Polarized world threatens open internet: ICANN – Tech Xplore

Click here to sign in with or
Forget Password?
Learn more
share this!
39
Twit
Share
Email
November 22, 2023
This article has been reviewed according to Science X’s editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content’s credibility:
fact-checked
reputable news agency
proofread
by Glenn CHAPMAN
After 25 years of keeping the internet strong and stable, the nonprofit ICANN—responsible for its technical infrastructure—is warning that increasingly polarized geopolitics could start cracking the foundations of the online world.
“It’s super important to differentiate between what countries decide to do with controlling content, as opposed to the technical infrastructure,” the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ interim chief executive Sally Costerton told AFP in a recent interview.
“The risk of fragmentation at the technical level is enormous. The foundation crumbles and game over.”
ICANN has managed the technical underpinnings of the internet since the group was established in Los Angeles in 1998, and for the past seven years it has operated under an international model that has all “stakeholders” work collaboratively.
“That has worked really well,” Costerton said of the approach.
ICANN is best known for its work maintaining and expanding the internet address system to new “domains” and languages from its early “.com” days only employing the Roman alphabet.
But as online abuses—from misinformation to hateful content—have grown more insidious, interest has heightened in giving governments more control of the internet, including aspects that have previously been covered by ICANN.
Shifting control of the internet’s infrastructure to governments and trade groups, and shutting out the technical community, could crack its foundation, Costerton warned.
But proposals have been circulating in the United Nations to give governments and trade groups such clout, and such discussions are expected to come to a head in 2025, according to ICANN.
“You start to damage the foundation by changing the way that internet governance model works,” Costerton said.
“It looks like a magic trick, but it’s the product of hundreds of thousands of people building trust in the technologies and each other.”
While ICANN keeps the infrastructure on which the internet operates sound, it has nothing to do with any digital content it supports, the executive noted.
“I can’t actually remove something from the internet,” the ICANN chief said.
“The other thing is that ICANN is politically neutral, we can’t take sides.”
Costerton worries that mindset would shift if governments had more control of the internet infrastructure.
She also sees a threat from the unintended consequences of regulation in countries intending to safeguard citizens from what is deemed undesirable online content there.
“The internet was not designed on national borders, it’s a global resource,” Costerton said.
“The minute you start to decentralize it, you’re going to start to create digital islands.”
Essentially, the internet could be splintered as countries control what people see online.
“We are living in an increasingly nationalistic, polarized world,” Costerton said.
“If you want all that wonderful content, and you want the magic trick to carry on, you must maintain the current trust-based model.”
© 2023 AFP
Explore further
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Feedback to editors
1 hour ago
0
Mar 1, 2024
0
Mar 1, 2024
0
Mar 1, 2024
0
Mar 1, 2024
0
1 hour ago
17 hours ago
20 hours ago
20 hours ago
23 hours ago
23 hours ago
23 hours ago
Mar 5, 2024
Mar 5, 2024
Mar 5, 2024
Nov 29, 2016
Apr 7, 2020
May 21, 2019
Feb 23, 2019
Mar 12, 2018
May 1, 2020
Mar 5, 2024
Mar 4, 2024
Feb 29, 2024
Feb 29, 2024
Feb 29, 2024
Feb 28, 2024
Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form. For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines).
Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request
Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.
Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.
Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient’s address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Tech Xplore in any form.

Daily science news on research developments and the latest scientific innovations
Medical research advances and health news
The most comprehensive sci-tech news coverage on the web
This site uses cookies to assist with navigation, analyse your use of our services, collect data for ads personalisation and provide content from third parties. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

source

About The Author

admin

See author's posts