February 2026, the Centre for Communications Governance (CCG) at National Law University Delhi and the Global Network Initiative (GNI) convened one of the largest official satellite events of the India AI Impact Summit, “Reinforcements & Learning: Multistakeholder Convening on AI Governance”, bringing together policymakers, regulators, diplomats, industry leaders, technologists, civil society organisations, and academics from across the globe. Digital Rights Foundation US (DRF US) was among the key civil society voices at this landmark gathering, actively shaping the conversation through feminist and rights-centred perspectives on AI governance.
In line with the India AI Impact Summit’s broader vision, the organisers placed particular emphasis on highlighting voices from the Global South, and DRF US ensured those voices carried weight on the issues that matter most to marginalised communities.
Countering NCII and Protecting Women Online
DRF US raised the urgent issue of Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery (NCII), a growing harm supercharged by generative AI tools. As deepfake technology becomes more accessible, women and gender-diverse individuals face unprecedented risks of image-based abuse. DRF US advocated for AI governance frameworks to explicitly address NCII, calling on both regulators and industry to embed survivor-centred protections into platform accountability mechanisms from the outset.
Making Women’s Labour in the AI Supply Chain Visible
One of the most underexplored dimensions of the AI economy is the invisible labour that sustains it, disproportionately carried out by women in the Global South. From data labelling to content moderation, women perform the essential, often exploitative groundwork that powers AI systems, yet remain absent from governance conversations. DRF US spotlighted this invisibilisation, insisting that any credible AI governance framework must reckon with who is building AI and under what conditions.
Big Tech Accountability Cannot Be Optional
DRF US was unequivocal: voluntary self-regulation by large technology companies is insufficient. Meaningful AI governance requires binding accountability mechanisms that hold big tech responsible for harms caused by their systems, particularly when those harms fall hardest on already-marginalised communities. Governance frameworks that treat industry as partners without ensuring robust oversight risk becoming instruments of corporate legitimacy rather than public protection.
Building Global South Alliances for Global South Issues
Participants at the convening reaffirmed that meaningful Global South participation and multistakeholder governance are not optional but foundational to building just, inclusive, and effective AI governance systems. DRF US echoed this strongly, emphasising the need for deliberate Global South alliances that can collectively push for representation in international AI standard-setting forums. Without organised coalition-building, the risks are that governance frameworks designed in the Global North will be exported wholesale, bypassing local realities.
Localising Policy: Because One Size Does Not Fit All
Finally, DRF US underscored the critical importance of policy localisation. Effective AI governance cannot rely on top-down, universalised frameworks. Policies must be adapted to local legal, cultural, and social contexts, particularly in the Global South, where digital infrastructure, regulatory capacity, and community needs vary enormously. Localisation is not a dilution of global standards; it is the only way to make those standards meaningful.
DRF US’s participation in the GNI/MAP-AI satellite event reflects its ongoing commitment to ensuring that AI governance is feminist, intersectional, and rooted in the lived realities of those most at risk.