TWIGF 2023 (Taiwan Internet Governance Forum) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

1. The 9th TWIGF met 3–5 October 2023 at Taipei's Fubon International Conference Center under the theme "Critical Moment: Fragmentation, Geopolitics, AI Revolution and Resilience," with 18 sessions including a tutorial day.
2. Post-ChatGPT AI regulation and disinformation, geopolitical fragmentation and protection of the Internet's 'public core,' and infrastructure resilience from PKI to BGP dominated, with Audrey Tang, ICANN's Becky Burr and scholars like Milton Mueller taking part.
3. As the first TWIGF of the generative-AI era, it pressure-tested the universal question — can law keep up with AI? — in Taiwan's uniquely exposed context.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on TWIGF 2023 (Taiwan 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.

📍 3 October was a tutorial day, with the main conference on 4–5 October; in-person with live streaming

Conference at a Glance (from official records)

(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. Fragmentation under Geopolitics — Protecting the Internet's Public Core

Sessions: Sessions under the sub-theme "Fragmentation under Geopolitics" (4–5 October)

"Taiwan's legal framework for protecting the Internet is still rudimentary, with much room for progress (translated from Chinese)"
— Cheng-Tsung Lo (Professor, Institute of Financial and Economic Law, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology) [1][2]

• APNIC's Pablo Hinojosa and Man-Ju Chen led a session on shielding the Internet's 'public core' — DNS, routing and other shared infrastructure — from geopolitical attack [1][2]
• For Taiwan, dependent on submarine cables and already hit by cable cuts, fragmentation and infrastructure protection were discussed as matters of national security [1][2]

2. The AI Revolution and Disinformation — Can Law Keep Up?

Sessions: "Developing AI v. Protecting Privacy" (4 October, 12:50–14:00) and other AI sessions

• At the first annual meeting after ChatGPT's debut, the official report recorded the shared view that AI's advance is unavoidable but law may fail to keep pace [1][3]
• A session moderated by Lee and Li lawyer Ken-Ying Tseng worked through de-identification, anonymisation and pseudonymisation as concrete tools for reconciling AI development with privacy [1][3]
• With Taiwan's January 2024 presidential election looming, countering AI-generated disinformation was debated as an immediate, practical problem [1][3]

3. Resilient Internet — From PKI to BGP, with a Case Study from Japan

Sessions: Sessions under the sub-theme "Resilient Internet"

• Internet governance scholar Milton L. Mueller (Georgia Tech) led the session on governance of the public key infrastructure (PKI) underpinning encrypted communications [1]
• The Japan Internet Providers Association (JAIPA) shared real-world BGP incident cases, bringing operational lessons from Japan to the Taiwanese audience [1]
• Across all three sub-themes, participants kept returning to a single premise: resilient technical infrastructure is the foundation of governance [1]

4. A More International TWIGF — Audrey Tang, MOFA and an ICANN Director Together

Sessions: Opening ceremony and overall programme

• Digital Minister Audrey Tang and Deputy Foreign Minister Chun Lee joined from government, alongside ICANN board member Becky Burr and scholars William J. Drake and Jeanette Hofmann [1][2][4]
• The 18 sessions were built from 16 community-selected proposals, evidence of a maturing multistakeholder process [1][2][4]
• The official wrap-up highlighted the third consecutive year of TWNIC cooperation, institutionalising the technical community's role in the forum [1][2][4]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. Why was TWIGF 2023 called a 'Critical Moment'?

A. Three shocks arrived at once: geopolitics threatening to fragment the Internet, generative AI exploding into daily life, and Taiwan's own infrastructure facing attacks and cable cuts. The theme captured that triple crunch.

Q. What was debated most?

A. The race between AI and law. Participants agreed AI's advance is unstoppable while legislation may lag, and worked through practical fixes — from anonymisation techniques to countering AI-driven election disinformation.

Q. Why should I care?

A. The forum previewed questions every democracy now faces — AI rules before elections, protecting the Internet's shared core — and even featured Japan's provider association sharing BGP failure lessons across borders.

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

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

Sources & References

1. 【新聞稿】第9屆TWIGF臺灣網路治理論壇年會圓滿落幕，網路發展關鍵時刻，地緣政治及人工智慧擴大網路治理範疇! — TWIGF (accessed 2026-07-11)
2. TWIGF 2023（公式ページ） — TWIGF (accessed 2026-07-11)
3. 2023年臺灣網路治理論壇（2023 Taiwan Internet Governance Forum） — Lee and Li (accessed 2026-07-11)
4. TWIGF論壇 2023年會【座談 Panel #3、#4】主題發表簡介 — TWNIC Blog（財團法人台灣網路資訊中心） (accessed 2026-07-11)

Quotes are translated or condensed from the records listed above. Bracketed numbers [n] refer to the source list.

Related links

• IGF official (NRI list): https://www.intgovforum.org/en/content/national-and-regional-igf-initiatives
• Japan IGF: https://japanigf.jp/
• Yuki Nakazawa's blog: https://nkzw.jp/category/igf/

Revision History

Rev. 1 — published 16 July 2023, 10:00 (Article published)

Rev. 2 — updated 16 July 2026, 20:09 (Fully revised into the in-depth edition: added the 3-line summary, minutes digest, short talk, source list and diagrams (all quotes verified against the listed sources))

— 中澤祐樹