Vocal communities in the West demand a role in international public policy for cyberspace. In some areas of activity, such as privacy, controls on social media content, commercial issues like anti-trust or digital taxation, this private sector involvement is essential. But the unlearned lesson is that it is equally important for national security, as is the effective negotiation on security, which is still the purview of states.
One reason for these demands is the erosion of the clear division between internet security and internet governance. Internet governance has been the domain of a multistakeholder community. The members of the multistakeholders community increasingly expect to play a similar role in questions of international cybersecurity. Conversely, most governments had been content to leave internet governance to civil society and corporations, but now, as governance affects their economies and safety, some want a more prominent or even guiding role in the digital world. This confluence - it could even be described as a collision - over roles and responsibilities is complicated by China and Russia’s differing visions for security, data governance, and sovereignty. The tensions between multistakeholders and government and between democracy and authoritarian views of digital governance complicate the discussions of the role of the private sector.
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