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State of digital development and trends in the Arab States region: Challenges and opportunities

Geneva: ITU (2025), iv, 53 pp.

"This report offers a comprehensive snapshot of the region’s digital landscape, highlighting both remarkable progress and persisting challenges. Ninety-five per cent of the population in this region is covered by mobile broadband networks, and more than half of the countries have already achieved ... more

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Trust, Responsibility, and Digital Governance: Regulation of AI and Blockchain Technology from a Capacity-Based Perspective

Sebastian Bücker, Marcus Düwell, Andreas Kaminski, Michael Leyer (eds.)

Bielefeld: transcript Verlag (2025), 229 pp.

"Numerous ethical guidelines and regulatory frameworks have been developed to assess and shape digital systems. However, these efforts often rest on the dubious assumption that individuals and organisations possess the necessary capacities to assess such systems in terms of justice, reliability, and ... more

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Big Tech Must Go! Digital Giants are Destroying our Democracies and Economies. We will stop them
Deep Insights

Martin Andree

Frankfurt; Chicago: Campus Verlag; University of Chicago Press (2025), 285 pp.

"Digital monopolies shape ever larger parts of our lives. The platforms are increasingly controlling the public formation of political opinion and at the same time abolishing our free market economy. Digital expert Martin Andree shows in detail how far the hostile takeover of our society by the tech ... more

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State of digital development and trends in Asia and the Pacific: Challenges and opportunities

Geneva: ITU (2025), iv, 53 pp.

"[...] While mobile broadband covers over 95 per cent of the population, disparities persist. High-income economies lead in 5G deployment and innovation, while lower-income countries face infrastructure, affordability, and digital literacy gaps. The urban-rural divide remains, and women and marginal ... more

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AI in Africa: A Landscape Study

Rachel Adams, Fola Adeleke, Leah Junck, Samule Segun, Ayantola Alayande, Selamawit Abdella, Mark Gaffley, Fabio Andres Diaz Pabon, Funbi Salami

Global Center on AI Governance; African Observatory on Responsible AI (2025), 44 pp.

"Though comprehensive AI regulation is still nascent in Africa, there is an increased focus on national AI strategies, ethical guidelines and international collaborations. Over 40 countries have already established data protection and privacy laws, creating opportunities for harmonised regulations a ... nd a supportive environment for AI innovation. Key continental governance instruments and initiatives also include the African Union’s AI Strategy, the African Continental Free Trade Area and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. This report found that the increasing application of AI in key sectors across Africa, such as health, education, finance, agriculture, public services and the environment, necessitates a collaborative approach to ethical AI development and use. This requires addressing persistent infrastructural gaps, developing regional regulatory frameworks, investments in AI research and capacity building efforts as well as promoting multi-stakeholder AI governance initiatives. Key strategies identified include joint investment and funding, pooling resources and supporting sustainable and fair open-source projects, which will help direct efforts toward innovation and regional independence. Open Source AI models are particularly important in Africa where local tech startups can leverage global open-source initiatives to build context-specific solutions. However, concerns regarding data ownership, privacy and ethical AI deployment call for more robust policies for open source AI on the continent. To foster responsible AI innovation, African countries should establish comprehensive AI governance frameworks while adhering to existing laws as well as strengthen regulatory institutions to provide oversight over AI technologies. Regulatory sandboxing also offers a viable approach to enable sage experimentation with appropriate oversight. Regional and international cooperation as well as leveraging public-private partnerships can promote funding for expanding AI research and development initiatives, resolve talent shortages and promote infrastructure development. Africa has a unique opportunity to leverage AI, along with its resources and local young talent, for socioeconomic development. However, to ensure inclusivity and sustainable innovation, it is essential to address infrastructure challenges and establish regulatory frameworks that protect societal wellbeing. Embracing collaborative efforts, including open source initiatives, regional and international partnerships are critical for achieving the continent’s ambitious goals without leaving anyone behind." (Executive Summaty, page 3) more

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Inclusive and Secure Artificial Intelligence: A Global Perspective on Policy and Technical Developments
Deep Insights

Saiph Savage, Lili Savage

Stuttgart: Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) (2025), 84 pp.

"As AI systems are developed and deployed, they often reflect and reinforce dominant cultural norms, marginalizing non-Western languages, epistemologies, and communities. This report explores the systemic risks associated with algorithmic bias, digital colonialism, and cultural homogenization, while ... more

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An overview of digital service taxation

raul Katz

Geneva: ITU (2025), xi, 36 pp.

