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Technical Report
Open for Debate: Governance, Power, and the Limits of Internet Openness
Open for Debate: Governance, Power, and the Limits of Internet Openness is an edited collection that examines how the concept and practice of an “open internet” have evolved under changing technological, economic, and geopolitical...
Latin America and the Caribbean present a paradox in digital governance. The region has some of the world’s most progressive constitutional and legal frameworks for digital rights, yet structural inequalities, fragile institutions, and accelerating technological change routinely outpace governance. Grounded in the Internet Accountability Compass, this report assesses the state of play across four dimensions: connectivity and infrastructure, rights and freedoms, responsibility and sustainability, and trust and resilience. It finds that while connectivity has expanded substantially and civil society remains active and influential, access remains unequal, surveillance powers are expanding without commensurate oversight, AI governance and sustainability frameworks remain underdeveloped, and cybersecurity maturity is uneven. Across all four dimensions, accountability failures are generally institutional rather than technical. Closing the gap between commitment and practice will require investment not only in infrastructure and technology, but also in independent institutions, data systems, regulatory capacity, monitoring infrastructure, and inclusive multistakeholder processes that make commitments observable, enforceable, and meaningful to citizens.