Hortense Jongen researches how new modes of Internet governance in Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America-Caribbean attract support and approval in these regions.
Most governance of the technical infrastructure of the Internet is carried out by global organisations, many of which are centered in the Global North. Yet, the situation in the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) is surprisingly different. As their name suggests, these organisations take a regional approach to governing several key technical functions of the Internet. Moreover, three out of five RIRs are located in the Global South: AFRINIC (for Africa), APNIC (for Asia-Pacific) and LACNIC (for Latin America-Caribbean).
Together with a global research team, Hortense investigates to what extent, and on what grounds, the three south-based RIRs gain legitimacy in these regions. The project starts from the premise that when different stakeholders hold solid confidence in the workings of an organisation, the latter can govern more effectively. Through their work, the RIRs can substantially affect digital development in the Global South. Specifically, the RIRs perform several important technical tasks which are crucial for people to get access to the Internet. They also organise training activities, workshops and other projects that can help narrow the global digital divide. It is therefore important to find out who does (or does not) have confidence in the south-based RIRs and what drives their support. We expect the first results in 2024.
This project is a continuation of Hortense’s longstanding interest in questions of legitimacy in global Internet governance. Co-authored publications from an earlier research project offer novel insights into how much confidence global Internet governance organisations have been able to attract from different affected people and the factors that shape their confidence. These factors concern the organisational workings of these organisations as well as perceptions of inequality in global Internet governance.