In all seriousness, can you explain the logic behind this “anything said is official” thinking? There are big changes afoot, particularly surrounding the Internet, and this is widely understood and agreed by governments. So maybe there should be an actual effort by governments to allow officials to make personal commentary. It is already happening anyway.

For example, at the public forum in ICANN this morning, two members of the GAC got up, identified themselves as GAC members and then noted they were talking in a personal capacity.

My real and honest wish is that I can help develop a way in which government officials feel comfortable interacting online. It would most likely need its own set of rules for starters, but what is the start point?

Are governments not persuaded that online interaction would help? If so, would reports pointing out the advantages help? Or are they persuaded but unsure how to interact? If so, shouldn’t there be a meeting tabled for conversations over how this can start?

What’s the best start point? I think I will post on the ICANN site raising this. See if it has any effect.

Kieren

You wish to involve government officials in online discussions. The main issue here is that any public statement by an official can be interpreted as an official policy statement, even if it is clear he/she is speaking in his/her own name. This may have serious diplomatic consequences.

You should not expect an official to put put down in writing anything else that a pointer to an official position paper or press release. If he/she is acting on behalf of a government, personal opinions do just not matter.