{"id":12788,"date":"2021-10-21T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/2021\/10\/21\/en-uk-igf-2021-overview\/"},"modified":"2021-10-21T21:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-21T12:00:00","slug":"en-uk-igf-2021-overview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/2021\/10\/21\/en-uk-igf-2021-overview\/","title":{"rendered":"UK IGF 2021 \u2014 In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest &#038; 3-Line Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/en-uk-igf-2021-overview_thumbnail-2.svg\" alt=\"UK IGF 2021 \u30aa\u30f3\u30e9\u30a4\u30f3 \u2014 Thumbnail\"><\/p>\n<h2>The 3-Line Summary<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/en-uk-igf-2021-overview_s3-1.svg\" alt=\"UK IGF 2021 \u30aa\u30f3\u30e9\u30a4\u30f3 \u2014 3-line summary\"><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>UK IGF 2021 ran online for a second year on 20\u201321 October with 145 delegates under the theme &#39;The Future of the Internet&#39; \u2014 21% of them under 25.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Debate centred on post-Brexit data protection divergence, the Online Safety Bill then in scrutiny, cyber-crime losses reaching \u00a352bn a year, and greening the internet on the eve of COP26.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Civil society&#39;s &#39;privacy is power&#39; met the government&#39;s appetite to diverge from GDPR head-on \u2014 a dilemma familiar to any country weighing its own data-law path.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Welcome \u2014 this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on <strong>UK IGF 2021<\/strong> draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.<\/p>\n<h2>Conference at a Glance (from official records)<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/en-uk-igf-2021-overview_h2-1.svg\" alt=\"UK IGF 2021 \u30aa\u30f3\u30e9\u30a4\u30f3 \u2014 Conference at a glance\"><\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Item<\/th>\n<th>Detail<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Official name<\/td>\n<td>UK IGF 2021<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Dates<\/td>\n<td>20\u201321 October 2021<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Venue<\/td>\n<td>Online (second consecutive virtual UK IGF due to Covid-19, with a tighter morning-focused programme)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Theme<\/td>\n<td>The Future of the Internet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Participants<\/td>\n<td>145 (145 delegates from government, parliament, civil society, industry, the technical community and academia; 21% aged under 25 (the largest cohort) and two-thirds first-time attendees)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Sub-themes<\/td>\n<td>Content aligned to five themes: Trust, Inclusion, Data, Environment and Covid-19<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Host<\/td>\n<td>UK IGF Steering Committee (secretariat: Nominet); 2021 sponsors were Nominet, Donuts, ICANN and the Internet Society UK England Chapter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Outcome<\/td>\n<td>UK IGF Report 2021, providing key messages for the UN IGF and beyond<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>(See the source list at the end of this article.)<\/p>\n<h2>Discussion Digest \u2014 from the Session Records<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/en-uk-igf-2021-overview_minutes-1.svg\" alt=\"UK IGF 2021 \u30aa\u30f3\u30e9\u30a4\u30f3 \u2014 Discussion map\"><\/p>\n<p>Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.<\/p>\n<h3>1. The Future of UK Data Protection \u2014 To Diverge from GDPR or Not<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Panel &#39;The Future of the UK&#39;s Data Protection Frameworks&#39; (20 October, 10:45\u201311:30, chaired by Kenneth Cukier)<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&quot;Privacy is power.&quot;<br \/>\n\u2014 <strong>Sahdya Darr (Open Rights Group)<\/strong> [1][3]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>Chair Kenneth Cukier (The Economist) opened with the deliberately provocative question of whether Brexit was &#39;the best thing that&#39;s ever happened to the UK&#39; to frame the divergence debate [1][3]<\/li>\n<li>Dr Michael Veale (UCL): GDPR has been misrepresented \u2014 many sensible reforms are possible without rewriting the legislation [1][3]<\/li>\n<li>Panellists agreed putting individual rights at the heart of data does not prevent innovation but underpins user confidence, warning of a slippery slope if protections are stripped back [1][3]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>2. The Online Safety Bill \u2014 Regulating Systems, Not Content<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Panel &#39;Tackling harmful content while protecting freedom of expression&#39; (21 October, 13:00\u201314:15, chaired by Victoria Nash)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Orla MacRae (DCMS): the Government&#39;s three objectives are tackling criminal activity, protecting children and protecting free expression \u2014 the Bill regulates systems and processes, not content [1][3]<\/li>\n<li>Alan Rusbridger (Facebook Oversight Board): over-moderation could be as harmful as under-moderation, and policymakers should take a global rather than purely Western view [1][3]<\/li>\n<li>Damian Tambini (LSE) urged more work on the balance of power between Ofcom and the Secretary of State, with Ofcom&#39;s independence key to public trust [1][3]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>3. Cyber-Crime \u2014 Facing \u00a352 Billion in Annual Losses<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Panel &#39;How can the UK become a global leader on the prevention of Cyber-Crime?&#39; (21 October, 10:45\u201311:30, chaired by Dr Louise Bennett)<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&quot;All too often the threat feels &#39;too big, too militarised, and unmanageable&#39;.