In a publication from the Austrian Armed Forces, PD Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann (page 96) writes about the connection between digitalisation, cybersecurity, and democratisation. In it, he argues that free internet communication is as valuable as a prerequisite as it is decisive for an open debate that is vital for a functioning democracy. Along with the state, the internet is also dependent on preconditions that it cannot create itself: we need the law, especially international law, to secure and stabilise the basic technical prerequisites of the internet and – regarding online content – to realise the potential of the internet for the people.

4.4 billion people have internet access. But that also means that 3.3 billion do not yet. Marginalisation is not only overcome by the internet marginalisation is not only overcome by the internet, but in part also perpetuated. The UN in particular recognised early on that the internet must serve human development. Within the framework of the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) (2003, 2005), the states of the world committed themselves to a “people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society.” This is based on the goals and principles of the of the UN Charter, international law, and multilateralism, as well as the “full respect and observance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”