The United Nations and the Internet: It's Complicated

[Commentary] When it comes to the Internet, Congress, the White House, technology companies, and civil liberties groups are all on the same page: All agree that the United Nations -- a body representing the interests of governments -- should not be given control over a globally interconnected network that transcends the geography of nation-states.

The Internet is too valuable to be managed by governments alone. Yet there is less agreement over how well the alternative "multistakeholder" model of Internet governance is working -- or whether it is really serving all of us as well as it might. History has shown that all governments and all corporations will use whatever vehicles available to advance their own interests and power. The Internet does not change that reality. Still, it should be possible to build governance structures and processes that not only mediate between the interests of a variety of stakeholders, but also constrain power and hold it accountable across globally interconnected networks. Right now, the world is only at the beginning of a long and messy process of working out what those structures and processes should look like. You might say we are present at the creation.