{"id":4578,"date":"2025-10-11T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T03:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/2025\/10\/11\/en-aprigf-2025-kathmandu-overview\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T12:15:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T03:15:00","slug":"en-aprigf-2025-kathmandu-overview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/2025\/10\/11\/en-aprigf-2025-kathmandu-overview\/","title":{"rendered":"AprIGF 2025 Kathmandu \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-aprigf-2025-kathmandu-overview_thumbnail-2.svg\" alt=\"AprIGF 2025 \u30ab\u30c8\u30de\u30f3\u30ba \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-aprigf-2025-kathmandu-overview_s3-1.svg\" alt=\"AprIGF 2025 \u30ab\u30c8\u30de\u30f3\u30ba \u2014 3-line summary\"><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>APrIGF 2025 ran online on 11\u201314 October. Planned as a hybrid meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, it went fully virtual after September&#39;s unrest, under the theme &quot;The Future of Multistakeholder Digital Governance in Asia Pacific.&quot;<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>In the WSIS+20 review year, the community submitted written input to the UN backing a permanent IGF mandate, and debated disability, gender and youth inclusion, AI as a public good, digital public infrastructure, and disaster resilience across five tracks.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Nepal&#39;s Gen Z protests \u2014 sparked in part by a social-media ban \u2014 made Internet governance brutally concrete. What WSIS+20 decides will determine whether the IGF itself survives, and set the terms for national digital policy everywhere.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Welcome \u2014 this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on <strong>AprIGF 2025 in Kathmandu<\/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<blockquote>\n<p>&#x1f4cd; Catalogued as the Kathmandu meeting, but after the September 2025 unrest in Nepal (the 8\u201310 September Gen Z protests, sparked in part by a mass social-media ban, which brought down the government), organisers announced on 17 September that the forum would move fully online for participants&#39; safety; the Internet Governance Institute in Kathmandu remained the host<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\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-aprigf-2025-kathmandu-overview_h2-1.svg\" alt=\"AprIGF 2025 \u30ab\u30c8\u30de\u30f3\u30ba \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>Dates<\/td>\n<td>11\u201314 October 2025 (11 October as a &#39;Zero Day&#39; engagement)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Venue<\/td>\n<td>Held fully online (originally planned as a hybrid meeting at the Nepal Administrative Staff College, Jawalakhel, Kathmandu)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Theme<\/td>\n<td>The Future of Multistakeholder Digital Governance in Asia Pacific<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Host<\/td>\n<td>Internet Governance Institute (IGI, Nepal), co-hosted by the Internet Society Nepal Chapter, executed by the APrIGF Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) and Secretariat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Outcome<\/td>\n<td>Synthesis Document (Virtual Conference edition); a written regional input was submitted to the UN WSIS+20 co-facilitators<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Note<\/td>\n<td>Held in the 20th-anniversary year of WSIS (Geneva, 2003), amid the WSIS+20 review<\/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-aprigf-2025-kathmandu-overview_minutes-1.svg\" alt=\"AprIGF 2025 \u30ab\u30c8\u30de\u30f3\u30ba \u2014 Discussion map\"><\/p>\n<p>Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Nepal&#39;s Unrest and the Move Online \u2014 When a Social-Media Ban Gets Real<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Format-change announcement (17 September 2025, jointly by the MSG leadership, local host and Secretariat)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>On 8\u201310 September 2025, Gen Z protests \u2014 triggered in part by a mass social-media ban \u2014 swept Nepal and brought down the government. After weighing postponement, organisers moved the forum fully online, putting participant safety first [2][5]<\/li>\n<li>The announcement extended &#39;heartfelt condolences to all affected communities and families in Nepal&#39; and hoped for a swift return of peace and stability [2][5]<\/li>\n<li>An Internet governance meeting planned for a country just shaken by an Internet shutdown ended up online because of it \u2014 embodying the region&#39;s own agenda of shutdowns, platform regulation and youth voice [2][5]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>2. WSIS+20 \u2014 Regional Input to a Review That Could Decide the IGF&#39;s Fate<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Special WSIS+20 track (High-Level Plenary and Townhall attended by the UN co-facilitators, plus three webinars before and after)<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&quot;We are in the midst of the UN&#39;s WSIS+20 Review, a pivotal moment where the global community is evaluating our progress and charting the course for the next decade of our digital society&quot;<br \/>\n\u2014 <strong>Sally Wentworth (President and CEO, Internet Society, keynote)<\/strong> [1][4]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>A WSIS+20 Working Group submitted written input to the UN co-facilitators, assessing the Zero Draft and Revision 1 and backing a permanent IGF mandate and recognition of NRIs [1][4]<\/li>\n<li>The community welcomed Revision 1 language on financing to close the digital divide and the NETmundial+10 guidelines, but flagged the softening of human-rights and environmental language [1][4]<\/li>\n<li>It urged WSIS+20 to deliver action-oriented outcomes on AI governance and its impact on trade, human rights and labour [1][4]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>3. &quot;Nothing About Us Without Us&quot; \u2014 Disability, Gender and Youth Inclusion<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Access &amp; Inclusion track: &quot;Nothing About Us Without Us,&quot; &quot;Prioritising Digital Gender Inclusion in Asia,&quot; &quot;Bridging the Digital Divide: Youth Access to Knowledge, Policy, and Power&quot;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Persons with disabilities must be co-designers of policy and infrastructure, not subjects of support; host Nepal was specifically urged to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty and include persons with disabilities in its e-Governance Commission [1]<\/li>\n<li>Research