&quot;<br \/>\n\u2014 <strong>Dr Victoria Baines (Oxford Internet Institute)<\/strong> [1][3]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>UK online crime losses have hit \u00a352bn a year, and with victims and perpetrators in different jurisdictions the response must be both national and global (Bennett) [1][3]<\/li>\n<li>UK policing follows the &#39;four Ps&#39; \u2014 Pursue, Protect, Prevent, Prepare \u2014 and now calls back everyone who reports cyber-crime, though under-reporting still blurs the threat picture (DCI Donnelly) [1][3]<\/li>\n<li>Dr Baines argued a public-health framework could be applied to cyber threats, just as millions proved able to protect themselves and others in the pandemic [1][3]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>4. The Future of the Internet \u2014 Permissionless by Design<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Panel &#39;The Future of the Internet&#39; (20 October, 13:00\u201314:15, chaired by Dr Hosein Badran)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alain Durand (ICANN): the internet&#39;s defining characteristic is openness \u2014 no permissions, gatekeepers or barriers; had permission been required, the internet would never have happened the same way [1][3]<\/li>\n<li>Alissa Cooper (Cisco): forums like the UK IGF must bridge the technical layer and the political and commercial worlds to preserve the multistakeholder model [1][3]<\/li>\n<li>Lise Fuhr (ETNO): without trust users won&#39;t fully use the internet, but centralising security technologies such as DNS over HTTPS can complicate operators&#39; legal compliance [1][3]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>5. Greening the Internet \u2014 On the Eve of COP26<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Panel &#39;Greening the Internet&#39; (21 October, 11:45\u201312:30, chaired by Ana Yang)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ana Yang (Chatham House): staying within 1.5 degrees requires mobilising every sector, and looks near impossible unless policies deploy &#39;at scale and fast&#39; [1][3]<\/li>\n<li>Emma Fryer (techUK): freemium services give no price signal of their emissions impact \u2014 and a significant number of children think the internet uses no energy at all [1][3]<\/li>\n<li>Michael Oghia: digital infrastructure is far more than data centres; the business case for sustainability must be made at every part of the value chain [1][3]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Three-Minute Short Talk \u2014 Your Questions Answered<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q. What was the theme?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A. &#39;The Future of the Internet&#39; \u2014 dominated by how far post-Brexit Britain should diverge from GDPR and by the Online Safety Bill then under scrutiny. It was the second all-virtual edition, with a fifth of participants under 25.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q. What was most contested?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A. Loosening data protection. Reform advocates promised growth from flexibility; civil society countered that &#39;privacy is power&#39; and warned of a slippery slope \u2014 while experts noted GDPR already allows sensible reform without a rewrite.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q. Why should I care?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A. The \u00a352bn-a-year cyber-crime figure, the police &#39;four Ps&#39; and the idea of a public-health approach to cyber threats travel well beyond the UK, as does the &#39;regulate systems, not content&#39; design of platform regulation.<\/p>\n<h2>What Is UK IGF? (for first-time readers)<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/en-uk-igf-2021-overview_h1-1.svg\" alt=\"UK IGF 2021 \u30aa\u30f3\u30e9\u30a4\u30f3 \u2014 About UK IGF\"><\/p>\n<p>UK IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.<\/p>\n<h2>Why It Matters to You<\/h2>\n<p>What was discussed here becomes <strong>the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years<\/strong>. The principles confirmed at the 2021 meeting are the foundation of the &quot;next rules&quot; for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.<\/p>\n<h2>Sources &amp; References<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ukigf.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/UK-IGF-2021-report.pdf\">UK Internet Governance Forum Report 2021 (PDF)<\/a> \u2014 UK IGF\uff08\u4e8b\u52d9\u5c40: Nominet\uff09 (accessed 2026-07-11)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ukigf.org.uk\/events\/uk-igf-2021\/\">UK IGF 2021\uff08\u516c\u5f0f\u30a4\u30d9\u30f3\u30c8\u30da\u30fc\u30b8\uff09<\/a> \u2014 UK IGF (accessed 2026-07-11)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ukigf.org.uk\/2021-agenda\/\">2021 Agenda<\/a> \u2014 UK IGF (accessed 2026-07-11)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ukigf.org.uk\/ukigf-2021-speakers\/\">UK IGF 2021 Speakers<\/a> \u2014 UK IGF (accessed 2026-07-11)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>Quotes are translated or condensed from the records listed above. Bracketed numbers [n] refer to the source list.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Related links<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>IGF official (NRI list): <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intgovforum.org\/en\/content\/national-and-regional-igf-initiatives\">https:\/\/www.intgovforum.org\/en\/content\/national-and-regional-igf-initiatives<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Japan IGF: <a href=\"https:\/\/japanigf.jp\/\">https:\/\/japanigf.jp\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Yuki Nakazawa&#39;s blog: <a href=\"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/category\/igf\/\">https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/category\/igf\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Revision History<\/h2>\n<p>Rev. 1 \u2014 published 21 October 2021, 12:00 (Article published)<\/p>\n<p>Rev. 2 \u2014 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))<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014 \u4e2d\u6fa4\u7950\u6a39<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UK IGF 2021 ran online for a second year on 20\u201321 October with 145 delegates under the theme &#8216;The Future of the Internet&#8217; \u2014 21% of them unde<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,38],"tags":[163,161,160,162,164,556],"class_list":["post-12788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-igf","category-regional-igf","category-uk-igf","tag-3-line-summary","tag-deep-dive","tag-english","tag-minutes-digest","tag-sourced","tag-ukigf2021"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12788\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}