Seyed Emamian, co-founder and senior advisor of the Governance and Policy Think Tank (GPTT), recently appeared on Azad TV to discuss the pressing issue of digital governance in the country. During the program, he outlined six fundamental challenges facing this domain:
1. Criminalization of cyberspace and the restriction of existing tools.
2. Non-participatory decision-making processes that lack public dialogue prior to decisions being made.
3. The politicization of what should be a technical matter, particularly during electoral discussions and in sensationalist media.
4. An overemphasis on technical aspects that limits available options.
5. Institutional conflicts and interference, resulting from multiple responsible entities and a tendency to evade accountability.
6. Renting out domestic platforms; which exploits infrastructure and financial resources while stifling competition due to restrictions on foreign platforms.
To address these challenges, Emamian proposed several solutions for improving digital governance:
1. Implementing policies that promote the growth of domestic platforms to compete effectively in the international market.
2. Engaging in negotiations with global platforms and leveraging regional and international alliances to enhance influence.
3. Carefully adapting and redefining digital policies within a framework of values, norms, and legal standards.