Making participation meta: the case of the sale of .ORG

This paper seeks to map the contestation around the sale of the domain name .ORG. This case explores the dynamics among actors who reacted to this event through contestation, resistance and self-organisation between November 2019 and June 2020. By understanding how the .ORG case study activated the multistakeholder network, we understand better how social actors are engaging in Internet Governance from a grassroots level. This offers an insight into the legitimacy of the existing regulatory framework, and the influence of the stakeholders in spheres that are considered public interest. Instead of the uncritical acceptance of multistakeholderism, this paper invites to look at it far more critically, as at a lived experience.