- Internet Accountability Compass launched at Brussels forum following concerns about digital fragmentation and authoritarian control
- Tool provides benchmarks to assess whether states are delivering on digital freedom declarations amid rising surveillance and censorship
What happened
The EU launched the Internet Accountability Compass at a forum in Brussels that gathered policymakers, civil society representatives, researchers and private-sector actors to address upholding principles of an open and rights-based internet amid growing digital fragmentation and authoritarian control. The two-day event included expert discussions on disinformation, artificial intelligence accountability and internet freedom ecosystems, followed by broader panels examining how to balance accountability, security and rights in the digital sphere.
Developed through the EU-funded Global Initiative on the Future of the Internet and implemented by the Robert Schuman Centre at the European University Institute, the Compass offers a practical tool to assess how countries are delivering on their digital commitments, helping strengthen transparency and trust. The tool responds to a fundamental gap in international digital governance.
Whilst states and non-state actors have endorsed principles of an open and secure internet through declarations such as the Declaration for the Future of the Internet, without clear accountability mechanisms these commitments often remain unfulfilled. The Compass aims to close this gap by tracking progress and providing benchmarks for international dialogue.
Why it’s important
The launch comes at a moment when the foundational principles of internet governance are under unprecedented strain. Forum discussions highlighted recurring issues including state and non-state actors increasingly using disinformation and censorship to restrict civic space and influence elections, automated surveillance and biometric technologies that undermine trust and human rights, and the threat of diverging technical standards and regulations creating a “splinternet”.
These challenges represent more than abstract policy concerns. They reflect a fundamental contest over the future architecture of the internet itself. Will it remain a globally interoperable network governed by multi-stakeholder processes, or fragment into regional or national networks subject to varying degrees of authoritarian control? The answer has profound implications for everything from international commerce to freedom of expression.
The Compass provides a mechanism to move beyond aspirational declarations toward measurable accountability, offering evidence-based tools for policymaking and sustained multi-stakeholder cooperation. For the EU, this initiative reinforces its positioning as a norm-setter in digital governance, extending beyond its regulatory reach through instruments like the Digital Services Act to shape global conversations about internet freedoms.
Participants stressed the importance of embedding human rights in digital governance frameworks and continuing international dialogue to prevent fragmentation and keep the internet global and interoperable. Whether the Compass gains traction beyond EU-aligned countries will test whether voluntary accountability mechanisms can genuinely influence state behaviour in an increasingly multipolar digital landscape.
