Session
Organizer 1: Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Organizer 2: Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Speaker 1: Vittorio Bertola, Private Sector, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Melody Musoni, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 3: Bianca Kremer, Civil Society, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Roundtable
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: A roundtable format will enable and signify the session's intent of encouraging an open and horizontal exchange of experiences and ideas. A 90-minute session will allow enough time for all participants to do a short presentation and to open the floor to questions and further exchanges, considering this proposal stems from the union of two Dynamic Coalitions.
What is AI Sovereignty and how can people can be AI Sovereign? How does platform power shape governance models, particularly in the Global South? How can AI sovereignty be enjoyed without exacerbating internet fragmentation?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Participants will gain a nuanced understanding of AI sovereignty and platform power from a Global South perspective, exploring how governance frameworks shape digital autonomy. Attendees will engage with critical discussions on how Global South nations navigate dependencies on dominant platforms and their controlling companies’ technological strategies and portfolios, platforms’ structural power as forms of quasi-state capacities, the intersection between platform choices in AI systems that dictate the flow of information and their ability to govern ecosystems, and strategies for regulatory and technological self-determination. The session will provide fresh insights into power asymmetries in platform regulation and AI diffusion, offering comparative perspectives on policy approaches and governance models. Participants will leave with a deeper awareness of the risks and opportunities associated with platform governance and AI governance, as well as practical strategies for fostering more equitable and sovereign digital ecosystems in their respective contexts.
Description:
This session explores AI Sovereignty and its impact on platform power, democracy, and regulation, building on work by DC-DAIG and DCPR to examine key challenges and governance dynamics. Panellists will explore the increasingly unlimited power, boosted by the scale-up in use of platform-controlled data, resource-hungry computing facilities and algorithmic models, which are increasingly shaping our democratic, economic and social life. Particular attention will be paid to how such dynamics impact States’ decision margins in ways that can be considered forms of corporate digital sovereignty, exercising broad influence on economic policies, public discourse, geopolitical alliances, and societal norms. The session will explore how such power can or should be balanced by other forms of public, individual, commons-based, and supranational digital sovereignty, allowing people and entities affected by platform power to reassert their rights and protect their interests. Within this scenario, panellist will discuss different regulatory approaches that have emerged, ranging from increased oversight and risk-based regulation to calls for deregulation, often prompting economic and diplomatic response from the platforms' own countries. As states are still grappling in developing their strategies to deal with online harms, and are faced with the challenge of achieving indigenous technological development strategies in a foreign-dominated platform economy, the debate over digital sovereignty is more relevant than ever, especially in the Global South, where power asymmetries are stark, and countries serve as (personal) data sources and consumers of foreign platforms. This session will scrutinise a diverse set of regulatory trends, including the EU Digital Services and Digital Markets Act and AI Act, the India Stack, the Brazilian AI Plan and emerging frameworks and proposals in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. The conversation will explore the potential benefits and challenges of regulatory and deregulatory approaches, considering their impact on platform accountability, market competition, national security, and user rights.
A joint policy brief exploring the intersection between AI sovereignty and platform power across regions.
Hybrid Format: Our on-site and on-line moderators will foster participation via online chat, taking note of relevant comments and questions during the session and raising these inputs in due time.