NETmundial

Dates:	April 23-24 2014
Location:	São Paulo, Brazil
Host:	Brazil
Venue:	Grand Hyatt Hotel
Website:	NETmundial.org
Total Registrants:	1,480

NETmundial (Tagline: Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance) was a two-day global meeting on the topic of Internet governance, attended by a group of stakeholders including government officials, representatives of global Internet organizations, and others. The meeting took place in São Paulo, Brazil between 23-24 April 2014. It was hosted by the Brazilian government in the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

Background

In June 2013, former US National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden leaked thousands of secret documents that revealed an extensive spying program by the NSA conducted over Internet infrastructures on citizens in various parts of the world. The news gained international attention for many weeks and prompted governments and organizations to condemn the US Government and the NSA and call for changes in how the Internet was structured and governed.

Following revelations that Brazil's citizens and companies had been a target of NSA spying, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff publicly condemned the US and was vocal regarding changes that needed to be done to make the Internet free from NSA spying. On 24 September 2013, Rousseff gave a speech at a United Nations summit in which she expressed her outrage at the NSA spying, and stated that "Brazil will present proposals for the establishment of a civilian multilateral framework for the governance and use of the Internet and to ensure the effective protection of data that travels through the web."

• Watch Rousseff's UN speech here.

ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade met with Rousseff on 8 October 2013 to discuss her recent proposals and urge her to take a multistakeholder approach that did not revolve around government or U.N. oversight. Following the meeting, Rousseff announced that Brazil would host a high-level meeting on the future of Internet Governance in April 2014, what would later become NETmundial.

Sessions and Topics

The meeting was held over 2 days with the goal of drafting 2 documents that would provide consensus and a way forward for the multistakeholder community on how the Internet should be governed. After an opening ceremony, opening remarks, and goal setting, the meeting consisted of a working session for a Principles document and a working session for a Roadmap document. Each document was drafted with collaboration by the attendees in person and remote. The second day of the meeting continued these two working sessions and concluded with a session called "Beyond NETmundial".

Outcomes

Following NETmundial, the leaders of organizations relating to Internet infrastructure (called I* Leaders) met in Brazil and expressed their support for the outcomes of NETmundial, stating that the meeting "has energized the multistakeholder discussions and model in a positive fashion."