Behind every stable website, secure connection, and seamless online interaction lies something far less visible than servers or fiber optics: cooperation. Global, cross-sector cooperation. For two decades, that cooperation was maintained—often quietly—through the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
Now, ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and the Internet Society (ISOC) have issued a joint warning. In their new report, Footprints of 20 Years of the Internet Governance Forum, they lay out how the IGF model built much of the modern Internet’s foundation—and what happens if we stop showing up.
Download the full report here.
How Dialogue Built the Internet
The IGF was born in 2005 as a response to a growing digital divide and the recognition that traditional government-to-government processes weren’t going to cut it. The Internet needed something more flexible—more inclusive.
So, the IGF did something unusual: it didn’t make rules. It made space.
It created a platform where governments, technical experts, civil society, academia, and business leaders could exchange ideas, critique proposals, and build consensus. The goal wasn’t to publish decrees, but to align incentives and drive action—even if the work happened after the meetings ended.
ICANN’s CEO Kurtis Lindqvist put it clearly:
“The Internet didn’t stay unified by chance. Its resilience is the result of people and institutions working across borders and sectors.”
Community Networks Closed Real Gaps
One-third of the world still lives offline. In response, IGF coalitions didn’t just talk about connectivity—they supported people who built their own networks.
From Patagonia to Tusheti in Georgia, to the first Arctic community network in Ulukhaktok, and even the Everest region—real infrastructure has gone up. Between 2020 and 2024, ISOC disbursed over $3.1 million to support 85 grassroots Internet projects.
The IGF’s Dynamic Coalition on Community Connectivity also released public blueprints, including The Community Network Manual: How to Build the Internet Yourself, now endorsed by governments such as Brazil’s ANATEL regulator.
This wasn’t philanthropy. It was infrastructure strategy rooted in local control.
Local Data, Local Speeds: The Role of Internet Exchange Points
In many parts of the world, data from two users in the same town used to be routed through other continents—just to make the round trip. That’s expensive and slow.
IGF discussions around IXPs (Internet Exchange Points) changed that. Over 10 years, Africa’s IXP count more than doubled. Local peering reduced Kenya’s average latency from over 200 milliseconds to under 10, while saving Internet providers nearly $1.5 million per year in bandwidth fees.
Nigeria had similar savings. The point wasn’t just efficiency—it was sovereignty. Local data stayed local. And it started with conversations at forums like IGF 2007 in Rio and IGF West Africa in 2016.
Multilingual Domains Brought Inclusion Online
Internet names started in ASCII. That meant English letters only. But in a world with billions of non-English speakers, that didn’t scale.
So, the IGF and ICANN promoted Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)—web addresses using Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, and other scripts. By 2025, over 4.4 million IDNs were registered, with significant adoption under country-code domains like .?? (Russia), .?? (China), and .jp (Japan).
Still, universal acceptance remains a challenge. So ICANN now supports a global “Universal Acceptance Day” with over 50 international events each March. The message: your language deserves to work online—everywhere.
Routing Security Isn’t Just for Engineers
Every time your data travels across the Internet, it moves through a path announced by routers. If those paths are misconfigured—or hijacked—your traffic can be diverted or dropped.
To fix this, ISOC launched MANRS (Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security), which has now grown to over 1,000 participating networks worldwide.
These aren’t fringe actors—MANRS includes content delivery networks, cloud providers, and ISPs. With tools like the MANRS Observatory and IGF-hosted tutorials, the Internet’s routing backbone is getting stronger—but only if more networks commit.
DNS Security Isn’t Optional Anymore
Every web address is translated behind the scenes by the DNS (Domain Name System). But DNS was never built with security in mind. That made it vulnerable.
Enter DNSSEC—an add-on protocol that verifies DNS records and blocks spoofing. Thanks to years of IGF sessions and the KINDNS initiative, 93% of top-level domains now use DNSSEC, including over 65% of country-code domains.
That progress wasn’t inevitable. It took public standards, IGF coalitions, and regular reinforcement from stakeholders like ICANN.
Encryption: Often Misunderstood, Always Critical
Encryption keeps messages private, bank data safe, and systems like air traffic control secure. Yet it remains controversial, especially when law enforcement or policymakers propose weakening it for easier access.
The IGF became a key venue for sorting this out. With sessions hosted by the Global Encryption Coalition and open forums since 2020, myths have been addressed head-on.
The Kyoto Statement of 2023 reinforced a simple truth: weakening encryption for some weakens it for everyone.
Parliaments Are Finally at the Table
The IGF used to be dominated by technical voices. But over the past few years, lawmakers have joined the mix—and not just symbolically.
The IGF’s Parliamentary Track now includes structured sessions, policy declarations, and participation from NRIs (National and Regional Initiatives). Declarations like Building a Multistakeholder Digital Future and Shaping Digital Trust are now on record.
This matters because national rules—on privacy, content moderation, or access—don’t stay inside borders. The IGF helps parliamentarians think globally before they legislate locally.
Youth Voices and Disability Advocates Got Heard
Young people use the Internet more than any other demographic. But early governance didn’t give them a seat. That’s changed. More than 50 Youth IGFs are now officially recognized. Their input has shaped digital inclusion efforts, multilingual access, and even contributions to the Global Digital Compact.
Meanwhile, the Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability (DCAD) has made IGF sessions more accessible—introducing sign language, support grants, and accessibility standards that now feed into broader tech policy.
Inclusion isn’t a side project. It’s part of the infrastructure.
This All Worked—But Only Because People Showed Up
What held the Internet together wasn’t central planning. It was consistent, shared effort from a wide cast of stakeholders. The IGF, backed by ICANN and ISOC, offered a place where standards got reviewed, trust was built, and action plans formed.
But the system only works if people keep showing up.
With upcoming reviews like WSIS+20 shaping the next decade of digital policy, this report is both a retrospective and a warning. Ignore the forums, and we risk returning to fragmentation, technical debt, and policy blind spots.
