Global Network Initiative

The India AI Impact Summit marked an important milestone for the Multistakeholder Approaches to Participation in AI Governance (MAP-AI) initiative - a joint effort by the Global Network Initiative and Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University Delhi. Across global pre-events and two full days of programming in Delhi, MAP-AI created space for diverse stakeholders to engage on the evolving AI governance landscape, from safety frameworks and standards to accountability, infrastructure, and geopolitics. Our engagements included: • 16 Feb - Shared Learning Forum on AI: 300 participants in closed-door discussions • 17 Feb - Multistakeholder Convening on AI Governance: 400+ participants from 55+ countries, recognised as an official satellite event of the Summit These convenings focused on embedding human rights, safety, and equitable participation into AI governance frameworks. 📄 Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/g-cP6hK7 As we move into Phase 2 of MAP-AI, we continue this work in the lead-up to the 2026 UN Global Dialogue on AI and the Switzerland-hosted 2027 AI Summit in Geneva.

🇺🇸 GNI is concerned about the possibility that legislators may miss another opportunity to enact meaningful privacy-protecting reforms as part of the impending reauthorization of Section 702 of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). GNI urges Congress to include meaningful legal limits, robust judicial oversight, and effective protections against misuse in Section 702’s reauthorization to protect rights, uphold treaty obligations, and demonstrate how democracies can balance security needs with rights protections. The implications of Section 702 extend far beyond U.S. borders, affecting individuals around the world and shaping global norms, legal interoperability, and trust in the digital ecosystem. Read our full statement: https://lnkd.in/gfT_TRta

MAP-AI has submitted its Oral Input into the Informal Stakeholder Consultation on the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, calling for a more inclusive, rights-based, and action-oriented approach to global AI governance. Led by the Global Network Initiative and the Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University Delhi, the input highlights the need to: ⚖ Center human rights in AI governance 🤝🏾 Enable meaningful participation from the Global Majority 🛠️ Strengthen coordination across global processes 💬 Move from dialogue to accountability and implementation As global AI governance evolves, ensuring diverse, grounded, and equitable participation will be critical to shaping legitimate and effective outcomes. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gaR8GZGs

GNI has called for a more action-oriented, rights-based approach to the WSIS Forum 2026. In our latest submission to the WSIS Open Consultation Process, we highlight the need to move from negotiation to implementation, centering human rights, meaningful connectivity, and inclusive multistakeholder participation. Drawing on insights from the SWUIM project, we emphasize: • Strengthening the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) • Advancing meaningful access and digital capacity • Embedding human rights across digital governance • Ensuring Global Majority participation in decision-making With WSIS 2026 taking place in Geneva this July, it remains a key global platform shaping digital cooperation and implementation of WSIS+20 commitments. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gei3HpaZ

GNI is excited to welcome three new academic members to the Global Network Initiative: Alexander Hohlfeld, Daniel Arnaudo, and Jen Weedon. Each brings deep expertise across platform governance, digital rights, AI accountability, and information integrity - areas that are increasingly central to shaping a safer, more rights-respecting digital ecosystem. We’re looking forward to collaborating and learning together. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/graiG3HN

At Telenor we have published our latest report on Authority Requests. Although authorities have a legitimate need to protect national security and public safety, and to prevent or investigate criminal activities, we recognize that the application of these legal powers in some situations may challenge the privacy and freedom of expression of affected individuals. Considering this, since 2015, Telenor has contributed to transparency in this area through this annual reporting. https://lnkd.in/djEstWuJ   The NGO Access Now has maintained an index over such ‘Transparency Reports’ - Transparency Reporting Index - https://lnkd.in/dAVhvmBB   #Telenor #TransparencyICT #HumanRights #Privacy #FreedomOfExpression #AccessNow

The conclusion of the WSIS+20 review marks a turning point for global digital governance, not an endpoint, but the beginning of implementation. At ICANN85 in Mumbai, GNI had the opportunity to reflect on what the WSIS+20 process revealed about national priorities, multistakeholder participation, and the evolving architecture of internet governance. A few key takeaways: ✔️ National perspectives matter more than ever, countries approached WSIS+20 with distinct priorities shaped by development, rights, and digital sovereignty considerations. ✔️ The Internet Governance Forum now has a permanent mandate, reinforcing its role as a central multistakeholder space. 🛠️ The real work begins now: translating global commitments into national and regional action, sustaining inclusive participation, especially across the Global South, will be critical to meaningful implementation. Our session, co-hosted with NCSG and Global Partners Digital, built on insights from the SWUIM project, bringing together civil society and technical community perspectives on what comes next. As attention shifts to implementation, a key question remains: 🎯 How do we ensure that multistakeholder processes remain meaningful, inclusive, and impactful in practice? Read more: https://lnkd.in/gqGf_bpC #ICANN85 #WSIS20 #InternetGovernance #DigitalPolicy #Multistakeholder #AIgovernance #GlobalSouth

GNI welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the United Nations Human Rights' consultation on protecting human rights defenders (HRDs) in the digital age. Digital technologies have transformed the work of human rights defenders (HRDs), enabling them to communicate widely, document violations in real time, and amplify advocacy efforts. At the same time, these tools have introduced new and evolving threats. HRDs now face risks from online surveillance, profiling, targeted harassment, AI-enabled misinformation, and exposure of sensitive personal data. Government measures such as internet shutdowns, social media blocking, and expanding cybercrime legislation can further restrict their ability to operate safely, often without transparency, proportionality, or avenues for appeal. In our submission, GNI highlights how these developments can undermine HRDs’ freedom of expression, association, and privacy, and complicate the ability of companies and civil society to mitigate these risks. Fragmented regulations, conflicting obligations, and pressures on multistakeholder engagement create structural challenges that must be addressed to safeguard HRDs in today’s digital environment. Read the full submission: https://lnkd.in/gVZetxTf

#CCGBlogAlert In February 2026, during the week of the AI Impact Summit, CCG and Global Network Initiative organised a two-day convening towards facilitating #multistakeholder engagement in #AI governance. This convening, which forms part of our ongoing work under the Multistakeholder Approaches to Participation in AI Governance (#MAPAI) initiative, fostered key questions of global processes associated with AI governance — for instance, on evolving notions of multistakeholder approaches — as well as drilled down on specific sectoral issues like AI and Digital Public Infrastructure, and privacy harms in AI models,   Building off of these learnings, we are now excited to launch a series of blog-posts that speaks to key insights, themes and learning across these deliberations in New Delhi, with the aim of informing forward-looking international AI governance efforts and feeding into future work done across various verticals of the MAP-AI Initiative.   The introduction to the series, authored by Torsha Sarkar, is now up on the CCG Blog! Read here: https://lnkd.in/giZrn8g3

As the momentum for the AI Summits swing from New Delhi to Geneva, with Switzerland set to host in 2027, critical questions emerge on Summit architectures and the future of AI Summits. This piece by Elonnai Hickok, Shashank Mohan, Jason Pielemeier and Jhalak Kakkar evaluates the thematic priorities of the Summits, the summit architecture and how they can move forward - especially in elevating the voices of the Global Majority. Read the piece here: https://lnkd.in/g7FFyDFJ Tech Policy Press Centre for Communication Governance