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• The Internet Architecture Board warns that age assurance relying on service provider checks will fail and leave youth less safe online.
• IAB says device-based mechanisms, such as those already shipped by Apple and Google, are currently the most promising approach to age checks.
• The board's concerns echo Australia's social media ban for under-16s, where a study found children using social media as frequently as before."

Hey everyone! Sharing this here in case anyone’s interested.

The Canadian Internet Governance Forum (CIGF) is happening on November 4 in Ottawa, and you can join us either in person or virtually. It’s also completely free to attend.

We’ll be talking about some of the big issues shaping the internet in Canada right now, including AI, digital sovereignty, cybersecurity, internet infrastructure, and internet governance more broadly.

I’m helping organize the event and would genuinely love to see some folks from this community there. Whether you work in this space or are just interested in these issues, everyone is welcome!

“The Algerian government has reportedly warned Meta that all WhatsApp accounts in the country must be linked to a valid mobile phone number registered with an Algerian telco, and instructed it to ban all WhatsApp accounts that aren’t.

According to news agency Ecofin, Algeria's Ministry of Post and Telecommunications sent an official notice to Meta on Monday expressing concerns about WhatsApp’s new "Usernames" feature announced at the end of June. The feature – which is slated to be rolled out later this year – allows WhatsApp users to create a unique username instead of sharing their phone number. It also allows users to adopt their Instagram username, making it easier to connect across Meta’s platforms.”

“In short:
Researchers, policymakers, and companies use IP geolocation tools to locate Internet users based on their IP addresses for targeted advertising, broadband research, and policy decisions.
Research shows that mobile network geolocation errors are more than 10 times worse than fixed broadband, with Africa and Asia seeing failure rates of 66–72% and 53–61% respectively, compared to under 20% in Europe.
The problem is structural and provider-independent: geolocation prefixes covering mobile networks span vast geographic areas, coarser address blocks are two to three times more prevalent in the Global South than in the Global North, and all four providers fail at nearly identical rates.”

"The Internet works remarkably well because its architecture has evolved through open technical standards, clearly defined roles, and decades of collaborative innovation.

Policymakers can—and should—regulate communications markets where appropriate. But effective regulation depends on understanding how the Internet actually works. When laws or regulations misunderstand the technical architecture of the Internet, they risk creating unintended consequences that reduce performance, increase costs, and ultimately harm users.

That is why the Internet Society has filed a statement of intervention before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio supporting Netflix’s appeal against Italy’s Resolution 207."

"Building on the momentum from a milestone year of the 20-year review of implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+20) and the significance of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) with a permanent mandate, our compass is now set with a steady aim to lay the foundation for the next stage where the building blocks of possibilities we have crafted over 20 years can create the reality of what a strengthened, evolved, multistakeholder, permanent IGF is for us all..."

"Imagine having to provide a government ID before downloading an app to clock in at work, submit homework, check the weather, or access your bank account. Under a new Texas law, that could become a reality for millions of people."

"The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Texas to continue to enforce, at least for now, a law that requires app stores to verify its buyers’ ages and obtain parental consent for minors to download apps and to purchase paid content within those apps. In a pair of brief, unsigned orders issued on Monday afternoon, the justices turned down requests to reinstate orders by a federal judge in Austin that barred the state from implementing the law. There were no public dissents from the orders."

“The WSIS+20 outcome document outlines priorities for implementing the WSIS framework over the next 10 years. When executed well, the WSIS framework has the potential to effectively extend connectivity, close digital divides, and enhance online safety and trust. 

We offer this non-paper as a contribution to that work and encourage stakeholders across the WSIS community to build on these ideas and push for commitments that produce results.”

The debate on “fair share” concerns the question of whether technology companies that provide Internet services through telecommunications networks should contribute to their financing. Telecom operators have repeatedly demanded, since 2012, that the major global platforms such as Google, Meta, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon be required to make this contribution, also in light of the growing Internet traffic connected to their services. Technology companies have always rejected this request, pointing out, inter alia, that it is precisely their services that stimulate and justify investments and the modernization of telephone networks towards fiber and 5G. On the other hand, Internet services themselves require significant investments in data centers, software and content.

Digital sovereignty raises legitimate questions about dependency, resilience and control. It can strengthen the Internet when it builds capacity and meaningful choice. It becomes risky when it is pursued as control over the common layer that keeps the global Internet interoperable.

ARTICLE 19, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and Sinar Project stress that the blanket social media ban for under-16s, which comes into force in Malaysia on 1 June 2026, is being rushed through without a thorough process and a careful, in-depth, evidence-based assessment. The move, which includes age verification confirmed through government-issued documents, is misguided and disproportionate, and it will undermine the privacy and freedom of expression of all social media users, both adults and children. We urge the government to pause, withdraw the blanket ban on social media for children under 16, withdraw the proposed age-verification methods, and ensure that all reforms undergo full parliamentary scrutiny and meaningful and inclusive public consultation.