Is International Internet Regulation Just Ahead?

French President Emmanuel Macron got into a fight the other day with President Trump. That public contretempts obscured an equally significant international event—Macron gave the opening remarks at the Internet Governance Forum, whose 2018 meeting convened in Paris this month. He offered what can only be characterized as a strong vision of international internet regulation. While leaning into the idea of multi-stakeholder development of the regulations, Macron left far behind the idea of a generally unregulated internet. Here’s a taste:

The IGF community has an objective interest in taking hold of the subject rapidly, because there will inevitably be greater regulation in future, and the community will be the first to pay the price if rules are poorly designed. We need to build this cooperative regulation together. What we need to do, is learn to regulate together, on the basis that all Internet players, including civil societies, private actors, NGOs, intellectuals, journalists and governments, are co-guarantors or this common interest that should drive us precisely to work in cooperation.

The entire text is worth a read.