YOUthDIG 2023 — Youth Dialogue on Internet Governance, Tampere — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

On 17–19 June 2023 the seventh YOUthDIG gathered 30 young people from Council of Europe member states in Tampere, Finland, after a preparatory phase of monthly webinars, feeding into EuroDIG 2023 (19–21 June).
In the first post-ChatGPT year, the Youth Messages 2023 led with detailed amendments to the EU AI Act — human oversight for high-risk systems, AI as a common good — and coined the cohort's clearest slogan yet: 'Do not break encryption! No backdoors!'
From e-waste and migrants' data protection to rural infrastructure investment, this was the edition where youth messages matured into clause-level regulatory demands — directly relevant wherever AI law and encryption policy are on the table.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on YOUthDIG 2023 — Youth Dialogue on Internet Governance, Tampere 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	YOUthDIG 2023 — Youth Dialogue on Internet Governance, Tampere
Dates	17–19 June 2023 (arrival on the 16th), preceded by an online phase of monthly virtual webinars
Venue	Tampere, Finland
Theme	Regional governance themes
Outcome	Youth Messages 2023 in four topics — AI safety and prosperity for all, a conscientious digital ecosystem, current challenges of data governance, and 'no backdoors in the future of IG' — presented at EuroDIG and the global UN IGF

(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. A Brighter Future with AI — Clause-Level Demands on the EU AI Act

Sessions: Youth Messages topic 1, 'Creating a brighter future with artificial intelligence: safety and prosperity for all'

The messages went clause-by-clause at the draft EU AI Act: define 'subliminal techniques' of manipulation explicitly and unambiguously, sharpen the distinction between 'foundational model' and 'general purpose AI', and add explicit rules for research use of high-risk systems so the Act does not hinder research [1]
High-risk AI systems must be supplemented by human involvement to prevent single points of failure, with equal investment in AI alignment and AI development research [1]
AI should be regarded as a common good — with inclusive access, fairness and societal benefit at the centre — backed by AI teaching in formal and lifelong education across Europe [1]

2. 'No Backdoors' — the Youth Case for Encryption

Sessions: Youth Messages topic 4, 'No backdoors in the future of IG: towards a cooperative and evidence-based Internet governance!'

'Do not break encryption! No backdoors — no vulnerability management but vulnerability disclosure and patching processes!' — a head-on intervention in the EU's chat-control debate [1]
They called on the international community to create enforcement mechanisms holding governments to their commitments under the Declaration for the Future of the Internet, and for systematic engagement of the technical community throughout the policy cycle [1]
EuroDIG itself was put on notice: ensure all past and future youth messages are addressed by their respective stakeholders, and involve youth systematically in decision-making [1]

3. A Conscientious Digital Ecosystem — From E-Waste to Rural Infrastructure

Sessions: Youth Messages topic 2, 'Bridging the Divides: Building a Conscientious Digital Ecosystem'

Reduce the mining of critical raw materials by shifting to materials recovery and e-waste recycling, to prevent ecosystem degradation and human rights violations — reaching up the device supply chain [1]
An urgent appeal to governments to invest in rural internet infrastructure, framed as reducing internet fragmentation and the work opportunities it forecloses [1]
Cohesive interoperability standards to avoid vendor lock-in and market concentration, plus systematic education of caregivers and educators to build children's digital skills [1]

4. Data Governance Now — Migrants, Healthcare, Small Companies

Sessions: Youth Messages topic 3, 'Current Challenges of Data Governance'

Data of 'people on the move' got its own heading: NGOs need access to and training on safe-by-design data warehouses, and the four-year retention period of the EU's large-scale migration database should be cut to align with the AI Act's safeguards [1]
Member states should protect health-data rights under GDPR and keep the European Health Data Space proposal consistent to enable cross-border care [1]
Affordable data-governance capacity building for small companies and integration of the European Declaration of Digital Rights and Principles into national regulation completed the picture [1]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What dominated this edition?

A. AI. In the first post-ChatGPT year the cohort marked up the draft EU AI Act clause by clause — define 'subliminal techniques', separate foundational models from general-purpose AI — while also coining the slogan 'Do not break encryption! No backdoors!'

Q. How was it run?

A. Four alumni from Belgium, Georgia, Portugal and Lithuania organised it; 30 participants were recruited from Council of Europe member states, prepared through monthly webinars, then drafted the messages onsite using a systems approach.

Q. Why should I care?

A. Anywhere AI law and encryption policy are debated in parallel, the twin demands — human oversight for high-risk AI, vulnerability disclosure instead of backdoors — translate directly.

What Is YouthDIG? (for first-time readers)

YouthDIG 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 2023 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.