The Democratic Future of the Internet

In April 2022, the Biden Administration released the Declaration for the Future of the Internet (DFI) along with 60 signatory countries committing to uphold an open, affordable, trustworthy, and globally-accessible internet. On June 22, the Brookings Institute hosted a fireside chat with two of the Declaration’s campaigners from the Administration – Tim Wu and Peter Harrell – and a panel with speakers from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Freedom House, and the Brookings Institute discussing the declaration and its shortcomings, the current state of global democracy and the internet, and hopes for the future.

Reviewing the panel and current events, I mapped out some of the concerns and hopes for the future of the internet that resonated with me as a member of the ‘digital native’ generation.

Three growing concerns about the future of the internet:

1. Decline in freedom and democracy: For the last eleven years, we have witnessed consecutive losses of global internet freedom. 30 countries – including the U.S. – have deteriorating online environments demonstrating how democracy as a whole is declining around the world. Without immediate action and permanent accountability structures, we are poised to continue losing democratic systems and rights, already seen in censorship and misinformation on topics like Ukraine, Hong Kong, and U.S. elections.
2. Increased internet fragmentation: State power, while sometimes a force for strength and problem solving, can endanger a connected and interoperable internet. As panelist Allie Funk said, “Governments want to build their own rules and create a border over the internet,” and it will be hard to convince many to relinquish individual power in favor of a coalition. The Great Firewall in China and Russia’s Runet have exemplified how state control or censorship of the internet poses immense issues for open internet governance.
3. Autocratic leverage: If autocracies can constrain the internet, they can powerfully stunt how their citizens interact with the world at large and democracies’ power to protect their own systems and internet. As Alex Engler put it, “Russia and China’s online disinformation efforts have the goal of denting the global prestige of democracy”. According to the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer, which measures trust across 27 markets, belief in governments, media, and nonprofits has declined such that ‘distrust’ is now the global default.

Despite these challenges, I still believe that the internet can fulfill its purpose of bringing us closer together, advancing our understanding of the world, and sharing practices for better and broader rights.

Three reasons to hope for a more free and open future internet:

1. Greater focus, and excitement, on internet freedom: Tim Wu stated that “The fight for freedom on the internet is the fight for freedom, period.”As we see greater abuses of the internet and online world, the fight for internet freedom is gaining greater attention from academics, civil society, and governments around the world. New nonprofits committed specifically to internet (see the Internet Freedom Foundation), new programs addressing the internet from established organizations, collaborations like the 2020 Greater Internet Freedom (GIF) Consortium, and government officials acknowledge that commitments to freedom must extend to freedom on the internet.
2. Increased inclusivity: At its core, the internet was made to democratize access to information and create an open, inclusive forum for all. If we realize these initial goals and apply them globally, we can empower diverse perspectives and strengthen the multistakeholder approach to internet governance. As Peter Harrell encapsulated, the goal of the DFI is to help create “a platform that we could use to build out this set of really critical values and commitments to a broader collection of countries from both the global north and the global south.”
3. Truth is on our side: Misinformation is growing, but the compelling call of truth and the determination of activists, reporters, and democracies to reveal it are robust and ongoing. “Democracies depend on the idea that the truth is knowable and that citizens can discern it and use it to make decisions for self-governance,” said Jessica Brandt. More tools emerge each year to help internet users determine the truth. Ranging from myth debunkers to new Seekr scores, the business of shining light on the truth has never been so prominent.

With growing awareness for digital rights and leader commitments like the DFI, my hope and belief is that the next decades will bring a robust, secure tool that empowers rather than limits its users.

Julia Meltzer is recent graduate from Stanford University and returning to complete a Master's degree. She interns with the Digital Impact and Governance Initiative (DIGI) team and is passionate about symbolic systems and working toward the equitability and accessibility of government, legal information, and resources to all those living in the United States.