Multilingualism

ITU Receives New IPv6 and Internet Governance Proposals Ahead of November Conference

New proposals submitted to the ITU address IPv6 deployment, internationalized domain names and Internet governance, with competing regional amendments awaiting consideration at the November Plenipotentiary Conference in Doha.

Low IDN Applications Raise Concerns for ICANN’s 2026 New gTLD Round

Only 21 internationalized domain name applications were submitted in ICANN's 2026 new gTLD round, raising government concerns about linguistic diversity and the accessibility of the domain expansion program.

ICANN Board Approves IDN Country-Code Domain Policy, Rejects Risk-Appraisal Provisions

ICANN has approved most of its new internationalized country-code domain policy, rejecting provisions for additional risk assessments of confusingly similar strings. Implementation and bylaw amendments remain pending.

ICANN Expands Second-Level IDN Rules With Javanese and Canadian Aboriginal Scripts

ICANN added second-level internationalized domain name rules for Javanese and Unified Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics and updated seven existing rules, expanding reference material registries can use to define valid labels and variants.

Thousands of Languages Remain Underrepresented Online, CODI Finds

CODI's inaugural digital access report finds that Internet connectivity often fails to deliver meaningful participation when users lack local-language content, input tools, search capabilities and services across the digital ecosystem.

ICANN Reports Persistent Acceptance Gaps for Internationalized Domains

ICANN reports 151 internationalized top-level domains and 4.3 million second-level registrations, but persistent Universal Acceptance gaps still prevent some applications, websites and email systems from reliably handling internationalized names.

ICANN Sets Guidelines to Advance Universal Acceptance of Internationalized Domains and Email

ICANN's new Universal Acceptance guidelines target persistent interoperability gaps that prevent internationalized domain names and email addresses from working reliably across browsers, identity systems, applications and other Internet infrastructure.

After the Close: What the 2026 gTLD Round Has Already Revealed

ICANN's 2026 gTLD round drew more than 1,600 applications, led by ambitious portfolio investors. But scant brand disclosures and new rules banning private settlements could make contention costlier and reshape the economics of domain ownership.

ICANN’s New gTLD Application Window Set to Close, Capping a Landmark Expansion Round

ICANN's second major domain expansion round closes August 12, with costly applications, support for 27 non-Latin scripts and stricter technical vetting setting the stage for a broader, more multilingual internet naming system.

ICANN Opens New gTLD Applications for First Time Since 2012, With $227K Entry Fee and 27 Scripts

ICANN reopens applications for new top-level domains after 14 years, charging $227,000 per bid while tightening rules, as it seeks to expand multilingual access and reshape competition in the internet's naming system.

Government of India, MeitY Organizes 2-Day Event to Promote Universal Acceptance and Multilingual Internet

The Government of India and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) organized a two-day event on Universal Acceptance Day (UAD) on the 27th and 28th of March to promote multilingual Internet and digital inclusion in India. The event highlighted the necessity of providing emails and websites in native languages to enable access to the Internet and bridge the digital divide across the nation.

Country and Regional TLDs Are Vital in Supporting Online Linguistic Diversity, Study Finds

A study conducted by the Oxford Information Labs in collaboration with Council of European National Top-Level Domain Registries (CENTR), finds that the role of country and regional TLDs is imperative in supporting diversity in global online linguistic.

Domain Names in 9 Indian Scripts to Be Added to the Root Servers by June

Internet root servers will soon allow domain name registrations in nine Indian scripts, according to Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG).

Internet Penetration in the Middle East has Tripled in the Past 8 Years, New Arabic Domains Credited

Internet penetration in the Middle East tripled in the past eight years, from 20 per cent in 2009 to 60 per cent this year as a result of the introduction of Arabic domain names.

First World Domain Day Conference Concludes in India

World Domain Day (WDD) was held in India for the first time last month where hundreds gathered to discuss domain names and related markets. Key topics included the announcement of soon to be available domains in a number of Indian languages.