"The study’s first major conclusion is that taxes imposed both on operators and on consumers remain in place in many countries around the world. At least 74 countries impose taxes on service providers, whether environmentally related, import duties on equipment or VAT on equipment purchases. Simil ... arly, 145 countries impose VAT on mobile services, while 74 apply import duties on mobile devices. Secondly, some nuanced geographic patterns in terms of taxation approaches can be teased out from the data. The group of countries exempting equipment purchases from taxation include advanced economies and some less developed countries. This would indicate that this group is not only composed of countries that do not require equipment taxation to increase revenues but also countries that prioritize maximization of network coverage (stimulated by lower equipment taxes) over tax collection. That said, there appears to be countries, mostly concentrated in the developing world, with some middle-income economies, that still prioritize tax collection from import duties on equipment. Thirdly, unlike with network equipment, many countries were identified that exempt consumer devices from import duty or device-specific taxes. Furthermore, several developing countries were found to tax the import of devices at an extremely high rate. However, some countries have established consumer device taxation approaches aimed at reducing the purchasing acquisition cost. At the other end, some countries appear to have imposed high taxation on consumer devices. In addition to taxes on devices, affordability of telecommunications/ICTs for consumers is affected by VAT paid on mobile telecommunications services, a fairly common practice across countries. Of all services to which VAT is applied, the most prevalent service is outgoing international traffic, where rates range between 2.75 per cent and 20 per cent. Finally, many countries have enacted a digital service tax to address perceived gaps in corporate income-tax systems. This approach imposes a tax on gross receipts derived from digital advertising, data mining and other types of digital platform revenue. A few countries have already implemented national approaches aimed at tackling profit shifting by digital platforms. While many countries did not report the application of digital service taxes in the ITU Tariff Policies Survey, of the 115 nations that provided a response, only 17 reported applying a digital service tax, and the percentage applied varies from 3% (Fance) to 21% (Argentina). This limited evidence prevents us from understanding what the current trend is in this domain." (Conclusion) more

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Estado de situación de la regulación de las plataformas digitales en Uruguay

Matías Jackson, Patricia Díaz

Montevideo: Datysoc Laboratorio de Datos y Sociedad de DATA Uruguay; Observacom (2025), 46 pp.

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The AI Policy Playbook: Navigating AI Policy Development through an African and Asian Lens

Aubra Anthony, Deshni Govender, Nadine Dammaschk, Golo Rademacher, Kim Willet, Gustavo Fonseca Ribeiro, Sheila Kibughi

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) FAIR Forward; AI Policymaker Network (2025), 70 pp.

"The AI Policy Playbook offers a practical guide for governments in Africa and Asia to develop responsible and context-specific AI policies. Drawing from real-world policymaking experiences in seven countries, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, India, and Indonesia, the playbook shares less ... more

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Safeguarding Media Freedom in the Age of Big Tech Platforms and AI: Policy Manual

Anya Schiffrin, Bojana Kostic, Iva Nenadic, Julia Haas, Natali Helberger, Natali, Max van Drunen

Vienna: OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (2025), 147 pp.

"With this Policy Manual, we provide guidance for building an information space free from oligopolistic control, resilient to manipulation, and supportive of independent, pluralistic media. This Policy Manual proposes both structural reforms and targeted mitigation measures – focusing on media vis ... more

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State of digital development and trends in the Americas region: Challenges and opportunities

Geneva: ITU (2025), v, 51 pp.

"This publication provides an in-depth look at digital development across the region, revealing both substantial progress and areas where challenges persist. Internet use is widespread, with nearly nine in ten people online. In a milestone achievement, the Americas is the only region to have fully b ... more

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State of digital development and trends in the Africa region: Challenges and opportunities

Geneva: ITU (2025), iv, 49 pp.

"This publication reveals that the gap between ambition and reality remains wide. Mobile broadband coverage has expanded rapidly, offering most of the population the possibility of going online. And yet, only 38 per cent of the population currently uses the Internet—the lowest rate among all ITU r ... more

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Digital Sovereignty in the BRICS Countries: How the Global South and Emerging Power Alliances Are Reshaping Digital Governance

Min Jiang, Luca Belli (eds.)

Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press (2025), xxix, 282 pp.

In a world where digital development and policymaking are dominated by Silicon Valley tech giants, the BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa - play an increasingly important role. With forty percent of the world's population and twenty-five percent of global GDP, these nat ... more

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AI as a Public Good: Ensuring Democratic Control of AI in the Information Space. Policy Framework

Forum on Information & Democracy (2024), 140 pp.

