TECH TRENDS AND LATEST HACKS

  This past Wednesday, 17 December, the governments gathered at the United Nations agreed on their vision for the future of the digital ecosystem, including the Internet. By adopting the outcome document of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 review, they reaffirmed their commitment to the conditions that have enabled the Internet to thrive: a model that allows for the inclusion of diverse expertise—the multistakeholderism approach—paired with a permanent mandate for the Internet Governance Forum. This decision is a significant victory and a recognition of the conditions that have made the Internet such a successful, collective project. The WSIS+20 Review in Retrospective The timing of this process was set 10 years ago, during  the WSIS+10 review . In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly requested an intergovernmental process, involving all stakeholders, to assess the implementation of the WSIS outcomes by 2025.  A lot has happen...

  Governments around the world are passing online age restrictions in an attempt to keep children and teens safe online. While often well-intentioned, age check requirements pose significant risks to people’s privacy, security, and access to an open Internet.   Strong protections and independent oversight are necessary to ensure these policies achieve the goal of improving online safety. Without this, age check requirements become entry points for data breaches and close off people’s access to online services.  The current global patchwork of requirements is also fragmenting the open, global Internet. A lack of common standards leads to incompatible systems across borders, unequal access to online services, and reduced trust in the Internet.  Everyone deserves a safe, secure, and trustworthy online experience. That’s why effective online age restrictions must mitigate these risks for everyone and guarantee young people have access to safe, age-appropriate conten...

  In September 2025, the Internet Society organized its first-ever Africa Cybersecurity (Encryption) Advocacy Workshop in Windhoek, Namibia, held alongside the Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa ( FIFAfrica ), a leading regional convening on digital rights and governance that brings policymakers, advocates, technologists, and journalists together to shape an open, secure Internet.  Building on the success of  our earlier event in Brussels , our team developed this workshop in collaboration with steering committee members of the  Global Encryption Coalition . The three-day workshop equipped leading African civil society organizations with the technical grounding, policy context, and advocacy tools necessary to defend strong encryption and advocate for robust cybersecurity across the continent. Over three days, Internet Society staff, together with partners and regional experts, led high-impact discussions and practical sessions on encryp...