Join the Atlantic Council’s Democracy + Tech Initiative for a conversation on the recent efforts at the United Nations to remake the global and multistakeholder internet, and what it means for democracy and the world. We’re excited to be joined by two of the foremost experts on the intersection of geopolitics, technology, and diplomacy to make sense of a crowded year of internet governance and AI-related negotiations and events.  

On May 21, at 9:00 a.m. ET, 3:00 p.m. CET, the United States Special Envoy for Digital Freedom, Eileen Donahoe, and Denmark’s Tech Ambassador, Anne Marie Engtoft Meldgaard, will sit down with the Atlantic Council’s Rose Jackson to discuss what is at stake and what to watch over the next six months. Whether you’ve never heard of the Global Digital Compact or are a close follower of the Internet Governance Forum and World Summit on the Information Society, this event is for you.  

As countries around the world look to incentivize a technological future accessible to more people, governments are debating who should get to govern those innovations and systems. For two decades, the world collaborated through a distributed system of governance to keep the internet free, open, secure, and interoperable. No single country or company could control it or exert its will upon it. That system led to a shared global resource that has become essential infrastructure for innovation, commerce, communication, and democracy itself. At the same time, global populations have grown frustrated with the lack of connectivity for many, and the centralization of technical and regulatory power within the United States and Europe.