On April 7, the Russian Internet Governance Forum (RIGF‑26) began its work in Moscow. Held annually since 2010—initially timed to coincide with the launch of the Cyrillic domain .рф (.rf) — the Forum has become the main Russian platform for discussing Internet regulation issues.

The central event of RIGF‑26 was the plenary session titled “WSIS+20: A Quarter Century in Building the Information Society. From Words to Deeds?”

The session was moderated by Ms. Maria Bolshakova, Deputy Director General of the RCC.

During the discussion, participants addressed a wide range of issues related to assessing the current status and prospects of the global digital dialogue, including:

Ms. Gitanjali Sah, Strategy and Policy Coordinator at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), presented the main conclusions and mandates of the final review of progress in implementing the WSIS outcomes conducted by the UN General Assembly in December 2025.

Mr. Alexey Borodin, Director General of the RCC, explained the reasons for and the nature of the RCC's participation in the preparations for the overall review at the UN General Assembly level, and outlined priority issues for the region on the global digital agenda.

Mr. Artur Lyukmanov, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cooperation in the Field of Information Security and Director of the Department of International Information Security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, assessed the effectiveness of existing global digital dialogue mechanisms and Russia's role in their implementation.

Mr. Alexander Shoytov, Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, highlighted the risks to the formation of a secure and trustworthy digital environment posed by content generation technologies, including deepfakes.

Mr. Alexey Goreslavsky, CEO of the ANO “Institute for Internet Development,” in turn focused on the creation of "positive" content as a key factor in building a favorable digital space.

Mr. Dmitry Gulyaev, Director General of the Russian Association of Electronic Communications (RAEC), in turn spoke about the practical side of the global digital dialogue — namely, the specifics of cooperation in the field of ICT.

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