The Global Citizens' Dialogue on the Future of the Internet met in October 2020, bringing together roughly 5,500 participants from over 70 countries. Discussion topics included digital identity, internet governance, the digital public sphere, disinformation, and AI.
Problems and Purpose
Although the world has become increasingly connected through the Internet, that digitalization engenders risks: for example, data security, Internet user safety, and disinformation stand to widen inequalities and exacerbate existing social divides. Recognizing that knowledge of the public’s views on issues like disinformation, technology governance, and digital cooperation was paramount, Missions Publiques initiated the We, The Internet project, of which the Global Citizens' Dialogue on the Future of the Internet was a component.
At its inception, the Citizens’ Dialogue was intended to engage, both on an international and municipal scale, over 5000 citizens from all backgrounds in a discussion about the world’s digital future [1]. Their recommendations were intended to inform stakeholders in the private sector, in academia, and in government.
Background History and Context
The Global Citizens' Dialogue was one element of the broader We, The Internet project, which was convened by Missions Publiques—an agency for citizen participation—at the 2017 Internet Governance Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. We, the Internet was founded to “put those directly impacted [by the digital world] in the loop of [decisionmaking on their future]” [3]. It serves five purposes: in addition to convening online and in-person deliberative processes, the project also involves strategic global partners to give its topic agendas direction and funding; strategic national partners to mobilize dialogues in their respective countries; an “impact ecosystem” led by Missions Publiques and its national partners to relay the findings of Dialogues to relevant actors; and a global coordination team headed by Missions Publiques.
From 2018–2019, We, the Internet completed Phase 1 of its development (coalition building and piloting). From 2020–2021, it finished Phase 2 (scaling and strategy building), which involved initiatives such as the Global Stakeholders’ Dialogue and the Global Citizens’ Dialogue. (The Global Citizens' Dialogue was specifically convened to provide citizens and stakeholders in the private and public sector with an opportunity to share their views on Internet governance.) From 2022–2025, We, the Internet will undergo Phase 3, which will aim to launch a Global Citizens’ Assembly on the Future of the Internet and a Global Citizens’ Dialogue on the UN Global Digital Compact before the 2023 UN Summit for the Future.
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
The global organizer of the Global Citizens' Dialogue on the Future of the Internet (and, by extension, the We, the Internet project) is Missions Publiques: an agency focused on citizen participation that is headquartered in Paris, Bonn, and Brussels. From 1998 to 2022, Missions Publiques has coordinated over 1,250 citizens’ dialogues in 125 countries.
Regarding institutional support, We, the Internet collaborates with over 150 global partners, cooperation partners, and national partners [4]. We, the Internet’s global partners include Facebook; Google; Auswärtiges Amt; the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization; the Swiss Federal Office of Communications; the World Economic Forum; the European Commission; the Council of Europe; and the World Wide Web Foundation. Furthermore, We, the Internet’s cooperation partners are the Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes at Arizona State University; Diplo; Participaction; and Liquid Democracy. Finally, some of the We the Internet’s national partners include the University of Melbourne, DeliberaBrasil, the Global Youth Network’s Benin Chapter, IGF Ecuador, and the Internet Society’s Madagascar Chapter [5]. These partners engage in and assist with agenda setting for We, the Internet’s Dialogues [6].
In terms of funding, a select number of We, the Internet’s partners also comprise its Advisory Board, which “gives the main direction of the process, identifies the key topics, agrees on the core controversies to deal with, and supports the process financially and in-kind” [7]. These entities—which include UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the German Federal Foreign Office, Google, Facebook, the Wikimedia Foundation, the World Economic Forum, and the Internet Society.
Participant Recruitment and Selection
Given that We, the Internet’s aim was to include citizens who would “reflect the respective country’s diversity with a particular focus on reaching minorities and non-connected citizens,” participants in the Citizens’ Dialogue were controlled for age, gender, education level, occupational background, geographical spread, and digital connectedness. Partner organizations, who were responsible for participant recruitment in their respective countries, had the ability to broaden these criteria to nationally-relevant factors like ethnicity or religion; all additional criteria used were approved beforehand by Missions Publiques [8].
Specific recruitment strategies were also variable between countries and pre-approved by Missions Publiques. They included social media, randomly distributed invitation letters, and recruiters on the street. In the end, 39% of participants were under 25, 26.5% were between 25 and 34 years old, 14.4% were between 35 and 44 years old, and 8.9% were between 45 and 54. Regarding geography, 25.1% were located in Latin American and Caribbean states, 23.4% were in African states, 19.4% were in Asia-Pacific states, 16.3% were in Eastern European States, and 15.7% were in Western European and other states. Finally, on gender: 51.9% of participants identified as female, 46.6% as male, 1.1% as neutral, and 0.4% as other [9].
