Mohammad Kawsar Uddin
Amrita Choudhury is a renowned Internet governance expert, digital inclusion advocate and recipient of the 2026 Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Community Excellence Award.
With over two decades of experience, Amrita has played a leading role in advancing digital policy, Internet governance and inclusive Internet access across South Asia. She currently serves as Chair of the Asian, Australasian and Pacific Islands Regional At-Large Organization (APRALO), Chair of the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APrIGF), Co-founder of the India School of Internet Governance (inSIG), Director of the Cyber Cafe Association of India (CCAOI).
In this interview with Senior Journalist Mohammad Kawsar Uddin, she shares her perspectives on strengthening Bangladesh’s role in Internet governance, empowering women and youth in digital policy, promoting vernacular Internet adoption, enhancing regional collaboration and building a more inclusive digital future for South Asia.
Question: As APRALO Chair, what concrete steps can Bangladeshi civil society and tech communities take to move from being passive observers to active policy shapers within ICANN?
Answer: I believe Bangladeshi civil society groups and tech communities need to move beyond simply attending meetings and start engaging meaningfully in global internet governance discussions. The first step is to participate actively in platforms like ICANN by joining mailing lists, following policy debates and understanding the issues that shape the future of the internet.
Meaningful engagement does not come from just showing up at meetings. It requires investing time to understand topics such as domain name policy, digital inclusion, cyber security and internet accessibility. Once individuals and organizations develop that understanding, they can contribute to policy development processes with informed opinions and local perspectives.
I would especially encourage students, young professionals, civil society representatives, and members of the tech community in Bangladesh to take part in ICANN’s multistakeholder model. Their voices and experiences can help ensure that policies reflect the realities and priorities of developing countries like Bangladesh.
Question: You co-founded the India School of Internet Governance (inSIG). How can inSIG and the Bangladesh School of Internet Governance (bdSIG) better collaborate to build a unified South Asian voice?
Answer: Both the India School on Internet Governance (inSIG) and the Bangladesh School of Internet Governance (bdSIG) share the same objective- building the capacity of communities to better understand internet governance and participate in global policy discussions. Over the years, these schools have created strong regional networks where fellows continue to exchange ideas, opportunities, and support long after the programmes end.
A key strength of inSIG has been the participation of non-Indian fellows, including several from Bangladesh each year. These exchanges allow participants to share local challenges, learn from regional experiences and identify common priorities in areas such as digital inclusion, tech policy and internet governance.
While creating a completely unified South Asian voice may be challenging in today’s geopolitical context, collaboration on shared issues is both practical and necessary. Greater cooperation between inSIG and bdSIG can help build informed regional leadership and strengthen South Asia’s participation in global forums like ICANN and the Internet Governance Forum.
Question: What specific strategies can be used in Bangladesh to help women transition from everyday internet users into digital policy leaders?
Answer: Increasing women’s participation in technology policy has always been a priority within internet governance communities. In Bangladesh, the first step is encouraging more women to actively participate in forums such as the Bangladesh IGF, APRIGF and other regional and global platforms.
However, participation alone is not enough. Women need to understand the issues, engage in discussions confidently and share their perspectives on challenges they directly experience online. Issues such as misinformation, online harassment and trolling disproportionately affect women and their voices are essential in shaping better digital policies and safer online spaces.
Capacity-building programmes, mentorship opportunities and regional networking can play an important role in helping women transition from internet users to policy contributors. When women actively speak up, share experiences and contribute solutions, they not only strengthen their own leadership but also help create a more inclusive and representative digital policy ecosystem in Bangladesh.
Question: You champion vernacular internet adoption. How can the APAC community support Bangladesh in overcoming the shortage of localized technical content and native-language domain names?
Answer: The challenge of limited localized technical content and native language domain names is not unique to Bangladesh, but is common across many regions where English dominates the digital ecosystem.
A key solution lies in expanding translated and locally relevant technical content. With the support of emerging AI tools, this process can become faster and more scalable, although human oversight remains essential to ensure accuracy and cultural relevance.
For native language domain names, a major barrier is Universal Acceptance- ensuring that browsers, search engines and applications properly recognize and support internationalized domain names, including Bangla. Global technical coordination in this area is still evolving.
Alongside technical progress, awareness and local promotion are crucial. Governments, regulators and industry should demonstrate practical use cases for native language domains alongside traditional web addresses.
Ongoing work within ICANN on Universal Acceptance and internationalized domain names will be key to improving support for Bangla and other languages, making the internet more inclusive and accessible.
Question: Your work with India’s cybercafés and Common Service Centers is extensive. What key structural lessons can Bangladesh apply to its own rural digital centers to keep them safe and sustainable?
