6to. Foro colombiano de Gobernanza de Internet (6th Colombian Internet Governance Forum) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

On 6-7 November 2019 the 6th Colombian IGF met at Universidad Externado in Bogotá — rotating hands-on workshops on day one, the forum on day two.
Panels covered connecting the unconnected, free expression and content blocking, work in the digital era, and whether Colombia's data-protection law needs reform; IGFSA chair Markus Kummer sent the opening message.
Asking whether the 2012 data-protection statute should be rewritten for a post-GDPR world anticipated reform debates across Latin America, and the introduction of sign-language interpretation marked an accessibility turn.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on 6to. Foro colombiano de Gobernanza de Internet (6th Colombian Internet Governance Forum) draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.

Conference at a Glance (from official records)

Item	Detail
Official name	6to. Foro colombiano de Gobernanza de Internet (6th Colombian Internet Governance Forum)
Dates	6-7 November 2019
Venue	Universidad Externado de Colombia, Calle 12 No. 01-17 Este, Bogotá — governance workshops on 6 Nov, forum on 7 Nov in auditorium AH-202 (Block H)
Theme	Regional governance themes
Host	Mesa Colombiana de Gobernanza de Internet

(See the source list at the end of this article.)

Discussion Digest — from the Session Records

Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.

1. Connecting the Unconnected — in a Country Where Half the Population Is Offline

Sessions: Panel 'Internet-governance actions to connect the unconnected' (7 Nov, 9:30-11:00, moderator: CRC Commissioner Carlos Lugo)

Starting from the fact that about half of Colombians were unconnected or under-connected, the panel asked which measures and technologies could accelerate access [1]
Speakers were CRC research head Claudia Ximena Bustamante, Colnodo director Julián Casasbuenas, spectrum-agency ANE director Miguel Felipe Anzola and Jean-Marie Chenou of Universidad de los Andes [1]
Discussion connected to that year's ICT modernisation law (Ley TIC), spanning spectrum, funds and regulatory redesign [1]

2. Free Expression and Content Blocking — between Child Protection and Copyright

Sessions: Panel 'Free expression and online content blocking' (7 Nov, 11:30-1:00)

The panel mapped every blocking type — shutdowns, site/IP/domain blocking and filtering tech, through to criminalising legitimate speech and intermediary liability [1]
Abuse of the legal blocking regime built for child-sexual-exploitation material, and new copyright-enforcement rules, were named as live threats in Colombia [1]
Red PaPaz legal adviser Andrés Vélez (child protection), Externado IP scholar Diego Acosta and Google's Central-America policy manager Gabriel Recalde argued from three distinct corners [1]

3. Should the Data-Protection Law Be Reformed? — a Post-GDPR Question

Sessions: Panel 'Is a reform of the personal-data-protection law necessary?' (7 Nov, 4:30-6:00 pm, led by Youth Observatory and ISOC Colombia)

The panel traced Colombia's regime from the constitution's habeas-data right through Laws 1266 (2008) and 1581 (2012), comparing it with GDPR's new elements — extraterritoriality, automated processing, ethics by design [1]
It posed a choice: reform the national law, or pursue supranational rules at Andean Community level — referencing parallel debates in Chile, Panama, Brazil and Argentina [1]
Externado privacy scholar Sol Beatriz Calle led the legal analysis, and the session itself was designed and run by youth organisations [1]

4. Work in the Digital Era, and Day One's Hands-On Workshop Format

Sessions: Panel 'Challenges of work in the digital era' (7 Nov, 2:30-4:00 pm, led by Universidad del Rosario) and the four rotating workshops of 6 November

The labour panel examined how global cost-cutting competition and precarisation together reconfigure work practices, relations and guarantees in the digital era [1][2]
Day one evolved into small rotating workshops: how the internet works (Karisma/ISOC), multistakeholder participation (CRC), threats to children and teens (Red PaPaz), user-level security (Colnodo/Fundación Telefónica) and privacy and data (ISOC) [1][2]
The opening message came from Markus Kummer, chair of the IGF Support Association's executive committee — making visible the international funding network behind national IGFs [1][2]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What was the event like?

A. The sixth edition's two days: rotating hands-on workshops (from 'how the internet works' to child safety) then four panels — connectivity, blocking, labour, data protection — now streamed with sign-language interpretation.

Q. What was the key question?

A. Whether Colombia's 2012 data-protection law should be rewritten for the GDPR era — even weighing an Andean Community supranational rulebook — plus a warning about abuse of the child-protection blocking regime.

Q. Why should I care?

A. It mirrors data-protection reform cycles and site-blocking controversies seen worldwide, and shows youth organisations designing and running a major policy panel.

What Is Colombia IGF? (for first-time readers)

Colombia IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.

Why It Matters to You

What was discussed here becomes the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years. The principles confirmed at the 2019 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.