Internet governance about to get its quadrennial stress test at ITU meeting
278 proposals on table, and some fear they might shift power to governments
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is set to begin its quadrennial plenipotentiary meeting on Monday, with internet governance organizations anticipating potential challenges to their roles. The ITU, a United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies, is responsible for managing radio spectrum, satellite orbits, and establishing technical standards.
Key standards managed by ITU include X.509 for public key infrastructure, E.164 for telephone numbers, and H.264 and 265 for video codecs used in online streams.
While the ITU's authority is generally respected, its work intersects closely with that of other organizations working on the technologies powering the internet. These include the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) which oversees the domain name system, regional internet registries (RIRs) managing IP addresses, and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) working on HTML, CSS, and accessibility.
Governments participate in these internet governance bodies, but their influence is limited by a consensus-driven decision-making process that operates under the multi-stakeholder governance model.
At the 2025 ITU event, the United Nations endorsed multi-stakeholder governance, effectively excluding the ITU from internet standards. However, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), established as a result of this decision, has not yet met meaningfully. This year's ITU meeting provides a potential opportunity for stakeholders to test the delicate balance between the ITU, internet governance bodies, and the emerging Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
If ITU members attempt to expand the union's role into areas currently managed by internet governance organizations, it could lead to conflicts.
China and Russia have previously attempted to influence the ITU to manage new internet protocol revisions and shift towards a model where nations have stronger roles in internet governance. However, these efforts have not been successful. The Internet Society has published a background paper warning of potential challenges to the ITU's technical architecture, internet connectivity, and the governance of remote, underserved, and unserved communities.
They are watching closely for resolutions on emerging areas such as AI and quantum technologies, as well as decisions on overseeing low-earth orbit satellite constellations, submarine cable resilience, and spectrum policy. ICANN, the organization responsible for the domain name system, also expresses interest in these developments.
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