Governments´ Involvement in Internet Governance: A Literature Review

Internet governance has been a controversial issue among governments, private sector and Internet users since the US government ended its restriction on Internet in the early 1990s. However, as there is still no academic consensus on its definition, the concept of Internet governance can be very broad, and it is difficult to identify authors´ arguments from different perspectives. This literature review paper focuses specifically on governments´ involvement in Internet governance, and categorizes previous studies into three perspectives: overall views, technical architecture and public policy issues. By examining and discussing existing studies, this paper concludes that governments are both necessary and inevitable to be involved in Internet governance, but in order to make a better environment for the Internet and to enhance freedom, democracy and economic development in the real world, they need to limit their power, improve their transparency and coordinate with other stakeholders based on relevant international and regional platforms.