The publication contributes to the ongoing UN process evaluating 20 years of activities of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the first phase of which took place in Geneva (2003) and the second in Tunis (2005). This year, the international community will meet again in Geneva to discuss the next steps towards an inclusive, secure, and sustainable digital society.
Highlighting the need to recognize access to the Internet as a human right, our position emphasizes the role of satellite technologies as crucial for leveling global opportunities and supporting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG0 – access to the Internet. This is one of the outcomes of a series of projects:
Global Governance of Satellite Internet (LEOs)
📅 2021–2023: The first phase of the project enabled expert consultations, the development of legal analyses, and the establishment of a dialogue platform on the role of international law in regulating low Earth orbit (LEO) internet infrastructure.
🔗 Project Website
Satellite Internet: Trust and Data Governance
📅 2023–2025: The second phase of the project focused on transboundary data flows and the legal regulation of satellite infrastructure. In this phase, we organized the Summer School on Internet Governance and International Law (SSIGIL), which helped strengthen the international network of experts gathered around the research and formulate recommendations for decision-makers and members of the global information society.
🔗 SSIGIL School Website
📚 We encourage you to read the entire document and explore other outcomes of both projects, available here:
🔗 Global Governance of LEO Satellites Project
Authors: Berna Akcali Gur, Jason Bonsall, Dmitry Epstein, Jung Seob (Scott) Kim, Magdalena Krysiak, Joanna Kulesza, Liljana Pecova-Ilieska, Maciek Piasecki, Célestine R. Rabouam, Roxana Radu, Monika Stachoń, Isti Marta Sukma, Liya Wang, Dan York
The project is co-led by Dr. Joanna Kulesza (University of Łódź) and Dr. Berna Akcali Gur (Queen Mary University of London), with the support of the Internet Society Foundation.