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But writing for Brookings, a prominent US think tank, former US Federal Communications Commission chief Tom Wheeler sounded the alarm last month.
“Russia and China are seeking to move internet governance to the ITU where bottom-up design of internet standards could be replaced with top-down decisions based on the politics of nation-states,” wrote Wheeler, an Obama administration appointee.
The vote in Bucharest is not an outright endorsement of either of these futures — internet standards evolve gradually and previous proposals by China have been knocked back — but it will show which bloc has the numbers in the international arena. And depending on the outcome, it could accelerate the splintering of the internet as countries choose to diverge from international standards.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin from the United States is a senior ITU mandarin who has served decades with the organisation.Credit:ITU/Rowan Farrell
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, from the United States and a longtime senior ITU mandarin, is one candidate for secretary-general. Rashid Ismailov, from Russia, is the other. He is a former vice-minister of the country’s telecom and mass communications department and executive at a series of industry giants, including Nokia and Huawei.
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Australia is not running a candidate for the top job, but it is a player at the ITU because it has been on its council for 60 years and is standing for re-election.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland’s office referred to her previous speeches supporting Australia’s candidacy, citing the period of observance for the Queen’s death. In a statement delivered in Canberra last month, Rowland pointed out Australia had been involved in the ITU, then known as the International Telegram Union, since 1878, when Melbourne’s first commercial telephone line was set up.
“As a council member, Australia actively helps the ITU to strengthen its governance arrangements, improve opportunities for women and enhance the accountability and transparency of its work,” Rowland said.
Rashid Ismailov has campaigned on restoring the ITU to its core apolitical mission but hit out at criticism of Russia.Credit:
In a video published by the Russian Mission to the United Nations, Ismailov acknowledged that the ITU had been politicised first by questions of access to space for communications satellites and then by the internet. But he portrayed his candidacy as an antidote to that and hit back at attempts to exclude Russia from the organisation because of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
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“If I am elected I will strive to avoid this politicisation,” Ismailov said in the translated interview. “I want to make sure the organisation focuses more on its actual objectives: frequencies, standardisation, etcetera. Of course, this won’t be totally possible because technology is now an integral part of our everyday life, including geopolitics.”
He called attempts to pass motions punishing Russia for the invasion a “blatant violation” of ITU rules prohibiting discrimination based on nationality.
Bogdan-Martin’s candidacy, meanwhile, is focussed on her decades of work in the ITU and ensuring digital connectivity for all. The victor will be determined by secret ballot.
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