Power and Authority in Internet Governance Blayne Haggart, Natasha Tusikov, Jan Aart Scholte / Blayne Haggart, Natasha Tusikov, Jan Aart Scholte
2021, 20210314, 2022, 2021-03-14
eBook, Book
Power and Authority in Internet Governance investigates the hotly contested role of the state in today's digital society. The book asks: Is the state "back" in internet regulation? If so, what forms ...are state involvement taking, and with what consequences for the future?
The volume includes case studies from across the world and addresses a wide range of issues regarding internet infrastructure, data and content. The book pushes the debate beyond a simplistic dichotomy between liberalism and authoritarianism in order to consider also greater state involvement based on values of democracy and human rights. Seeing internet governance as a complex arena where power is contested among diverse non-state and state actors across local, national, regional and global scales, the book offers a critical and nuanced discussion of how the internet is governed - and how it should be governed.
Power and Authority in Internet Governance provides an important resource for researchers across international relations, global governance, science and technology studies and law as well as policymakers and analysts concerned with regulating the global internet.
Introduction Haggart, Blayne; Scholte, Jan Aart; Tusikov, Natasha
Power and Authority in Internet Governance,
2021, 2022
Book Chapter
This book explores the role of the state in internet governance. As its primary guiding questions, it asks: (a) In what ways and to what extent do (and might) we see increased state involvement in ...contemporary internet governance; and (b) under what conditions can that greater government role in the internet be a good or a bad thing? In addressing these questions, the chapters examine issues such as the role of the state vis-à-vis multistakeholder governance of the internet, the various internet policies of authoritarian and democratic governments, and the relationship between (global) capitalism and the state in internet regulation. It also presents a summary of the volume's chapters.
Conclusion Tusikov, Natasha; Haggart, Blayne; Scholte, Jan Aart
Power and Authority in Internet Governance,
2021, 2022
Book Chapter
In the conclusion, we synthesise insights from the previous chapters as they relate to the role of the state in internet governance today and into the future, focusing on five main points. First, ...current trends show widespread state attempts to exert greater control in internet governance, and these government initiatives often conflict with the private regimes that have previously dominated in areas such as internet infrastructure. Second, business plays significant constraining and enabling roles in shaping state power vis-à-vis the internet. Third, both authoritarian and democratic states (in different ways and to different degrees) face technical, social and economic limitations when they seek to exert "sovereignty" in internet governance. Fourth, multistakeholder internet governance in practice often puts both state and civil society actors in a secondary role behind business and technical interests. Fifth, the US government continues to have a consequential role in the overall regime complex for internet governance. Finally, we offer some thoughts on future lines of research concerning the role of the state in internet governance.
