Cyberspace and the common concern of humankind: A structural inquiry into transboundary digital governance

Abstract This article examines how the Common Concern of Humankind (CCH), developed in international environmental law, can inform transboundary digital governance. It does not claim that cyberspace as a whole, or any particular cyber issue, has acquired common-concern status in positive law. Serious disruption to shared information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructures and services provides a concrete test case for examining how common-concern reasoning applies when interdependence is digital, infrastructural and privately mediated. The article distinguishes common interests from shared problems and explains how CCH may frame claims and responses concerning cooperation, domestic implementation, capacity, control and institutional design before attribution and breach are determined. Existing arrangements already support intergovernmental cooperation, technical coordination and regional implementation, but they do not connect those functions to consistent review or accountability. CCH is useful in this setting only when the digital problem is defined precisely and when states establish rules and procedures that engage the firms and technical bodies controlling relevant infrastructure.