How the .ORG sale activated the multistakeholder network: a meta-participation case study.

Multistakeholderism was hailed as the future of collaborative democracy and has empowered stakeholders to represent themselves and build collective solutions to contemporary problems. However, multistakeholderism within the sphere of Internet Governance continued to develop and has become a value or norm that transcends formalised institutions/structures. It claims to bring actors from the private sector, the public sector and also civil society together, to organise around particular issues. As a global common norm, it has also expanded into participation structures; stakeholders have acted to ensure that their interests are represented through alternative/unconventional participatory methods. This paper seeks to map meta-participation of the .ORG sale. It explores the dynamics among actors who reacted, to this event through contestation, resistance and self-organisation between November 2019 and June 2020. It does so by elaborating on three components: the procedures of participation, the participating stakeholders and the topics/framing of the discussions. A fourth component will be added which focuses on the modalities in which these stakeholders engage. By understanding how the .ORG case study activated the multistakeholder network, we understand better how social actors are engaging in Internet Governance from a grassroot level. This offers an insight into the legitimacy of the regulatory framework, and the influence of the stakeholders in domains that are considered public interest.This insight prepares for a strategic and tactical understanding of how the uncritical acceptance of multistakeholderism is emerging as a far more critical lived experience.