Methods and Tools Used
Given public health constraints produced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizing team at We, the Internet had to shift to online and hybrid formats to simultaneously minimize risk and maximize participant inclusion. Although the pandemic impeded We, the Internet’s original goal of a 100+ country and 10,000+ participant reach, the Global Citizens' Dialogue on the Future of the Internet ultimately brought together about 5,500 citizens in 70 countries.
On the Day of Deliberation, nine sessions of work took place, each one centered around an aspect of the world’s digital future. These included “Internet and Me”; “My Data, Your Data, Our Data”; “A Strong Digital Public Sphere”; “Exploring Artificial Intelligence,” and “Governing Artificial Intelligence” [10]. During these sessions, participants engaged in group discussions about their views on the Internet, data privacy, existing tools to fight disinformation, and AI governance; individually, they were also surveyed afterward using questionnaires.
Moreover, national partners of the Citizens’ Dialogue were given the opportunity to organize additional, independent sessions in their respective countries that would give the Dialogue more nation-specific relevance. Ultimately, 24 countries chose to do so.
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Missions Publiques needed to adopt a hybrid Dialogue format, with in-person discussions happening in some places and online dialogues taking place in others (where public health restrictions or geographic barriers would hinder participation).
On the Day of Deliberation, each session opened with a video providing some background on the topic of discussion and an overview of contrasting perspectives on the topic. These were translated into local languages and included interviews with both experts and citizens. Next, group discussions on the Internet’s future, data privacy, artificial intelligence, and more took place, followed by individual questionnaires surveying participants for their personal views on each topic. 24 national partners of the Citizens’ Dialogue also chose to convene additional Dialogue sessions in their respective countries.
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
Ultimately, five key outputs emerged from the Global Citizens’ Dialogue: that citizens are “far from having a naive or catastrophic view of digitalization”; believe “a data-driven society could unlock a positive future”; want a “digital public sphere that is inclusive, protects the free exchange of views, and is based on respectful interactions”; believe they have insufficient background on AI to comment on it; and have both reservations and confidence in the world’s digital future [11].
From November 4-5, these preliminary results were presented at the 2020 Internet Governance Forum (IGF); in late 2021, they were also presented to the German government and European Commission.
Analysis and Lessons Learned
In organizing the Global Citizens’ Dialogue on the Future of the Internet, We, the Internet’s central focus was to maintain a high quality of deliberation while preserving participant health and safety. Although the transition to a hybrid Dialogue format affected its participation levels and geographic reach to some degree—and, by extension, the richness of its dataset—it was still the “largest and most diverse international dialogue on digital issues ever [convened]” [12].
Overall, the concept of the Global Citizens’ Dialogue was positively viewed by We, the Internet’s partner organizations and participants in the Citizens’ Dialogue. However, participants noted that the topics of discussion varied in accessibility, with more nuanced issues like artificial intelligence eliciting fewer contributions from participants. Moreover, among these participants, younger, educated citizens were generally overrepresented, and in multilingual states (except Canada) the event was often held in the dominant language alone.
See Also
References
[1] Missions Publiques. “Results report: What citizens of the world say on the future of the Internet.” Missions Publiques. https://wetheinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/WTI-final-results-report-v1h.pdf.
[2] Missions Publiques. “Results report: What citizens of the world say on the future of the Internet.” Missions Publiques. https://wetheinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/WTI-final-results-report-v1h.pdf.
[3] Missions Publiques. “Results report: What citizens of the world say on the future of the Internet.” Missions Publiques. https://wetheinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/WTI-final-results-report-v1h.pdf.
[4] Missions Publiques. “Get Involved – We, the Internet.” Missions Publiques. https://wetheinternet.org/get-involved/.
[5] Missions Publiques. “Who Are We? – We, the Internet.” Missions Publiques. https://wetheinternet.org/who-are-we/.
[6] Missions Publiques. “Get Involved – We, the Internet.” Missions Publiques. https://wetheinternet.org/get-involved/.
[7] Missions Publiques. “Results report: What citizens of the world say on the future of the Internet.” Missions Publiques. https://wetheinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/WTI-final-results-report-v1h.pdf.
[8] Missions Publiques. “Results report: What citizens of the world say on the future of the Internet.” Missions Publiques. https://wetheinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/WTI-final-results-report-v1h.pdf.
[9] Missions Publiques. “Results report: What citizens of the world say on the future of the Internet.” Missions Publiques. https://wetheinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/WTI-final-results-report-v1h.pdf.
[10] Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes. “We the Internet: Citizen and Stakeholder Dialogues | CSPO.” Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes. https://cspo.org/research/we-the-internet-citizen-and-stakeholder-dialogues/.
[11] Missions Publiques. “Results report: What citizens of the world say on the future of the Internet.” Missions Publiques. https://wetheinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/WTI-final-results-report-v1h.pdf.
[12] Missions Publiques. “Results report: What citizens of the world say on the future of the Internet.” Missions Publiques. https://wetheinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/WTI-final-results-report-v1h.pdf.