Author | Lightnews

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · 3d

#ICANN84 Geopolitical Forum: #WSIS+20 focus: UNDESA, secretariat to WSIS+20, highlights 2 spreadsheets summarising submissions to the Zero Draft, separated into Member States:

publicadministration.desa.un.org/sites/defaul...

Other stakeholders:

publicadministration.desa.un.org/sites/defaul...

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · 3d

#ICANN84 Geopolitical Forum: #WSIS+20 focus: Amb Lokaale notes that compiling all the submissions on the Zero Draft into a single document has increased the doc length from 10,000 words to around 35,000 words.

1

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · 3d

#ICANN84 Geopolitical Forum: #WSIS+20 focus: after opening remarks from Amb Lokaale (WSIS+20 cofac), the 1st speaker in mic queue is Sulyna Abdullah, ITU - a bit of a surprise at an ICANN meeting. But ITU has been working hard to engage more widely, given ODET's encroachment on their territory.

1

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · 3d

#ICANN84 "Geopolitical Forum: #WSIS+20 focus" is now underway in Dublin.

If you haven't registered for ICANN84, you can still follow the public live transcript:

www.streamtext.net/player/trans...

And archived Zoom will be linked later from agenda page:

icann84.sched.com/event/29QIK/...

20251027-auditorium : Transcript

www.streamtext.net

1

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · 5d

#ICANN84 GAC is spending this afternoon in Dublin discussing the next round of #newgTLD applications. It's a packed agenda.

Agenda:
1. Welcome and Introduction
2. Readiness Plan
3. Additional Outreach to Governments
4. The Applicant Journey
• Applicant Journey Overview
• Submission to Prioritization Draw
• Community Input, Objections, and Appeals
• String Evaluations
• Contention and its Resolution
• Application Evaluations
• Applicant Evaluations
• Contracting
5. Dive In: PICs, RVCs, and Community Registration Policies

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · 5d

#ICANN84 GAC: only 6 GAC representatives in the room today were around back in 2012 for the first round of #newgTLD application discussions.

1

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · 5d

#ICANN84 GAC: there are already some "Issues of importance to the GAC" flagged for inclusion the Dublin Communique:

- #newgTLD Applicant Support Program implementation & outreach
- Early warning procedure for the next round of new gTLDs
- Registration Data
- #DNSabuse

1

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · 5d

#ICANN84: the churn of GAC reps continues - 32 new GAC reps joined GAC since #ICANN83 in June.

Note: constant turnover of GAC reps means there's always a need for capacity-building. It also means many newbie questions get asked in GAC sessions that otherwise would be deep dives on policy issues.

1

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · 5d

It works for anything that uses the Streamtext tool. The only caveat is that it only works back to the point that the stenographers have created the current session. If they close it and start a new session, you can't access that previous session this way.

1

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · 5d

And as #ICANN84 is now underway, it's time for my regular meeting reminder about how to get the live transcript back to the start of a session if you happen to come late into a session:

https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=EVENTNAME

Add “/transcript” to create:

https://www.streamtext.net/player/transcript?event=EVENTNAME

1 1 4

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · 5d

#ICANN84 is just getting underway in Dublin. As usual, I'll be concentrating on the GAC (Governmental Advisory Committee). Full ICANN84 schedule at:

ICANN84 | Annual General Meeting Schedule

Check out the schedule for ICANN84 | Annual General Meeting

icann84.sched.com

1 1

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Sep 24

And the US TikTok precedent has been locked-in & now being raised elsewhere:

"Dr Dana McKay, associate dean in interaction, technology and information at RMIT University, said the best move from a data and security perspective would be for Australia to have its own local version of TikTok."

Australia may have to choose between a Chinese TikTok and one owned by Trump’s billionaire backers

Expert raises concerns about what US TikTok deal could mean for News Corp’s ‘worrying dominance’ in Australian media

www.theguardian.com

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Sep 24

"Users of US TikTok won’t enjoy any more privacy than with Chinese TikTok, due to lack of meaningful regulation of social media companies. They'll still be pervasively surveilled as they use the Net, both to advertise at them & for intelligence services to profile them”

(Paraphrased to shorten)

Australia may have to choose between a Chinese TikTok and one owned by Trump’s billionaire backers

Expert raises concerns about what US TikTok deal could mean for News Corp’s ‘worrying dominance’ in Australian media

www.theguardian.com

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Sep 23

TikTok US to lease a copy of ByteDance's existing algorithm; Oracle to 'retrain' the copy.

