At a Glance
- Worsening power asymmetries are at the heart of much conflict, harm, and governance dysfunction in the digital domain.
- Power in and over the digital realm is more concentrated than ever before, as outsized corporate influence and increasing government control create a trajectory for the digital future that imperils security, equity, and human rights.
- At the same time, the digital domain is the most active battlefield in an escalating, zero-sum power struggle between the U.S. and China, and intensifying skirmishes between established and emergent leaders in digital tech such as Russia and India.
- Countering global power imbalances and promoting an equitable, safe digital domain will take an intentional approach to expanding the multi-stakeholder global governance ecosystem.
- We have an opportunity to get in front of some of the worst possible harms stemming from artificial intelligence right now. To do that, we will need to invest in institutional vehicles committed to paying it forward to future generations when it comes to ensuring a safe, secure, and equitable digital domain.
- Stewardship of connectivity needs to shift away from internet service providers and corporate power toward a more distributed model based on various fail-safes so as to enable alternative and redundant means of access.
- In the contest to shape global standards in areas like cybercrime, privileging regional guidelines could prove more fruitful than the pursuit of universal requirements.
- To reduce global conflict and harm from digital surveillance, democracies should practice what they preach and ban commercial spyware outright.
- The big data value chain must be reformed to afford individuals and less influential countries more rights and proceeds from their data.