Twenty Years Since Tunis: Why the Internet Needs More Stakeholders, Not Fewer

In 2025, the world marks twenty years since the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), a landmark moment in the evolution of global Internet governance. At that summit, leaders from governments, civil society, the private sector, and the technical community came together to affirm that the Internet must be governed not by any one actor or interest, but through a collaborative, multistakeholder model.

Two decades later, this vision is under pressure.

The Internet has evolved beyond what many imagined in 2005. It has become a foundational layer of modern economies, societies, and geopolitics. Yet just as the stakes have risen, so too has fragmentation. Some governments are pulling away from inclusive, open governance processes. Others are doubling down on national sovereignty approaches, developing digital policies in isolation or behind closed doors. At a time when the global Internet ecosystem demands more cooperation than ever before, we are witnessing a worrying trend: disengagement from multistakeholder dialogue.

As we reflect on WSIS+20, we must ask: Can the global community still come together to steward the Internet’s future? Or will we drift further into division, where a patchwork of conflicting norms, controls, and standards undermines the very fabric of the digital world?

From Tunis to Today: The Multistakeholder Vision

The 2005 WSIS-Tunis summit reaffirmed the belief that no single stakeholder group—whether state or non-state—could or should dominate Internet governance. It recognised the Internet’s unique architecture: borderless, decentralised, and shaped by the active participation of diverse communities. Out of this consensus came the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), an open space where governments, companies, technologists, and civil society can discuss critical digital issues on equal footing.

The multistakeholder model was never perfect, but it created a unique mechanism for surfacing emerging challenges, enabling collaboration, and building shared norms. Over the years, it has allowed participants from developing countries, youth movements, marginalised communities, and small enterprises to influence global conversations on cybersecurity, access, and digital rights.

The Rising Risk of Fragmentation

Despite its early success, the multistakeholder model is facing headwinds. A number of governments are now prioritising sovereignty-first approaches to Internet policy. Citing national security, economic self-interest, or cultural integrity, they have moved policymaking into bilateral deals or exclusive forums where non-state voices are limited or excluded entirely.

This shift is happening against a backdrop of growing digital authoritarianism, where state-centric control over infrastructure, content, and data is becoming more normalised. Some governments are promoting new international frameworks that would reduce or bypass multistakeholder engagement entirely, favouring intergovernmental-only negotiations.

The result is a more fragmented Internet—one where national or regional policies increasingly conflict, where protocols diverge, and where global interoperability is at risk. Fragmentation doesn’t just threaten technical standards; it undermines trust, limits innovation, and weakens the Internet’s ability to serve as a global public good.

Why Multistakeholderism Still Matters

In this context, reaffirming the multistakeholder approach is not a matter of nostalgia—it is a strategic necessity.

First, the Internet’s technical infrastructure, including domain name systems, routing protocols, and content moderation mechanisms, cannot be effectively governed by governments alone. These are complex systems built and maintained by a mix of actors—private firms, engineers, standards bodies, and user communities—all of whom must coordinate to maintain functionality and trust.

Second, many of today’s most urgent digital challenges—AI governance, misinformation, cross-border data flows, cybersecurity threats—do not respect national borders. They require transnational cooperation and the active engagement of multiple stakeholders who bring different expertise, values, and perspectives.

Third, multistakeholderism is essential for inclusion. It creates space for underrepresented voices—from small island states to youth activists, from disability advocates to local innovators—to shape decisions that affect their digital futures. It is not just a governance model; it is a means of democratising digital power.

A Moment to Recommit

The 20-year milestone of WSIS offers a critical opportunity to recommit to this inclusive vision. The global community must move beyond statements of principle and take concrete action to strengthen multistakeholder mechanisms.

For governments, this means staying at the table—investing in forums like the Internet Governance Forum, supporting regional dialogues, and resisting the temptation to shift decision-making into exclusive or opaque processes.

For the private sector and technical community, it means sustaining meaningful engagement, not just attending conferences, but sharing expertise, supporting capacity-building, and helping co-create solutions.

For civil society and academia, it means continuing to advocate, inform, and build bridges, ensuring that the needs of the most affected populations are not sidelined in global debates.

And for platforms like the World Economic Forum, it means using convening power to ensure that multi-sectoral cooperation becomes the norm, not the exception, in addressing digital policy challenges.

Looking Ahead: Building a Collaborative Digital Future

As we mark two decades since the WSIS Tunis phase, 2025 offers a pivotal opportunity to renew our commitment to inclusive and cooperative Internet governance. The technologies shaping our future—from artificial intelligence to quantum communications—will demand new models of trust, interoperability, and accountability.

Multistakeholder approaches are uniquely positioned to meet this moment. They enable cross-sector dialogue, integrate local and global perspectives, and foster the kind of agile cooperation needed to navigate digital transformation responsibly.

Rather than retreating from complexity, the international community can embrace it by investing in open, participatory processes. Doing so will ensure that future digital infrastructure and policy frameworks are not only technically sound but also socially inclusive and globally relevant.

As we look toward the next twenty years, it is not only about defending the multistakeholder model—it is about evolving and strengthening it to meet tomorrow’s challenges. The resilience of the Internet depends not on any single institution or nation, but on our shared willingness to collaborate, innovate, and govern together.