Internet governance is 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.

The Internet is a major opportunity to improve free flow of information and ideas throughout the world. Internet governance mechanisms should be based on the principle of “openness”, encompassing interoperability, freedom of expression in Knowledge Societies and measures to resist any attempt to censor content.

For UNESCO, Internet Governance is a core concern. The Organization advocates an open, transparent and inclusive approach to Internet Governance based on the principle of openness encompassings the free flow of information, freedom of expression and technical interoperability.

The main areas of relevance to UNESCO are the concern for ethical dimensions, the realization of multilingualism in Cyberspace and capacity-building.

UNESCO Workshops at First meeting of Internet Governance Forum (Athens, Greece, 31 October - 2 November 2006)

31 October 2006 - “Towards a multilingual global Internet: Avoiding the risk of fragmentation” (Together with ICANN and Government of Egypt) 31 October 2006 - “Free expression” (As co-sponsor) 1 November 2006 - “Free flow of information in cyberspace”

11-10-2010 (Vilnius) 

Strengthening multilingualism in cyberspace

21-09-2010 (Vilnius) 

IGF 2010: UNESCO participated in main session on Privacy, Openness and Security

20-09-2010 (Vilnius) 

UNESCO held workshop on Privacy and Social Networking at 5th IGF meeting

16-09-2010 (Vilnius) 

Janis Karklins reiterates UNESCO’s involvement in Internet governance at 5th IGF meeting in Vilnius

16-09-2010 (Vilnius) 

UNESCO held workshop on freedom of expression at 5th IGF meeting in Vilnius

10-09-2010 (Vilnius) 

Access, diversity, and freedom of expression: UNESCO at Internet Governance Forum

07-09-2010 (Paris) 

UNESCO to hold Workshop "Exploring Privacy and Social Networking" at the Fifth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania

06-09-2010 (Paris) 

UNESCO to launch the “Freedom of Connection – Freedom of Expression: The Changing Legal and Regulatory Ecology Shaping the Internet” report at the Fifth Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania