The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was launched as a direct result of the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which began under the auspices of the United Nations in Geneva in 2003 and continued in Tunis in 2005.

The IGF has been a global event convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations since 2006. It is organized as a platform for multi-stakeholder discussions on Internet governance issues in an open and inclusive manner.

It welcomes representatives from civil society, government, the private sector, the technical community, academia, and the media.