- Creating a people-centric internet required multiple stakeholders, says the UN
- Concerns remain about access, abuse and the environment
- AI also had a section dedicated to its risks
The UN General Assembly has reached an agreement on who will govern the internet, and this is good news for censorship as a multi-stakeholder model has prevailed.
Under this leadership, “governments, the private sector, civil society, international organizations, the technical and academic communities and other stakeholders” will have their say, in line with the vision outlined at the 2003 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) of a people-centric Internet.
“We reaffirm our commitment to the vision of the World Summit on the Information Society to build a human-centered, inclusive and development-oriented information society, where everyone can create, access, use and share information and knowledge,” the UN writes in its report. Results document.
VN: No single entity should rule the Internet alone
In the December 16, 2025 document, the UN acknowledges that many developing countries still face barriers not only to internet access but also to stakeholder participation in governance issues. International cooperation, financing and public-private partnerships were presented as key solutions.
The United Nations is also concerned about internet access and affordability. gender differences; Exclusion of vulnerable groups such as the elderly, indigenous peoples and immigrants; human rights violations; misuse of digital technology for purposes such as cybercrime, surveillance and exploitation of children; disinformation and disinformation; and the environmental impact of digitalisation.
The document presented by the President of the General Assembly and the German politician Annalena Baerbock also includes an entire section dedicated to artificial intelligence, in which the UN recognizes the technology’s benefits for humanity and highlights the unknown risks associated with the speed, scale and autonomy of its development.
People-centered solutions include demands for increased education, open source models, accessible educational data, and wider access to high-performance computing infrastructure.
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is now a permanent body of the United Nations, whereas previously it was only an annual meeting.
The next review is scheduled for 2035, when the UN will invite all interested parties to participate in all phases of the process to “identify areas where further attention can be focused.”
