La terza conferenza mondiale su internet di Wuzhen: la cyber-sovranità e la governance multilaterale della rete

The third World Internet Conference (WIC), hosted by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and the Zhejiang provincial people’s government, was held in November 2016 in the river town of Wuzhen. Under a theme of “Innovation-driven Internet development for the benefit of all – building a community of common future in cyberspace”, the conference was aimed at promoting the Chinese Communist Party’s vision of a multilateral approach to Internet governance to an international audience, while at the same time highlighting the importance of the key concept of ‘Internet sovereignty’ (wangluo zhuquan). This article describes the evolution of the WIC from its inauguration in 2014 to the present day, analyzing in depth the idea of cyber-sovereignty advocated by the Chinese leadership, and showing the consequences that the multilateral model entails for the regulation of online content in China.