Who Owns the Internet?

This one tripped us up. An innocent question as we were chatting about our business “Who Owns the Internet?”, she asked. So we went looking …

We particularly liked Google’s answer – generated by Search Generated Content SGE:

“The internet is more of a concept than a physical entity, and it’s hard to own a concept.”

Wikipedia had a slightly more boring answer:

“No one person, company, organization or government runs the Internet. It is a globally distributed network comprising many voluntarily interconnected autonomous networks.”

We fondly remember …

…the IT Crowd episode where the internet was passed off as a small black box with a light on top. The ‘internet’ belonged on top of the Big Ben where it had the ’best reception’.

But the question “Who Owns the Internet?” is not a joke. The internet is an fundamental aspect of modern life, a vast network connecting billions of devices worldwide. To an unprecedented extent, the entire global economy relies on it. Without access to the internet

• much of the modern world just wouldn’t work.
• we would be poorer.
• we would be more ignorant.

Of course there are arguments about whether we’d be happier, less radical, less deluged with filth. But these arguments are not new. Many of them echo the complaints regarding the invention of movable type.

The question of who owns the internet matters.

We Are Lucky …

… that the internet was created by scientists interested in sharing knowledge than venture capitalists interested in making money. Everyone has to make a living; but without the sharing (free) model, it is all but inconceivable that the internet would have become the phenomenon it is.

That said, if the internet were a privatised entity, we could add a link and this article could finish right here.

But it isn’t, the internet is an environment composed of a complex mix of factors.

So in an approximate order of importance here’s a bit about each.

Governance: A Decentralised Model

By and large, we all use the same internet. There is the dark web and whatever the North Koreans use but that’s for another day. To make sure it stays that way, the internet operates under a decentralised governance model.

Internet governance is represented by various stakeholders. Governments, private companies, and non-profit organisations all have roles in its regulation. Bodies like the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develop protocols and standards that ensure the internet’s interoperability.

No single government or organisation controls the internet in its entirety. However, certain countries exert more influence than others. For instance, the United States has historically had a significant role due to its early development of the internet and its control over key infrastructure elements. In recent years, there has been a push towards more international representation in internet governance, reflecting the global nature of the network.

Domain Names and IP Addresses: Managed by Organisations

We thought about putting this one first.

Without IP addresses, computers couldn’t find each other on the internet. Without domain names, people probably couldn’t.

No IP addresses and no domain names and the internet would be unnavigable chaos.

These unique identifiers that allow people and devices to find each other on the network.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a non-profit organisation responsible for managing these resources. Although ICANN does not own the internet, it plays a significant role in maintaining its operational stability.

ICANN delegates the task of assigning domain names to various registrars, and the ownership of a domain name is more like a lease—individuals or organisations register domain names but do not own them outright. Similarly, IP addresses are allocated to internet service providers (ISPs), which then distribute them to their customers. Thus, while entities can own domain names and control IP addresses, the overarching management is centralised under organisations like ICANN.

The Infrastructure: A Shared Network

The physical infrastructure of the internet—comprising cables, data centres, servers, and satellites—is owned by numerous entities. Telecom companies, private corporations, and government organisations own different parts of the infrastructure. For example, submarine cables that carry internet traffic across oceans are typically owned by consortia of telecom companies. Data centres, which store and process the data that makes up the internet, are either owned by companies like (Amazon, Google and Microsoft) or by private entities who sublet the services to hosting companies.

The infrastructure is globally distributed, and no single entity owns it all. This shared ownership model is crucial for the internet’s resilience; it means that the failure of one component does not necessarily mean the collapse of the entire network. In this sense, the internet is a collection of interlinked networks, each owned by different stakeholders.

Content: The Users and Platforms

Without content the internet would be nothing, a giant empty multi-storey car park in the ether.

Fortunately we’re all creating content all the time.

In theory, ownership of content works much like traditional copyright. Users who create content—whether it’s a blog post, a video, or a tweet—typically own that content, at least initially. However, by uploading content to social media platforms or websites, users often grant these platforms certain rights over that content. These rights are usually outlined in the terms of service, which many users accept without fully understanding.

You may think you own content when, in fact, you signed it away as soon as you shared it.

Platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter do not own the content per se, but they do control how it is distributed and monetised. They also have the authority to remove content that violates their policies, which adds another layer of complexity to the ownership question.

Therefore, while users may own the content they create, platforms exert significant control over its visibility and reach.

So Who Owns the Internet?

Our best answer is, everyone and no one.

The internet is not owned by any single entity. Its infrastructure is owned by a variety of companies and organisations, its operation is managed by a mix of non-profit and private entities, and its content is created and controlled by billions of users worldwide.

This distributed ownership model is both a strength and a challenge, allowing the internet to be both resilient and diverse, but also raising complex questions about control, access, and equity. Witness the recent migration from Twitter; it has been easy for competitors to replicate and create alternatives to major constructs.

This also means the internet can and does change all the time. Within the loose ownership structures detailed above, vast change and variability is possible. Keeping up with changes can be both difficult and expensive.

As the internet continues to evolve, so too will the debate over who owns it. The answer is likely to remain as multifaceted as the network itself, reflecting the diverse interests and perspectives that shape its development and use.

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