Answer: When cybercafés and Common Service Centers were first introduced by us nearly 17 years ago, the primary focus was on expanding digital access. Today, although India and Bangladesh have largely become mobile-first societies, the demand for assisted digital services remains significant.
Many essential services such as booking transport tickets, accessing government platforms, or completing citizen transactions are not always easy to navigate on mobile devices alone. In this context, cybercafés, kiosks and rural service centers continue to play a vital role by providing assisted access.
A key lesson for Bangladesh is the need to strengthen these centers as trusted and secure digital access points. With rising cybercrime, safeguarding user data and transactions is essential, requiring continuous capacity building and improved cyber security practices for operators. Rather than creating new centers, the focus should be on empowering existing ones and expanding services in health, finance and public services. These centers can also serve as hubs for digital literacy, online safety and misinformation awareness.
Question: Bangladesh has pioneered youth-centric initiatives like the Kids Internet Governance Forum (BKIGF). Based on your mentoring experience, how can global bodies like ICANN better support these young South Asian voices?
Answer: It is commendable that Bangladesh has taken the initiative to establish a Kids Internet Governance Forum, as very few countries have done so. Afghanistan had also launched a similar effort earlier, although it could not be sustained for long.
At the same time, it is important to recognise ICANN’s limited mandate, which focuses mainly on names and numbers. Also ICANN generally does not directly engage with participants under 18, due to legal and ethical considerations such as parental consent and strict data protection requirements. Most of its youth engagement programmes, including NextGen, begin at the age of 18, when individuals can participate independently.
However, broader internet governance spaces, such as the Internet Governance Forum, provide more direct avenues for engaging younger voices, including initiatives like the Dynamic Coalition on Children’s Rights in the Digital Environment.
While ICANN’s direct role is limited, the wider ecosystem does offer opportunities for youth engagement, provided that strong safeguards, consent mechanisms and responsible data practices are ensured.
Question: Through your monthly newsletter, you track South Asian digital trends. Do you see an opportunity for a shared, cross-border digital literacy framework between India and Bangladesh to fight regional misinformation?
Answer: Misinformation is not unique to Bangladesh or India; it is a global challenge that has become even more complex with the rise of AI-generated content and deepfakes. It often intensifies during politically sensitive periods such as elections and now spreads rapidly across languages and digital platforms.
Governments, technology platforms and civil society actors are all working to respond, including through regulatory discussions on issues like takedown timelines for harmful or manipulated content. However, this remains a delicate balance, as swift action is often necessary while also safeguarding freedom of expression.
Given this complexity, there is clear value in regional learning across South Asia. A shared approach focused on exchanging best practices, policy frameworks and response mechanisms could strengthen resilience. Collaboration between news organisations, fact-checking networks and misinformation coalitions can further enhance coordinated responses.
Ultimately, there is no single solution. Tackling misinformation requires sustained cooperation among stakeholders and long-term investment in media literacy and public awareness.
Question: Having reviewed the global WSIS+20 outcomes, what is the most critical step Bangladesh must take as it pursues ‘Smart Nation’ status to ensure marginalized communities aren’t left behind?
Answer: As Bangladesh advances toward its “Smart Nation” vision, a key priority is ensuring inclusive and meaningful participation in global internet governance and digital development processes. While governments will naturally lead WSIS+20-related discussions, the greater challenge is to ensure that the multi-stakeholder model is applied in practice, not just acknowledged in principle. Civil society, the technical community, academia and the private sector must all be actively engaged in shaping and monitoring these outcomes.
A major concern remains implementation. Although countries agreed on the WSIS+20 framework in December 2025, many operational details, especially how global, regional and national linkages will function are still being developed. Without clearer mechanisms, meaningful participation risks being limited.
For Bangladesh, the priority is to remain actively engaged in these evolving processes while strengthening national platforms that enable diverse stakeholders to contribute to policy discussions. Sustained, inclusive engagement is essential to ensure that Smart Nation benefits reach all communities and leave no one behind.
Question: Considering that journalists in South Asia remain among the most underrepresented stakeholders in internet governance, what concrete mechanisms can be established to enhance their meaningful participation in regional internet governance processes?
Answer: Journalists in South Asia often remain on the margins of internet governance discussions, despite the fact that many of the issues being debated directly affect their work and professional future. However, there are several practical entry points for greater engagement.
One of the most immediate opportunities is participation in regional platforms such as the Asia-Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum, including the upcoming 2026 meeting in Kathmandu, where calls for workshop proposals are currently open. Journalists and media organisations can contribute by proposing sessions that reflect their concerns and lived experiences. The Internet Governance Forum also offers limited media fellowships, enabling journalists to observe and engage more closely in these discussions, which can help build sustained involvement.
More importantly, journalists should move beyond reporting on internet governance to actively participating in it, particularly on issues such as AI, copyright, misinformation, freedom of expression, and content regulation.
