Digital sovereignty is now at the top of the list for many liberal democratic states, a spot once occupied by policies of openness and global connectivity. This shift comes from a desire to decouple from the United States, but comes with challenges from the overly broad definition of digital sovereignty, which includes economic development, national security and normative goals.
Gabrielle Lim states that the first set of challenges for states seeking to protect their own networks and data will involve economic growth. States will still want access to other states’ markets and data to boost their own domestic firms, and locking down digital sovereignty could impact that goal. A second set of challenges relates to global governance: the internet follows a global multi-stakeholder approach; how can that openness be reconciled with digital sovereignty’s preference for centralization and state control? Lastly, Lim identifies a normative set of challenges that will emerge as states attempt to reconcile potentially conflicting values and identities.
