LACIGF 2019 La Paz — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

1. The 12th Latin America and Caribbean IGF (LACIGF 12) met at the Casa Grande Hotel in La Paz, Bolivia, on 6–8 August 2019 — Bolivia's first time hosting — with 12 sessions streamed with interpretation in three languages, organised by ISOC Bolivia.
2. Debates covered free expression and 'democratic regulation' of platforms, AI and automated decision-making, encryption and anonymity, cybersecurity and the access gap; a keynote by UN IGF Secretariat head Chengetai Masango bridged to the Berlin IGF that November.
3. The meeting showcased a distinctly Latin American proposal for reining in big platforms' content moderation. (Note: the catalogue's 'Bogotá' is an error — the actual host city was La Paz.)

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on LACIGF 2019 in La Paz draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.

📍 The catalogue lists Bogotá, but LACIGF's official list of past editions places the 12th edition (2019) in La Paz, Bolivia — the first time Bolivia hosted. Bogotá hosted in 2012 (5th) and 2023 (16th); this is another instance of the catalogue's systematic one-year city offset

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. Free Expression and Platforms — A Latin American Blueprint for 'Democratic Regulation'

Sessions: Sessions "Human Rights — Freedom of Expression on the Internet" (6 Aug, 9:30) and "Foundations for a democratic model of internet regulation" (7 Aug, 18:00)

• OBSERVACOM and Brazil's Intervozes proposed a 'democratic regulation' framework to curb big platforms' private takedown power and protect free expression [5][2]
• With Facebook representatives and government officials in the room, positions split between corporate self-regulation and public rules [5][2]
• Speakers included Gustavo Gómez (OBSERVACOM), Olivia Bandeira (Intervozes), Andrés Sastre (ASIET) and Diego Canabarro (ISOC) [5][2]

2. Bolivia's First Time Hosting — The Host Country's Multistakeholder Model

Sessions: Opening ceremony (6 Aug) and host-country session on Bolivia's multistakeholder governance

• Twelve years in, Bolivia hosted the regional IGF for the first time, with Vice-Minister of Telecommunications Iván Zambrana at the opening signalling government buy-in [2][6]
• Hosting in the Andes put Bolivia-specific access challenges — connectivity costs and geography — on the regional agenda [2][6]
• ISOC Bolivia ran the meeting with funding support from the governments of Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, an unusual cross-border public-private arrangement [2][6]

3. AI, Encryption and Surveillance — Technology Through a Rights Lens

Sessions: Sessions on artificial intelligence and automated decision-making, encryption and anonymous communications, and surveillance technologies and digital security

• Fairness and accountability in AI-driven automated decisions were examined in depth for a second consecutive year [2][4]
• Encryption and anonymity were framed as foundations of human-rights protection rather than criminal tools, with a parallel digital-security workshop for journalists [2][4]
• Cybersecurity was treated as a multistakeholder task shared across government, business and civil society [2][4]

4. Bridging to the Berlin IGF — Defining the Region's Priorities

Sessions: Keynote by Chengetai Masango (Head, UN IGF Secretariat) and the session on regional governance initiatives and NRIs

• The head of the UN IGF Secretariat delivered the keynote, charting how the regional debate would feed the global IGF in Berlin that November [2][3]
• Strengthening national and regional IGFs (NRIs) was on the agenda, confirming the growth of national initiatives across Latin America [2][3]
• Every session was documented with reports in Spanish and English plus video — unusually thorough for a regional IGF [2][3]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What did the meeting decide?

A. Nothing binding. It identified the region's shared priorities and delivered them as a collective voice to the global IGF in Berlin three months later.

Q. What was the most contentious topic?

A. Who disciplines big platforms' content takedowns. Civil society groups presented a Latin American 'democratic regulation' blueprint, arguing free expression cannot be left to private companies — clashing head-on with the self-regulation camp.

Q. Why should I care?

A. How to govern platform takedowns and account suspensions is now a live legislative question in most democracies, and this 'democratic regulation' proposal was one of the earliest systematic answers.

What Is LACIGF? (for first-time readers)

LACIGF 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.

Sources & References

1. Foros anteriores（歴代開催一覧） — LACIGF（公式サイト） (accessed 2026-07-10)
2. LACIGF 12（アジェンダ・セッション記録・動画） — LACIGF（公式アーカイブ） (accessed 2026-07-10)
3. El Foro de Gobernanza de Internet de América Latina y el Caribe se celebrará en La Paz（スペイン語） — APC（進歩的コミュニケーション協会） (accessed 2026-07-10)
4. Se inicia Foro de Gobernanza de Internet en La Paz（スペイン語） — Servindi（ペルー） (accessed 2026-07-10)
5. OBSERVACOM estará presente en LACIGF en La Paz（スペイン語） — OBSERVACOM (accessed 2026-07-10)
6. Bolivia será por primera vez sede del LACIGF（スペイン語） — Inversor Latam (accessed 2026-07-10)
7. Ediciones anteriores — Youth LACIGF — Youth LACIGF (accessed 2026-07-10)

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 26 August 2019, 09:00 (Article published)

Rev. 2 — updated 10 July 2026, 23:16 (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