UN IGF 19th Edition: AI From The Global Majority
Following our contribution to the UN IGF (19th Annual Meeting), we authored a chapter for the official outcome book, AI from the Global Majority, edited by Luca Belli and Walter Britto Gaspar, and produced by FGV Direito Rio. The chapter contributes to the volume's central theme of equitable AI governance of public systems and critical infrastructure.
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UN IGF 19th Edition
The United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) held its 19th Annual Meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in December 2024. Convened under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General, the IGF serves as the primary multistakeholder platform for international dialogue on Internet governance and emerging digital policy. The 2024 edition continued to advance discussions at the intersection of data governance, artificial intelligence regulation, and digital rights, with a particular emphasis on inclusive participation and the perspectives of underrepresented regions in global technology policy.
AI from the Global Majority
AI from the Global Majority is the official outcome of the UN IGF Data and Artificial Intelligence Governance (DAIG) Coalition for 2024, building on the Coalition's first Annual Report released at IGF 2023, which examined "The Quest for AI Sovereignty, Transparency, and Accountability." This volume broadens that inquiry by centering the voices, experiences, and policy frameworks of populations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, regions that, despite representing the majority of the world's population, remain systematically underrepresented in global AI governance discussions.
The volume brings together 25 contributions from researchers, legal experts, and policymakers across 16 countries, examining how AI systems interact with human rights, democratic governance, labor conditions, cybersecurity, and digital sovereignty. A central analytical thread running through the book is the risk of AI perpetuating structural inequalities, through algorithmic bias, discriminatory decision-making, and data governance frameworks that reflect the priorities of a small number of high-income states. The book interrogates how AI supply chains and infrastructure entrench existing global power asymmetries, and how dominant regulatory paradigms, particularly those emerging from the Global North, may inadequately address the social, economic, and political realities of the Global Majority.
Organized across three thematic parts, local approaches to global problems, the emergence of regional solutions, and the Global Majority facing AI, the volume advances concrete frameworks for more transparent, accountable, and participatory AI governance. Contributors propose decolonial and justice-oriented approaches to algorithmic impact assessment, examine emerging supervisory architectures in Latin America and Africa, and analyze international instruments including the EU AI Act and the Council of Europe Framework Convention through the lens of equity and inclusion. The book represents a critical intervention in AI policy discourse, establishing a foundation for governance models that prioritize the participation of historically excluded communities.
References
¹ Belli, L. and Gaspar, W.B. (eds.) (2024). AI from the Global Majority: Official Outcome of the UN IGF Data and Artificial Intelligence Governance Coalition. FGV Direito Rio.
² Belli, L. and Gaspar, W.B. (eds.) (2023). The Quest for AI Sovereignty, Transparency, and Accountability: Official Outcome of the UN IGF Data and Artificial Intelligence Governance Coalition. FGV Direito Rio. https://hdl.handle.net/10438/34295
³ United Nations Internet Governance Forum (2024). 19th Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum. December 2024.