Retraining it along lines of FB, Twitter & Truth Social? US must be reaching saturation point for social media w algorithms pushing anger/misinfo. At least this retraining shouldn't affect folks outside US.

TikTok’s algorithm set to move from Chinese control to Big Tech under Trump deal

White House says it has finally reached an agreement with China to secure the future of the popular social video app in the U.S., with software giant Oracle taking responsibility for users’ data

www.independent.co.uk

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Sep 21

'Clegg said the relationship between the UK and the US tech sector was “all one-way traffic” and that the announcements suited the companies.

He warned Britain was being “defanged” by simply fostering a greater reliance on the US tech sector, rather than building its own.'

Nick Clegg: US-UK tech deal is ‘sloppy seconds from Silicon Valley’

Meta’s former president of global affairs says agreement will leave UK more reliant on US tech firms

www.theguardian.com

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Sep 21

If this goes ahead, I wonder if the US govt & Big Tech companies recognise what a precedent this sets. Hard for the US to threaten extra tariffs on countries with “digital taxes, legislation, rules, or regulations" affecting US Big Tech when the US is basically doing the same thing with TikTok.

White House outlines TikTok deal that would give US control of algorithm

The White House said a deal could be signed "in the coming days", but Beijing is yet to comment.

www.bbc.com

1 1

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Sep 19

It's also dismaying that ICANN, which (cl)aims to be globally inclusive, admits it's catering to the US admin's anti-DEI stance. This, despite many calls over the years that it move from USA to a jurisdiction like Switzerland, with a legal framework specifically supporting independent int'l orgs.

www.icann.org

1

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Sep 19

A good reminder why the current US administration's anti-DEI stance - & US-based Big Tech's widespread adoption of that - means it's more important than ever to nurture the development of tech & tech companies outside the US, so tech truly can meet the needs of a diverse world.

Social media ban trial data reveals racial bias in age checking software: just how inaccurate is it?

Young people from Indigenous and Asian backgrounds are more likely to be miscategorised as over the age limit and older people as underaged, analysis finds

www.theguardian.com

1 1

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Sep 7

That's not to say that digital governance discussions *don't* happen in Australia. Just that it tends to be limited to a small pool of active participants and doesn't leak much into wider national awareness or debates.

3

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Sep 7

This doesn't surprise me. I follow int'l stuff & that's partly because there's a distinct lack of engagement in both general human rights & digital governance issues in Oz. Sometimes Aussies can be too laid back for their own good. Digital rights & responsibility convos Down Under are very niche.

One in three Australians upload sensitive data to AI tools, report finds

Over one-third of Australian professionals upload sensitive company data to AI tools without formal oversight, raising significant security and compliance concerns.

itbrief.com.au

1 3

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Sep 7

I remember when Russia would pretty much start every #UNcyberOEWG & AHC on Cybercrime criticizing USA for not meeting its UN HQ host obligations by refusing to issue delegates visas. Now that more countries are in USA's crosshairs, maybe it's time to move more meetings to the UN's non-US locations?

US considers ban on wholesale shopping and other visa restrictions for Iranians during UN meeting

The Trump administration has already denied visas for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and his large delegation to attend the U.N. General Assembly later this month and is now considering ramping up r...

www.independent.co.uk

1

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Aug 29

The #WSIS+20 Draft Zero text is out!

Written inputs, in the form of text proposals, are open until 26 September. Send input, in MS Word format, by email to the Secretariat at [email protected]

publicadministration.desa.un.org

2

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Aug 27

When you accidentally stumble upon an echidna that then thinks that dashing into the shed & hiding under the lawn mower is a good idea! I’ll check in the morning to make sure it’s not stuck.

1

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Aug 27

These are not lamingtons. The only thing they have in common with lamingtons is they're square. Lamingtons should be plain sponge cake dipped in choc sauce & maybe some jam between 2 sponge layers. A recipe so easy Year 1 kids can make them for school fundraisers. These are misnamed tiny cube cakes:

M&S brings Australia’s national treat the lamington to UK high street

Rich sponge cake topped with buttercream dates from 1890s and M&S version comes in two varieties

www.theguardian.com

2

S G Dickinson @sgdickinson.bsky.social · Aug 24

Things you really shouldn't be trying to tow and park across multiple bays with a large SUV on a small supermarket parking lot at peak shopping times on the weekend:

1. Multi-horse horse float
2. Large boat

Bonus points for getting stuck making the sharp turns between narrow parking aisles 🤦‍♀️

1