[Ncsg-discuss] Is ICANN helping to subvert its own governance model?
Anriette Esterhuysen
anriette at APC.ORG
Thu Nov 13 14:39:26 EET 2025
Dear all
As you comment on this letter -- which I think is a good initiative
particularly in relation to how we think of and develop RIR governance
over the longer term -- I want to urge NCSG members that as we ask for
more information, we do so without undermining AfriNIC's new board and
the efforts of this board and those working with it to stabilise
AfriNIC. They need our support.
I also suggest we keep the tone of the letter focused on asking for more
information and clarification. E.g. rather than make assumptions or
statements about when and where consultation first took place just ask
for more detail. Also, I think the letter might be overstating the role
of Smart Africa.. so there too I suggest we keep it simple and ask for
clarification. This process has been long and painful and we are finally
at a point where there appears light at the end of the tunnel for the
AfriNIC community.
Anriette
Anriette Esterhuysen -anriette at apc.org//anriette at gmail.com
On 2025/11/13 12:45, Rafik Dammak wrote:
> hi all,
>
> As suggested, here is a draft letter that we can send to the ICANN
> board and CEO to ask for more clarification. We are not assuming any
> intent or malice but we should get more clarification about any ICANN
> role in the matter or participation. An official letter will require
> the board to respond compared to any informal communication.
>
> Please review the letter and share your comments
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CPgRLILaCtsda8YRA4mUtElLXYS6udjF8cHvTo2AXHI/edit?usp=sharing
>
> Best,
>
> Rafik
>
> Le mer. 12 nov. 2025 à 03:10, Mueller, Milton L
> <00001d75540da649-dmarc-request at listserv.syr.edu> a écrit :
>
> Emmanuel, thanks for your response.
>
> I have done some fact checking and also can find no evidence that
> ICANN funded CAIGA. I have asked ICANN's VPs to confirm this but
> as noted in my earlier message they have not replied. As far as I
> can tell that is the only inaccuracy in Alice's post.
>
> Even if there is no funding, there is of course the November 2024
> MoU, which seems to authorize special efforts to empower
> governments in Section 3.3
> https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/mou-smart-africa-icann-12nov24-en.pdf
>
>
> It is a bit disingenuous to say that Smart Africa is not an
> intergovernmental entity when its board entirely consists of heads
> of state. https://smartafrica.org/the-board-2/ Anyone who has been
> around internet governance circles as long as I have sees many
> instances of governments professing (perhaps sincerely) to be
> "multistakeholder" when in fact they are just states seeking
> consultation from other stakeholders but not really sharing power.
>
>
> Dr. Milton L Mueller
>
> Georgia Institute of Technology
>
> School of Public Policy
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Emmanuel Vitus <emmanuelvitus at gmail.com>
> *Sent:* Monday, November 10, 2025 10:08 PM
> *To:* Mueller, Milton L <milton at gatech.edu>
> *Cc:* NCSG-DISCUSS at listserv.syr.edu <NCSG-DISCUSS at listserv.syr.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: Is ICANN helping to subvert its own governance model?
>
> Dear Prof.
>
> Thank you for sharing Alice’s article and for keeping this
> important discussion alive. I would, however, suggest some
> caution, as several of the claims being circulated are not
> supported by the factual record.
>
> I reviewed the meeting proceedings from Prague, the AIS in Accra,
> and most recently Dublin, where the CAIGA blueprint was presented.
> ICANN was never mentioned as a sponsor or financier. The document,
> attached here, has been shared with the community since Prague for
> review and contribution. Consultations are still ongoing across
> Africa to establish an advisory body that will help coordinate
> African voices in global Internet governance.
>
> Smart Africa is an alliance of 40 African governments working with
> the private sector, Regional Economic Communities, universities,
> and other institutions. It is not a government agency or political
> instrument. it's not the African Union. It has an NGO status.
>
> For transparency, I recently published an opinion piece
> <https://medium.com/@emmanuelvitus/smart-africa-icann-caiga-afrinic-how-the-brouhaha-exposes-the-politics-of-african-digital-cf3ddc42beca> linking
> all transcripts and documents from ICANN public meetings to help
> anyone verify the facts. It may lack a touch of diplomacy :), but
> it was written in good faith. Having followed and written about
> the AfriNIC crisis for years, I find it ironic that some of those
> who once praised Smart Africa’s intervention now question the same
> process that helped save the continent’s only Internet registry.
>
> Warm regards
> *Emmanuel Vitus*
>
>
> Le lun. 10 nov. 2025 à 19:59, Mueller, Milton L
> <milton at gatech.edu> a écrit :
>
> I want to make sure that everyone in NCSG has read this
> substack article by Alice Munyua of Kenya. Although it deals
> with IP address policy not DNS policy, the issues it raises
> apply to the entire ICANN ecosystem.
> The TL;DR is that ICANN has supported an African organization
> that is rooted in national governments and is proposing to set
> up an overlay governance structure for AFRINIC that
> disempowers the community members and gives governments veto
> power over policy decisions. As Alice writes in her post,
>
> The RIR system; AFRINIC, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC, RIPE NCC manages
> the internet’s addressing infrastructure globally. These
> organisations work because they are built on community trust
> and technical independence from governmental control. The
> system works because the same principles apply everywhere;
> bottom up policy development, community self governance,
> insulation from political direction. If those principles do
> not apply in Africa, if intergovernmental organisations can
> draft bylaws externally, coordinate electoral outcomes, and
> substitute political endorsement for member ratification then
> the precedent affects the global system.
> Here is a link to the post:
> https://substack.com/home/post/p-177968365
>
> Alice poses some useful questions that ICANN's management
> needs to answer:
>
> We need
>
> *
> Transparency about ICANN’s full involvement in developing
> CAIGA [including] the scope of participation and financial
> support.
> *
> Explicit assessment of CAIGA’s compatibility with ICP-2
> and the RIR governance principles that apply to RIPE NCC,
> ARIN, APNIC, and LACNIC.
> *
> Answer to the direct question: Would ICANN support similar
> governmental restructuring of RIRs in other regions? If
> not, justification for why different standards apply to
> African internet governance.
> *
> Commitment that any AFRINIC governance reforms will be
> developed through AFRINIC’s own community processes, not
> external drafting with political endorsement mechanisms.
>
>
>
> Dr. Milton L Mueller
>
> Georgia Institute of Technology
>
> School of Public Policy
>
> <https://internetgovernance.org>
>
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