The head of the organization managing global internet addresses has expressed confidence that a United Nations vote next month will prevent the fragmentation of the world wide web into separate national networks often called "splinternets."
Critical UN Meeting on Internet's Future
Kurtis Lindqvist, the chief executive of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), revealed that officials from UN member countries will gather on December 15-16 at the United Nations headquarters in New York to review the rules that have governed the internet for the past twenty years. The meeting represents a crucial moment for the future of global digital connectivity.
Lindqvist made these comments during an interview with AFP at the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon. He noted that "the vast majority of the countries that we have met with, including countries who in the past have been very sceptical... believe the current model of governing the internet has worked."
The Threat of Internet Fragmentation
Some proposals circulating ahead of the December meeting call for control of managing internet addresses to be taken away from ICANN, the US-based non-profit organization that Lindqvist leads. In recent years, pressure has mounted to transfer this authority to governments and international trade groups.
However, ICANN has issued strong warnings that such a move could lead to a fragmented "splinternet" where connecting across different address systems might become prohibitively expensive or completely impossible for users worldwide. This fragmentation could particularly impact developing digital economies like Nigeria's, where seamless global connectivity is essential for business growth and international collaboration.
"If we start fragmenting this by raising barriers or through policy actions, then we start diminishing this value creation," Lindqvist emphasized, referring to the social and business benefits enabled by a unified internet.
Why a Unified Internet Matters
ICANN's primary function involves coordinating the global allocation of internet addresses, including both the domain names people type into web browsers and the numerical IP addresses computers use to communicate. Having a single, universally agreed-upon address system ensures that anyone in any country can easily reach people elsewhere on the planet by simply visiting their website or sending an email.
Lindqvist described the current system as "phenomenally successful" but noted that this very success has led people to take the internet's unified nature for granted. "The internet's social and business benefits are only possible because we have a uniform technical standard, we have uniform identifiers that are reachable throughout the entire internet," he explained.
The ICANN leader further advocated for the UN to discontinue its practice of reviewing internet governance every decade, arguing that "the model of governing the internet has been successful... We know it works." He expressed that this viewpoint appears to be shared by most member states participating in the upcoming discussions.
While internet governance seems headed toward stability, Lindqvist contrasted this with artificial intelligence regulation, where "everything literally is on the table" in government discussions. He noted that current AI governance proposals range from independent oversight similar to ICANN's model to creating a dedicated UN agency specifically for artificial intelligence.
As the December vote approaches, the global community watches closely, understanding that the outcome will shape digital connectivity for years to come and could either preserve or jeopardize the borderless nature of the internet that has driven innovation and economic growth worldwide.
