On April 4, 2025 the Internet Governance Project (IGP) in collaboration with the Quello Center will gather scholars of differing views to debate what digital sovereignty means, how it is being used as a label, and whether the various interpretations of the term are compatible with the foundational values of the open internet.
As the world globalized in the 20th century, scholars observed that states struggled to regulate the flow of goods, persons, pollutants, diseases, and ideas across territorial boundaries. Globalization in the 20th century diminished state control, while the global digital economy fostered new governance structures with distinct authority structures power dynamics.
Many argue (justifiably so) that John Perry Barlow’s vision of a free and open internet is a relic of a bygone era. Today, states (whether through direct authority or more subtle influence) are maneuvering to reclaim control over the digital economy for various public policy objectives. And across the board, their methods are justified under the banner of “digital sovereignty”.
Recently, new books and analyses have been published, including the book edited by Min Jiang and Luca Belli, Digital sovereignty in the BRICS countries (Cambridge, 2025), the volume by Johannes Thumfart, The liberal internet in the postliberal era (Springer, 2024), and a special issue of Policy & Internet on the topic, edited by Julia Pohle, Mauro Santantiello, and Riccardo Nanni.
IGP and the Quello Center welcome the renewed interest in digital sovereignty and vowed to engage in a rigorous discussion of the concept and the arguments. Our webinar will be moderated by Johannes Bauer, the Quello Chair of Media and Information Policy and will feature (alphabetically):
- Anupam Chander, legal expert on global regulation of new technologies.
- Julia Pohle, co-director of research group Politics of Digitalisation at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
- Marília Maciel, Director of Digital Trade and Economic Security at DiploFoundation.
- Milton Mueller, Director of the Internet Governance Project (IGP) at Georgia Tech.
- Min Jiang, Professor of Communication Studies at UNC Charlotte.
So join us on April 4, 2025 from 10:00 – 11:00 am EST for what is sure to be a riveting discussion! Use the link to here to register for the Zoom webinar: https://bit.ly/4gXZY6b
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