critical infrastructure lab

In today’s digital world, young people are constantly engaging online — sharing content, ideas, and personal data — often without full awareness of where that data ends up, who profits from it, or how it shapes their digital identity and autonomy. But as surveillance intensifies and powerful tech corporations consolidate control over the internet’s core infrastructure, youth are increasingly disempowered in determining the terms of their own participation.

In response, governments across the Asia-Pacific have begun to tighten digital regulation — often in the name of national sovereignty. While these moves are framed as necessary safeguards, they raise urgent questions about personal freedom, access to information, and digital self-determination. For example, Nepal’s proposed social media law requires local registration or face platform blockage, chilling youth participation. Similar policies in Australia, Canada, and the UK mirror a growing global trend: the centralization of power at the expense of individual agency.

Meanwhile, tech giants from the U.S. and China continue to dominate the digital space — shaping content, collecting data, and deploying opaque algorithms that influence what youth see, think, and share. The lack of transparency and accountability in these systems makes it harder for young people to exercise informed consent, resist manipulation, or build alternatives.

This panel brings together youth leaders and regional stakeholders to explore these intersecting threats to digital autonomy. How do we balance regulation with rights? How can we push back against corporate consolidation? And what would it look like for digital policy frameworks to truly reflect youth voices, values, and leadership?

Date: Saturday, October 11, 2025
Time: 11:25-12:25 UTC
Format:
  – Introduction (5 mins)
  – Panel discussion (40 mins)
  – Q&A and Roundtable discussion (10 mins)
  – Closing remarks (5 mins)

Moderator
Nawal Munir, Strategic Content & Research Manager, NetMission.Asia

Speakers 
Archit Lohani, AI Safety, Online Harms & Platform Governance Researcher
Dmitry Kuznetsov, Researcher at Critical Infrastructure Lab & NetMission Advisory Board member
Dr. Nur Adlin Hanisah Shahul Ikram, PhD in Data Privacy

Policy Questions
  1. How can APAC governments protect children online while safeguarding their fundamental rights to digital participation and access to information?
  2. As data localization and sovereignty efforts rise, how can APAC countries promote cross-border digital collaboration that supports youth education, creativity, and innovation without undermining national interests?
  3. How should APAC nations coordinate their regulation of Big Tech to consistently protect youth data and rights, while overcoming the challenges of fragmented digital governance across the region?

https://yigf.asia/yigf-2025-themes-and-topics.html#content15-9c

Dmitry helped the Asia Pacific Regional Youth Internet Governance Forum during the capacity building Day 0 programme. The panel discussion focused on national/regional digital governance issues and the role of youth as a stakeholder group.