Lead author of the IDN World Report, Emily Taylor, CENTR General Manager, Peter Van Roste, and Facebook Internationalisation Director, Iris Orriss, will speak about linguistic diversity online in addition to the 2017 IDN World Report after a welcome note from MEP and EIF Member, Viviane Reding, at the 2018 EIF Breakfast Debate.

The following topics will be covered:

  • The importance of linguistic diversity in the cyberspace;
  • The need for more structured and coordinated work to ensure the universal acceptance of IDNs;
  • The great role played by IDNs to enhance linguistic diversity in cyberspace, especially in emerging economies.

Since 2011, EURid, in partnership with UNESCO and Verisign and with the support of ccTLD regional organisations has been exploring the status of multilingual content online, with English being the language of more than half of web content.

The IDN World Report has noted the gap between the drive for increased linguistic diversity in popular web applications, and the continuing challenge of universal acceptance of internationalised domain names. Facebook supports more than 70 languages, Google Translate more than 100 languages, Twitter supports 34 languages. The world’s most popular apps are also increasing the number of supported languages: Whatsapp is available in more than 20 languages, Instagram in 33 languages.

The increased adoption of IDNs allows for:

  • Citizens to use their own identity online
  • Relation to language, culture and content
  • Promotion of local and regional content
  • Businesses and politicians to better target their messages

Viviane Reding comments that "The respect for linguistic diversity is enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the link between cultural and linguistic diversity is inextricable – both online and offline. Sound policy to promote Europe's unrivalled cultural diversity in the digital era, must go hand in hand with a robust language policy to ensure accessibility through online multilingualism. Europe's national, regional or minority languages are part of its DNA, the digital world must mirror that rich analogue reality."

About the EIF event: https://www.eifonline.org