Internet

A view of UNTV’s Control Room at UN Headquarters in New York.
UN News Centre/Andrew Z. Giacalone

UN agency’s innovative standards to boost TV viewing experience for millions

21 November 2014
The technological advancement of the television medium – a critical tool for “informing, channelling, and affecting” public opinion – is necessary for the improvement of communication and globalization, the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) declared today, as it announced new measures aimed at heightening television viewing for millions of people around the world.
Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Flavia Pansieri.
UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

UN rights official cites ‘clear need’ for vigilance on issue of privacy in digital age

12 September 2014
Stating that the digital age has opened the door to emancipation for millions and has been perhaps the greatest liberation movement the world has ever known, a senior United Nations human rights official warned today that digital platforms have sparked troubling concerns about the right to privacy, especially their vulnerability to surveillance, interception and data collection.
Photo: ITU
ITU

UN-backed forum tackles privacy, boosting Internet access, protecting children online

5 September 2014
With over 3,500 participants, many of them directly tuning in online, the Ninth Annual Meeting of the United Nations-backed Internet Governance Forum (IGF) concluded in Istanbul today after tackling key issues that “may determine the evolution of the Internet.”
ITU and UNICEF release new Guidelines for Industry on Child Online Protection.
(ISC)2 Foundation, ITU Child Online Protection partner

UN releases new guidelines for child online protection

5 September 2014
United Nations agencies, together with partners of the Child Online Protection Initiative, today released new guidelines to “provide the most accessible online tools for teens as well as to enable them to seek help and advice when they need it.”
UN Photo/Devra Berkowitz
UN Photo/Devra Berkowitz

With nearly 3 billion now online, UN-backed forum opens to debate key Internet issues

2 September 2014
The ninth annual meeting of the United Nations-backed Internet Governance Forum (IGF) has opened in Istanbul, Turkey with more than 2,500 participants who will debate over the next four days key issues “that could affect every Internet user today and tomorrow.”
A computer class at San Jose, a rural secondary school in La Ceja del Tambo, Antioquia, Colombia.
World Bank/Charlotte Kesl

Internet well on way to 3 billion users, UN telecom agency reports

5 May 2014
Releasing new statistics today, the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) announced that by end 2014, there will be nearly three billion Internet users – two-thirds of them from the developing world – with mobile-broadband penetration approaching 32 per cent.
Photo: ITU
ITU

UN officials applaud United States intent to transition oversight of key web domains

18 March 2014
United Nations officials have welcomed the recent announcement the United States plans to transition key oversight of domain names and other aspects of the Internet’s architecture to the global community, as a major step towards the multilateral Internet governance that the UN has been advocating for many years.
Participants at the Internet Governance Forum, known as the IGF, in Bali, Indonesia.
IGF

Surveillance a major concern at conclusion of UN-backed forum on internet governance

25 October 2013
While reaffirming the need to strengthen the multi-stakeholder approach to Internet governance, the United Nations-backed forum on the issue, known as the IGF, concluded today in Bali, Indonesia with an acknowledgement that surveillance is the major emerging issue of the year.
Courtesy ITU

UN projects 40% of world will be online by year end, 4.4 billion will remain unconnected

7 October 2013
A United Nations report released today projects that by the end of the year, 40 per cent of the world’s population – 2.7 billion people – will be online, as mobile broadband has become the fastest growing segment of the global information and communication technology (ICT) market.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivers a video message to the Chinese micro-blogging platform Sina Weibo awards ceremony, held in Beijing.
UN Multimedia

UN chief honoured by online Chinese platform for engagement in social media

14 January 2013
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was honoured today for his engagement with social media users and commitment to global dialogue by the Chinese micro-blogging platform Sina Weibo.