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Collaborative digital regulation country review: South Africa’s digital transformation and collaborative regulation

Janet Hernandez, Jeff Bernstein

Geneva: ITU (2024), vii, 43 pp.

"As South Africa adopts reforms to further strengthen its economy across multiple sectors, this country review presents the policy, legislative, and governance frameworks that are enabling South Africa’s digital transformation. It includes a review of key institutions and collaborative digital reg ... more

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Consultation Paper on AI Regulation: Emerging Approaches Across the World

Juan David Gutiérrez

Paris: UNESCO (2024), 49 pp.

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The Nexus of Digital Authoritarianism and Religious Populism

Ihsam Yilmaz

Religions, volume 14, issue 747 (2024), 19 pp.

"This paper delves into the intricate relationship between religious populism and the legitimization of digital authoritarianism in Turkey. Specifically, it investigates how the ruling party, AKP, has strategically linked Islamist values to state policies as a means of justifying its repressive cont ... more

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Online Content Regulation in the Asia-Pacific: Limiting Civil Society’s Capacity to Hold Governments Accountable

Bangkog: Asia Centre (2024), v, 37 pp.

"Governments have updated penal codes and national security laws, enacted fake news and cybersecurity laws as well as laws that govern internet service providers and technology companies. These laws have widely been used to block and remove online content that call out blind spots in government poli ... cies and to intimidate and prosecute these content creators through hefty fines and jail time. Efforts to hold political office holders and government officials accountable for their policies are increasingly penalised. These government actions have significantly impacted civil society actors in numerous ways. First, individuals and organisations utilising the online sphere to hold government officials and policies accountable have come under intense scrutiny, resulting in the criminalisation of critics and the blocking and removal of online content deemed sensitive by state authorities. Second, the effectiveness of civil society in holding governments accountable is compromised, as state authorities routinely direct internet service providers and technology companies to block or remove online content considered sensitive or illegal. Consequently, individuals and organisations increasingly find their digital content at risk of being blocked or removed, succumbing to government directives to internet service providers and technology companies. This diminishes civil society’s calls for accountability. Third, on several instances, governments have imposed internet shutdowns - particularly during elections and politically sensitive periods - to disrupt the information flow. Ultimately, this has limited civil society’s ability to send and receive communications effectively to mobilise people to hold governments publicly accountable during politically important instances. Fourth, troll ng has surfaced as a mainstream strategy to harass and intimidate individuals and organisations who seek to hold governments accountable. Typically orchestrated by organised groups or cybertroopers, these digital attacks increasingly involve online hate speech directed at women who call out blindspots in government policies. Fifth, the ways of working of INGOs and CSOs have changed, leading many organisations to restrict the scope and assertiveness of their communications to shield themselves from government retribution and trolling. Some entities have opted to remove the visibility of their organisations, incorporating measures such as disallowing the use of their logos or the publishing of videos, photos and text by local partners in order to distance themselves from particular activities and contents of knowledge products. Given these developments, the principal recommendation is that key stakeholders, including international organisations, governments, ISPs and technology companies, and civil society actors, should recognise that criticism of government policies and officials is a legitimate activity and a vital form of expression for civil society. Hence, any measures, whether legal or non-legal, that interfere with or criminalise this legitimate activity should be rescinded or disallowed. Instead, measures should be put in place to ensure that civil society is empowered to call out the blind spots in government policies." (Executive summary) more

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A Latin American Perspective on Global Governance for Digital Platform Accountability

CEBRI; Fundacão Alexandre de Gusmão; Instituto de Pesquisa Económico Aplicada (IPEA) (2024), 14 pp.

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Digital Skills Toolkit

Chris Coward, Charles Bugre

Geneva: ITU (2024), vi, 49 pp.

"The Digital Skills Toolkit is a guide for governments to develop national digital skills strategies. The aim is to provide governments with step-by-step guidelines and multiple examples that cover a wide range of contexts to draw upon from around the world. The toolkit is for all countries - those ... more

Big Tech Must Go! Digital Giants are Destroying our Democracies and Economies. We will stop them Deep Insights

Inclusive and Secure Artificial Intelligence: A Global Perspective on Policy and Technical Developments Deep Insights

Big Tech Must Go! Digital Giants are Destroying our Democracies and Economies. We will stop them
Deep Insights

Inclusive and Secure Artificial Intelligence: A Global Perspective on Policy and Technical Developments
Deep Insights