Key global events are occurring in 2024 that could shift global internet governance, including the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 review and the United Nations Summit of the Future. The outcomes of these events could change global internet governance models from multi-stakeholder to multilateral. In recent years, governments have shifted their priorities in regard to the internet, attempting to make it safer and more trustworthy. Post-pandemic, countries have accelerated their capacities to harness digital networks and broadband penetration, while balancing the introduction of new legislation both domestically and internationally. Against the backdrop of a more regulated internet and enhanced digitalization, the United Nations is proposing both a Global Digital Compact and a Digital Cooperation Forum ahead of the Summit of the Future. These have the potential to upend much multi-stakeholder internet governance work, shifting how the internet has been governed since its public release in the 1990s.