showed middle-income countries lost roughly half a billion US dollars in 2023 because women are excluded from meaningful connectivity; Pakistan&#39;s Digital Gender Inclusion Strategy illustrated the implementation hurdles [1]<\/li>\n<li>Youth were framed as co-governors of the Internet: participation must be structural, not symbolic \u2014 formal seats, ring-fenced budgets for youth-led projects, and an end to checkbox consultation [1]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>4. Can AI Be a Public Good? \u2014 Questions from South Asia&#39;s Front Lines<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: &quot;AI as Public Good: Analysing the interplay of Private Investments, Public Infrastructure and Public Accountability&quot; and related sessions<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>India has pledged $1.12 billion to its AI ecosystem while Nepal has no dedicated AI budget \u2014 and across the region, opaque budgeting and performance evaluation make public value impossible to track [1]<\/li>\n<li>Concrete accountability failures were tabled: sanitation workers in an Indian smart city tracked via RFID tags with data owned by a private third party, and pandemic QR-code data in the Philippines collected without government approval and sold to marketers [1]<\/li>\n<li>A guiding principle emerged: design inclusive AI systems first, then automate \u2014 &#39;if we do it the other way around, we&#39;re automating exclusion&#39; \u2014 with calls for regionally contextualised AI norms drawing on non-Western ethical traditions [1]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>5. Disasters, Shutdowns and Regulatory Overreach \u2014 Resilience Tested from Three Sides<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Sessions<\/strong>: Resilience track: &quot;Disasters, Data, and Digital Rights&quot; and &quot;The Growing Threat of Personal Liability in Platform Regulation&quot;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>With climate disasters intensifying, connectivity is a lifeline of crisis response: hybrid fibre\u2013microwave\u2013satellite architectures, elimination of single points of failure, and formally designating the Internet as critical infrastructure were recommended [1]<\/li>\n<li>Community-driven tools that work offline were showcased, including PAROLI, a voice-based communication platform co-designed in Bangladesh under PROTIC II for alerts and SOS during cyclones and floods [1]<\/li>\n<li>Citing the arrest of Telegram&#39;s founder and the suspension of X in Brazil, participants warned that personal criminal liability for platform staff can morph into intimidation and surveillance where the rule of law is weak [1]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Three-Minute Short Talk \u2014 Your Questions Answered<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q. So what did the conference actually decide?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A. It&#39;s a dialogue forum, not a decision body \u2014 but this year it delivered something concrete: written regional input to the UN&#39;s WSIS+20 co-facilitators, backing a permanent mandate for the IGF.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q. Why did a Kathmandu meeting end up online?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A. A month before the event, Nepal&#39;s Gen Z protests \u2014 sparked in part by a mass social-media ban \u2014 brought down the government. Organisers moved the forum fully online for safety. A meeting about Internet governance was displaced by the fallout of an Internet shutdown: the agenda made real.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q. Why should I care?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A. Because the WSIS+20 review decides whether the IGF itself continues, and Nepal&#39;s experience \u2014 a social-media ban helping trigger an uprising \u2014 is a cautionary tale for every country now writing platform rules.<\/p>\n<h2>What Is AprIGF? (for first-time readers)<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/en-aprigf-2025-kathmandu-overview_h1-1.svg\" alt=\"AprIGF 2025 \u30ab\u30c8\u30de\u30f3\u30ba \u2014 About AprIGF\"><\/p>\n<p>AprIGF 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 2025 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:\/\/ap.rigf.asia\/documents\/APrIGF_2025_Virtual_Conference_Synthesis_Document.pdf\">Synthesis Document \u2014 Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum 2025 (Virtual Conference) (PDF)<\/a> \u2014 APrIGF Secretariat (accessed 2026-07-10)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ap.rigf.asia\/news\/2025\/aprigf-2025-will-be-held-virtually\/\">APrIGF 2025 Will Be Held Virtually<\/a> \u2014 APrIGF.Asia\uff08\u516c\u5f0f\u30b5\u30a4\u30c8\uff09 (accessed 2026-07-10)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ap.rigf.asia\/news\/2025\/official-aprigf-2025-will-be-held-in-nepal-in-october\/\">OFFICIAL: APrIGF 2025 will be held in Nepal in October!<\/a> \u2014 APrIGF.Asia\uff08\u516c\u5f0f\u30b5\u30a4\u30c8\uff09 (accessed 2026-07-10)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.internetsociety.org\/news\/speeches\/2025\/the-future-of-multistakeholder-digital-governance-in-asia-pacific\/\">The Future of Multistakeholder Digital Governance in Asia-Pacific\uff08Sally Wentworth\u57fa\u8abf\u8b1b\u6f14\uff09<\/a> \u2014 Internet Society (accessed 2026-07-10)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/2025_Nepalese_Gen_Z_protests\">2025 Nepalese Gen Z protests<\/a> \u2014 en (accessed 2026-07-10)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.apc.org\/en\/event\/asia-pacific-regional-internet-governance-forum-aprigf-2025\">Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF) 2025<\/a> \u2014 APC (accessed 2026-07-10)<\/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 11 October 2025, 12:15 (Article published)<\/p>\n<p>Rev. 2 \u2014 updated 10 July 2026, 14:28 (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>APrIGF 2025 ran online on 11\u201314 October. Planned as a hybrid meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, it went fully virtual after September&#8217;s unrest, un<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,3,11],"tags":[163,151,161,160,162,164],"class_list":["post-4578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aprigf","category-igf","category-regional-igf","tag-3-line-summary","tag-aprigf2025","tag-deep-dive","tag-english","tag-minutes-digest","tag-sourced"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4578","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=4578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4578\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nkzw.jp\/igf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}