As part of the Second Global Digital Forum, a strategic session was held dedicated to global Internet governance.

The session was organized by the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation.

Context:

• In a multipolar world, countries are developing their own digital ecosystems to ensure sovereignty and infrastructure resilience

• Multilateral platforms such as the WSIS Forum and the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) play an important role in finding common approaches

At the center of the discussion was a fundamental question: is it possible to preserve unified rules for the global network, or will it fragment into competing blocs?

The session was moderated by Ms. Maria Bolshakova, Deputy Director General of the RCC, at the invitation of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development.

The discussion was attended by:

• Mr. Juan Alfonso Fernández González, Senior Advisor in the Ministry of Communications of Cuba

• Ms. Cynthia Lesufi, Chairperson of the ITU WSIS&SDGs Council Working Group (South Africa)

• Mr. Roman Chukov, Associate Expert, UN Internet Governance Forum Secretariat

• Mr. Andrey Vorobyev, Director of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ

• Mr. Vyacheslav Erokhin, Head of the Laboratory at the M.I. Krivosheev National Research Centre for Telecommunication (NRCT)

Key takeaways from the discussion:

• WSIS+20 confirmed that the previous model of Internet governance has run its course, but no alternative architecture has yet emerged

• The Global South and new centers of power are seeking equal participation in Internet governance discussions, but a unified, coordinated position has yet to emerge

• The roles of the UN and the IGF need to be rethought — from a discussion platform to a format that delivers practical results

• The risks of global network fragmentation are real, but the infrastructure level demonstrates that different governance models can coexist within a single system

• The experience of the domain industry — the shift from country-code domains to networks of trusted informants — shows that a hybrid model is already working in practice and can serve as a reference point for broader interstate solutions

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