The 3-Line Summary
- NetThing 2020, Australia's national IGF, went online on 1–2 October 2020 amid the pandemic (with a small hub in Brisbane), drawing around 100 unique participants.
- Misinformation and disinformation, the growing power of digital platforms, Internet infrastructure security and algorithmic bias topped the agenda; APNIC's Geoff Huston opened with a 'State of the Internet in Australia' keynote.
- The forum chose continuity over scale — a snapshot of how national IGFs kept going through COVID-19.
Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on NetThing 2020 (Australia's 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.
📍 Held online, with a small physical hub at The Women's College, University of Queensland (Brisbane), from which some panels were webcast
Conference at a Glance (from official records)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name | NetThing 2020 (Australia's Internet Governance Forum) |
| Dates | 1–2 October 2020 |
| Venue | Online |
| Theme | Regional governance themes |
| Participants | 約100人（ユニーク参加者） |
| Host | NetThing Team, a volunteer group of Australian Internet organisations and supporters (sponsors included auDA, APNIC, GoDaddy, Linux Australia and Amazon) |
(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. Going Online in a Pandemic — Experimenting with 'Small Gatherings in Different Locales'
Sessions: Overall event format (online plus a Brisbane physical hub)
- A year after the in-person Sydney debut, the forum went fully online, with a small COVID-safe hub at the University of Queensland — an early hybrid experiment [3][2]
- Organisers framed the format as 'a connected set of small gatherings in different locales', touting better regional reach [3][2]
- Attendance was free (donations welcomed), and anyone unwell was asked to join online instead [3][2]
2. Truth and Trust — Misinformation, Disinformation and Platform Responsibility
Sessions: Panels 'Truth & Trust: Misinformation & Disinformation' and 'The Growing Role of Digital Platforms'
- A panel spanning misinformation, free speech, news, platforms, algorithms and hate speech — staged in person and webcast simultaneously — was among the most talked-about sessions [2][1]
- A separate session on the growing role of digital platforms and government responses tied the forum to Australia's then-active platform-regulation debate [2][1]
3. The State of the Internet in Australia — Geoff Huston's Opening Keynote
Sessions: Opening keynote 'The State of the Internet in Australia' by Geoff Huston, Chief Scientist at APNIC
- Huston, one of the pioneers who brought the Internet to Australia, gave a technical stocktake of the country's networks [2]
- Internet infrastructure security and algorithmic bias ran as their own themes, keeping the forum's dual technical-and-policy character [2]
4. Whose Voices Are Amplified? — Censorship, Expression and Emerging Technology
Sessions: Panels 'Censorship and Expression Online: Whose Voices are Amplified? Whose are Silenced?' and 'Gaming our Future: Emerging Technology and the Future of the Internet in Australia'
- A session on online censorship asked pointedly whose voices get amplified and whose get silenced [1]
- Another looked at how emerging technology will shape the Internet in Australia — seeding the trust and inclusion themes of later years [1]
Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered
Q. Can an IGF work as an online-only event?
A. 2020 was the test. Attendance halved to about 100, but the agenda — misinformation, platforms, infrastructure security — was more topical than ever, and the priority was simply to keep the annual forum alive.
Q. What drew the most attention?
A. Misinformation and disinformation. Against the pandemic 'infodemic', one panel spanned free speech, news, algorithms and hate speech in a single conversation.
Q. Why should I care?
A. Platform accountability and misinformation policy were heating up worldwide at the same time — and this is a compact case study in running a national IGF online.
What Is Australia IGF? (for first-time readers)
Australia 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 2020 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.
Sources & References
- NetThing 2020 — auIGF（旧NetThing）公式サイト (accessed 2026-07-11)
- Event Wrap: NetThing 2020 — APNIC Blog (accessed 2026-07-11)
- NetThing 2020（参加登録ページ） — Humanitix (accessed 2026-07-11)
- Australia IGF（NRI記録） — intgovforum.org (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 14 June 2020, 16:00 (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
