In the summer of 2017, the UN Group of Governmental Experts (UN GGE), the main forum where states tried to hammer out ‘rules of the road’ on what states can and cannot do in and on the internet, failed to produce a consensus report. This diplomatic stalemate is a fact but the question is: why should the internet community care about diplomats failing to reach consensus? How does the ebb and flow of diplomatic and military negotiations about cyberspace affect the wider internet community? This panel will explore the pros and cons of the norms process from the perspectives of national security, the technical community, internet corporations and diplomacy. In short, (why) do cyber norms matter?

The discussion will be moderated by prof.dr. Dennis Broeders, Senior Fellow of the The Hague Program for Cyber Norms. Our panel is on at 14:00 on Day 2 (October 3) of the One Conference – if you’re attending the conference, we hope to see you there.