Supporting Media Freedom in the Era of AI and “Broligarchy”: RNW Media’s Vision at Internet Governance Forum 2025 

ESSAY

Surabhi Srivastava

It’s that time of the year again – the season of conferences and convenings!  

And RNW Media is heading to Norway later this month to present, participate and engage with diverse and wide-ranging stakeholders from around the world at the United Nations Internet Governance Forum 2025 (IGF), scheduled to take place in Lillestrøm from 23-27 June. 

Yes, summer is a busy conference season. However, IGF is not just any conference.  

In fact, as I prepare to attend IGF for the first time with the RNW Media delegation, a few questions have been on my mind: 

1. How did the IGF come about? What has been its history and mandate? And why does it remain more relevant than ever in 2025 and beyond?  

2. Why does RNW Media consider IGF as an important space to advance the global (digital) media development agenda? 

The History of IGF 

Some basics first. IGF is a UN-led forum, convened by the UN Secretary-General and hosted by a different member state every year. Now in its 20^th edition, IGF first emerged out of the final meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Tunisia in November 2005. IGF was envisioned as a “multistakeholder” space that encourages engaging in dialogue on internet governance and digital public policy. Consequently, IGF convenings don’t lead to “negotiated outcomes” or, in other words, they do not result in formal policy recommendations. Instead, the forum intends to serve as a means to inform, engage and inspire cross-sectoral dialogue and collaboration among stakeholders spanning the public, private and civil society sectors.  

Now, there are two interesting aspects worth noting here (and they also help answer some of my questions). 

First, the initial discussions around establishing IGF recognised that internet governance is a broad concept – one that includes legal, policy and business challenges, as well as concerns related to cybersecurity, international taxation, knowledge management, privacy, access to digital technologies and information. While media was not explicitly outlined within the initial working definition of internet governance, engaging with digital media inadvertently involves many, if not all, of the related topics outlined above.

And in 2025, it’s not just internet, but increasingly artificial intelligence (AI) that demands urgent attention. Addressing this challenge requires global, intersectional and inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches to shape AI regulation and governance frameworks.  

Second, one of the themes covered in the first ever convening of IGF in 2006 was “freedom of expression and responsibility to limit that freedom”. The topic is as, if not more, relevant in 2025 as it was back in 2006. Today, there is a creeping rise of techno-authoritarianism globally. Its impact goes beyond politics, economy and culture – it threatens the survival and viability of independent and public interest media in Europe and beyond. It is no surprise, then, that RNW Media and other civil society organisations that are working on advancing public interest journalism and democratic values ought to actively participate in a global convening like IGF. 

What We Bring to IGF This Year 

At RNW Media, participating at IGF is also critical for engendering, influencing and challenging the existing public discourse(s) on the role that (generative) AI has been increasingly playing in newsrooms and in content production workflows around the world. We are committed to enabling and promoting effective and ethical approaches for using AI in media. This is outlined in the Haarlem Declaration, our blueprint for the ethical principles and values we must abide by to implement AI in media. 

We are looking forward to centring and engaging in discussions with diverse stakeholders that advance ethical AI practices in real-life situations. This includes contexts where AI tools support media-makers in improving their efficiency and productivity, without compromising human oversight, quality and credibility in journalism or other forms of content. As a media development organisation, we also bring an inter- and transdisciplinary focus that examines the intersection of media, technology (AI) and public interest (including access to reliable and accurate, fact-based information online) and governance (focused on digital public policy).  

We also bring a wealth of knowledge, curiosity and experiences to IGF, drawing from several conversations and on-ground interactions with The Vine – our global network of journalists and media-makers. Their insightful lived experiences convey how they are currently using, and envisioning the future of AI technology, in their everyday media work. These stories should inform and shape AI policy and governance at the international level. By bridging the critical gap in linking local realities to global decision-making, they highlight perspectives often missed in policymaking.  

Therefore, our participation in IGF isn’t merely about representing media development sector. In fact, enabling access to (in-person or virtually) and carrying forward the voices of public interest and independent media-makers, primarily from the Global South, that we engage with in our work, day in and day out, is also a vital aspect of our presence at IGF annually.  

Committing To Our Goals 

Now, having answered the questions that I started this essay with, I also recognise how understanding the history of IGF or any convening for that matter plays a pivotal role in shaping how we choose to approach such spaces. These forums have been occupied and shaped by many before us. IGF carries almost two decades of deliberations, debates, agreements and collaborations that have influenced internet and policy governance discourse(s) at local, national and global levels. 

At this year’s IGF, RNW Media aims to contribute to ongoing conversations, while bringing our unique media development perspective to the space. We also seek to build on the foundational strand from the first ever IGF convening held 20 years ago: the call to uphold “freedom of expression and responsibility to limit that freedom”. This principle remains vital – now more than ever – as we navigate new and exciting, but also cautiously terrifying, era of AI.   

The title of this article was generated with support from Google’s AI Gemini.