In the 1970ies and 1980ies, the Internet evolved as a network of networks that was largely self-regulated by technical protocols, standards and code (Code and other Laws of Cyberspace, Lawrence Lessig, 1998). And even though the Internet does not operate in a legal vacuum, until recently, it has remained practically unaffected by specific state regulation.

The term "Internet Governance" emerged in the 1990ies. It was created by the "Harvard Information Infrastructure Project" (HIIP) and meant to communicate the fact that the Internet was shaped primarily by protagonists from the private sector, academia, civil society and the technical community (self-regulation) and did not require any state regulation (governance without government).

At the World Summit on the Information Society (2002 – 2005) sponsored by the United Nations (WSIS), Internet governance became the issue of a controversial political debate. In particular, the representatives of the US governmeThe term "Internet Governance" emerged in the 1990ies. It was created by the "Harvard Information Infrastructure Project" (HIIP) and meant to communicate the fact that the Internet was shaped primarily by protagonists from the private sector, academia, civil society and the technical community (self-regulation) and did not require any state regulation (governance without government). At the World Summit on the Information Society (2002 – 2005) sponsored by the United Nations (WSIS), Internet governance became the issue of a controversial political debate. In particular, the representatives of the US government and of the Chinese government held diverging opinions on who should have the major say in shaping the Internet: the private sector (private leadership) or the governments (governmental control). There also were various perceptions of the concept of "Internet Governance". For one group it referred primarily to the technical management of the critical Internet resources, such as domain names, IP addresses and Internet protocols (issues in the reign of ICANN). Others had a broader understanding of the concept and considered all political, economic, cultural and societal problems associated with the use of the Internet to be included.

In 2005, the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) established in the wake of WSIS 2003 by the then incumbent Secretary-General of the UN rejected the concept of an Internet governed unilaterally by the private sector or by governments and introduced the multi-stakeholder principle as the fundamental basis of Internet Governance.

The definition proposed by the WGIG assumes that all stakeholders (governments, private sector, civil society and the technical community and academia) in their respective roles and responsibilities should be involved on equal terms (shared principles, norms and rules) in the development, application and decision-making procedures of Internet policy.

The WGIG decided in favour of a broad definition of Internet Governance, which includes both the management and the evolution of the technical resources of the Internet (Governance OF the Internet) and the political issues associated with the use of the Internet (Governance ON the Internet).

The definition of the WGIG was taken over word-for-word into Section 34 of the Tunis Agenda and confirmed by the heads of state and government of the 193 UN member states. Ten years later, in December 2015 at the WSIS+10 Review conference held within the framework of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, the governments of the UN member states reaffirmed their commitment to this WGIG definition.

The general principles defined for Internet Governance were fine-tuned at the global NETmundial conference in April 2014. The resulting São Paulo Statement on basic Internet Governance principles defines eight principles as the general political basis for Internet Governance. The Statement was developed and jointly approved in a bottom-up process by more than 100 governments, the large international Internet companies of the private sector, a broad part of civil society and the complete community of I*-technology.