Wick’, hasn’t spared India’s PM or Paytm. Cyber intelligence firm Cyble which dredges the Dark Web has red-flagged hacking episodes at Truecaller, Dunzo, Unacademy, Naukri.com, Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), LimeRoad and IndiaBulls.Picture this, Mumbai-based cybersecurity firm Sequretek, says in Covid-hit 2020, India has seen a 4000% spike in phishing emails and a 400% uptake in the number of policy violations that have grown over 400% as per the latest statistics.Besides the threat to crucial data, the cost suffered by companies is phenomenal. According to a report by IBM’s ‘Cost of a Data Breach Report 2020’ report, Indian companies witnessed an average $2 Mn total cost of data breach in 2020, this is an increase of 9.4% from 2019.
Another survey by Barracuda Networks revealed that 66% of Indian organisations have had at least one data breach or cybersecurity incident since shifting to a remote working model during the pandemic.
Indian Startups At Mercy Of Cyber Attacks
More recently personal data of 2.8 Lakh WhiteHat Jr students and teachers were exposed, where crucial details of minors have been made available on the dark web. Another major breach that took place this week and exclusively reported by Inc42 was when data of 1.4 Mn job seekers was leaked when jobs portal IIMjobs was hacked.
Vineet Kumar, the founder of Cyber Peace Foundation (CPF), a think tank of cybersecurity and policy experts, said that with the increased digitisation of companies and their processes, data has become the new oil.
“You get good money when you sell users data on the dark web. Hackers discovering vulnerabilities and using SQL injections to pull entire databases remains a common practice for hacking,” Kumar told Inc42.
The CyberPeace Foundation says from mid-April to the end of June it noticed 8,98,7841 attacks, July and August saw 64,52,898 attacks. Whereas September and October saw 1,37,37,516 attacks and 18,149,233 attacks respectively.
Speaking to Inc42, Pankit Desai, cofounder and CEO, Sequretek says, “Originally only a limited set of systems were being exposed, now with WFH all systems have to be exposed to the internet as all your processes are enabled remotely. WFH also creates an additional challenge where ‘personal assets are being used for professional purposes’ and ‘professional assets are being used for personal purposes.”
Malwares like SpyMax, Blackwater are being used as a combination of phishing mails and poorly secured home computers to harvest credentials. These credentials are then used for carrying out attacks. The number of attacks with harvested credentials is already up 30%, the company revealed.
Government data shows that in 2019 alone, India witnessed 3.94 lakh instances of cybersecurity breaches. In terms of hacking of state and central government websites, Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) data shows that a total of 336 websites belonging to central ministries, departments, and state governments were hacked between 2017 and 2019.
According to Nasscom’s Data Security Council of India (DSCI) report 2019, India witnessed the second-highest number of cyber attacks in the world between 2016 and 2018. This comes at a time when digitisation of the Indian economy is predicted to result in a $435 Bn opportunity by 2025.On September 22, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) told the Parliament that Indian citizens, commercial and legal entities faced almost 7 lakh cyberattacks till August this year.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has “reported 49,455, 50,362, 53,117, 208,456, 394,499 and 696,938 cybersecurity incidents during the year 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 (till August) respectively,” the MeITY said while responding to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha regarding cyberattacks on Indian citizens and India-based commercial and legal entities.“
India also lacks a cohesive nation-wide cyber-strategy, policies, and procedures. Regulations around data privacy, protection, and penalty should be enacted and enforced as these measures will help businesses evaluate their cybersecurity posture and seek ways to improve. Currently, incident reporting is not mandatory. By making it compulsory, there will be a body of research data that can provide insights on threats to India and inform the government on strategies it can undertake to strengthen the nation’s cyber posture,” said Kumar Ritesh, founder and CEO, Cyfirma.The Internet Crime Report for 2019, released by the USA’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has revealed that India stands third in the world among top 20 countries that are victims of internet crimes.
Kumar attributes these numbers to Indian’s lack of basic cyber awareness. However, a poignant point is also the lack of a robust cybersecurity policy in India. Though the issue was touched upon by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech on Aug 15, 2020, not much movement has happened on that front.
“Cybersecurity is a very important aspect, which cannot be ignored. The government is alert on this and is working on a new, robust policy,” Modi said.The PM’s announcement was made in the backdrop of the government’s initiative to connect 1.5 lakh gram panchayats through an optical fiber network, thereby increasing the country’s internet connectivity.
With India pipped to take on the world with its IT prowess and increased digital integration the need for a robust policy is now more than ever.
Source: https://inc42.com/buzz/3-94-lakhs-and-counting-how-cyberattacks-are-a-worry-for-digital-india/
