Inclusive Internet issues
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In an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, it is no longer appropriate for a few countries or conglomerates to set the rules for all members of the international community.
The world's political and economic landscape has undergone profound changes in recent years, which calls for inclusive global cooperation and accommodating the interests of all the parties involved in any issue of global concern.
However, the organizers and participants of the so-called e-G8, to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday in France, apparently have a different view. The forum intends to discuss Internet regulation and online intellectual property protection with the absence of any concerned parties from China, the major player in cyberspace with 477 million netizens.
Participants at the forum include Internet giants such as Google and Facebook, and the results of the discussions will be presented to the G8 summit, to be held on Thursday and Friday. Obviously, by organizing the first Internet forum prior to the summit, the Western industrial bloc is seeking to control either the development of the industry worldwide or global Internet governance, probably both.
However, given its ignorance of the world's largest online population and the rise of emerging economies, such attempts will likely have limited effects.
Like it or not, without the inclusion of China, any discussion at the global level on issues relating to the Internet will be incomplete, if not insignificant.
The rising clout of emerging countries means an international conference on the Internet needs a much bigger stage and more inclusiveness.
Despite the fact that the Internet is a creation of the West, and still dominated by the West in many ways, Internet governance concerns all the members of the international community - about 2 billion people around the world use the Internet now.
Needless to say, the diversity of netizens and the juxtaposition of different value systems in the world constantly shape the concept of Internet governance.
Many countries regulate cyberspace in one way or another due to concerns about infringements on netizens' interests and the healthy development of the industry. However, some in the West insist Internet freedom should be overriding - although Western nations themselves have different views among themselves on the issue of Internet governance.
There have also been attempts to use the Internet as a tool to seek cultural hegemony or achieve political goals using Internet freedom as a pretext.
Hence, Internet governance is by no means a simple issue. It concerns the interests and sovereignty of all nations. Any attempt to seek global consensus should be based on substantial discussions among all parties concerned.
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