The efficacy of civil society in global internet governance

Abstract

Civil society plays a critical role in the multistakeholder approach adopted in Internet governance. However, little is known about the dynamics within that stakeholder group. Besides the struggle and contestation for recognition, civil society actors face less well-known challenges such as managing the diversity among them while striving to arrive at decisions when they participate in global multistakeholder processes as a group. This article investigates the effort of and the challenges faced by civil society in managing its diverse entities to participate while aiming to be influential in watershed multistakeholder fora, namely in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) I and II, Internet Governance Forum (IGF), and the 2014 Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance (NETmundial). Using observational data, documents, and mailing-list messages, this study found that the coordination struggles within civil society affected their goals when they participated in multistakeholder processes. This study suggests that civil society actors need to manage their short- and long-term goals in Internet governance in order to strengthen the legitimacy and efficacy of their participation as a group in Internet-related multistakeholder policy-making processes.