Multi-stakeholder Governance for a Safe Digital Environment Highlights Review

Multistakeholder Governance: Co-creating a Safe Digital Environment

Where do you get your news? More and more people are turning to social media and even emerging video platforms as their sources of news, a trend particularly evident among the 18-24 age group. However, trust in the media ranks fourth from the bottom globally. In this era of information overload, distinguishing between true and false information is challenging. Algorithms and communication media can even contribute to cybercrime and online violence. So how exactly should we define the boundaries of the internet? And how can we build a healthy and well-rounded digital environment?

Host: Ethan Liu Jiezhong

Discussion Guests:

- Yu Ruofan, CEO, TWNIC (Taiwan Network Information Center)

- Huang Yifeng, CEO, iWIN (Internet Content Protection Organization)

Key Summary

"Multistakeholder Governance: Co-creating a Safe Digital Environment"

The Inseparable Relationship Between the Internet and Modern Life

In today's digital era, the internet has become an indispensable part of modern life. Whether it is interacting on social media or consuming audio-visual content, modern people’s lives are almost inseparable from the internet. Due to this dependency, issues such as cybercrime, online violence, and even sexual exploitation have become increasingly serious. The proliferation of these criminal activities has forced society to consider how to establish reasonable internet governance regulations and create a healthy and safe digital environment.

These internet safety issues are not only relevant to adults but are especially important for the healthy development of children and teenagers. The host emphasized that many parents and educators are concerned with how to protect children from negative influences in the online world, which is also one of the core topics of discussion in today’s program.

Challenges of Internet Governance and the Importance of Multi-Party Cooperation

Although everyone hopes that the internet will be a healthy and well-functioning environment, achieving this goal in practice is full of challenges. Internet governance involves multiple stakeholders, including governments, businesses, civil society organizations, and ordinary users. These different parties each have their own positions, objectives, and interests, making it difficult to reach consensus when establishing regulations for internet governance.

Yu Ruofan, Executive Director of TWNIC (Taiwan Network Information Center), mentioned that the operation of the internet relies on collaboration across several key links, technologies, and providers, including DNS systems, IP address allocation, and data transmission protocols. If any of these components encounter problems, users may be unable to connect to websites smoothly. This highlights the complexity of internet governance, which involves not only technical issues but also coordination and integration across policy, management, and legal aspects.

Huang Yifeng, Executive Director of iWIN, shared iWIN's work experience, emphasizing the urgency of internet content governance. He described iWIN as the "emergency room" of the online world. When inappropriate content appears, the organization quickly takes action to remove or block it from the internet. Children and teenagers are among the main victims of online crime, so content protection mechanisms play a critical role in shielding them from online violence and sexual exploitation.

The Proliferation of Fake News and the Trust Crisis

With the widespread use of the internet, the speed and reach of fake news dissemination have also increased significantly. Yu Ruofan, CEO of the Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC), shared an annual report from TWNIC, which surveyed the awareness and responses of the Taiwanese public regarding fake news. The report shows that television remains the main source of news for the public, but the presence of fake news online has led many people to significantly lower their trust in internet content.

According to the survey, the public lacks confidence in their ability to distinguish the authenticity of news, and this proportion has noticeably increased over the past decade. This indicates that with the rise of social media and other online platforms, the issue of fake news has become a major challenge in modern society. The perception that information on social media is unreliable reflects a growing skepticism among the public toward online content.

Huang Yifeng, CEO of iWIN, an internet content protection organization, also added that fake news has an especially serious impact on children and adolescents, as they often lack the ability to discern truth from falsehood and can easily be misled by inaccurate information. In response, iWIN not only monitors online content but also regularly holds discussions with multiple stakeholders to establish self-regulatory standards and cooperates with platforms to accelerate the process of handling and removing fake news.

The Responsibility of Protecting Children and Parents

When discussing child protection issues, iWIN’s CEO, Huang Yifeng, proposed that parents play an important role in their children’s internet use. Since children and teenagers today are exposed to mobile phones and the internet from a young age, it is difficult for parents to completely restrict their online activities. Therefore, instead of worrying about the amount of time children spend online, parents should pay more attention to the content they are accessing.

It is recommended that parents understand what their children are doing online and use parental control features provided by platforms to help filter inappropriate content. Platform providers should also take on social responsibility and implement measures to protect children, such as setting age restrictions and blocking inappropriate content. In addition, Huang emphasizes the importance of cultivating other interests for children, which can effectively divert their dependence on the internet and prevent excessive engagement in online activities.

When children encounter harmful content or face cybercrime, parents should encourage them to speak up in a timely manner rather than scold or punish them. Harsh reprimands may cause 'secondary harm,' making children even less willing to seek help. Therefore, parents and teachers should provide a safe and open environment for children, allowing them to face problems and seek support promptly.

A Collaborative Model for Multiple Stakeholders  

Yi-Feng Huang, CEO of iWIN Online Content Protection Mechanism, stated that since 2017, iWIN has held quarterly regular meetings with platform operators, scholars, government representatives, and civic groups to jointly discuss self-regulatory standards and handling procedures for online content, further building consensus. This collaborative model effectively improves the efficiency of managing misinformation and harmful content, allowing platforms to respond quickly to issues and take action. Through the consensus established in these multi-party meetings, iWIN handles over 3,000 public complaint cases each year, with about 80% compliance from domestic platforms and around 70% from international platforms.  

Ruo-Fan Yu, CEO of TWNIC (Taiwan Network Information Center), pointed out that Taiwan has a thriving civil society and platforms that allow stakeholders with different perspectives to engage in dialogue, a strength not seen in many countries, which is conducive to implementing a collaborative model for multiple stakeholders. Through regular surveys, it is possible to understand Taiwanese people's online behavior and their views on internet-related issues. Survey results indicate that public awareness of online misinformation is increasing, but the ability to discern it still needs improvement. He urged the government, businesses, and civil society to jointly participate in internet governance and establish a healthier online environment. In the future, Taiwan can make efforts in this direction to develop internet governance solutions that are acceptable to all.

Legal Regulation and Enforcement of Internet Governance  

Huang Yifeng, CEO of iWIN Internet Content Protection Mechanism, stated that there are gray areas in the legal regulation of online content. For example, some content may not be illegal but is not suitable for children. Many online platforms are multinational companies, making the determination of legal jurisdiction a major challenge in internet governance. Additionally, there are issues in the organizational division of labor for internet governance in the Taiwanese government, such as whether management responsibilities are divided by industry or content category, and there has long been a lack of clear regulations.  

Yu Ruofan, CEO of the Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC), stated that traditional legal regulations are difficult to fully apply to the online world because the internet is cross-border, anonymous, and possesses other characteristics. Compared with traditional top-down legal regulation, governance models involving multiple stakeholders are more suitable for the internet. Using online fraud as an example, internet crimes involve cross-border behavior, making it difficult for governments to enforce the law.

Future Prospects of Internet Governance

Internet governance is an ongoing process that requires continuous communication, cooperation, and adjustment among all parties. With the rapid development of technology, future issues on the internet will become increasingly complex and unpredictable. Therefore, stakeholders must constantly adapt to changes and work together to promote the healthy development of the online world.

Yu Ruofan, CEO of TWNIC (Taiwan Network Information Center), and Huang Yifeng, CEO of iWIN Internet Content Protection Mechanism, both emphasize that parents, teachers, civil society, as well as the government and businesses, should play an active role in this process. Everyone is a part of the online world, and only through joint efforts can the internet be ensured to become a safer and healthier environment, especially providing better protection and support for children and adolescents.