“It’s Not Just the Tech”: Indigenous language rights in focus at IGF 2025 

As technology and artificial intelligence (AI) continue to advance, their intersection with Indigenous languages brings both promising possibilities and pressing challenges. This topic took center stage at the Internet Governance Forum 2025 in Lillestrøm, where experts convened to explore how AI impacts Indigenous linguistic heritage. KAVI’s Senior Advisor Outi Laiti participated in the panel titled “It’s not just the tech: Addressing barriers to Indigenous language technology and AI uptake.” The discussion examined the complex relationship between technology and language, emphasizing the potential of digital tools to support the preservation and revitalization of Indigenous languages. 

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a global, open and inclusive platform convened by the UN Secretary-General for multistakeholder dialogue on digital public policy. It brings together governments, the private sector, civil society, the technical community, and youth to discuss key digital issues, including the governance of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital inclusion, access gaps, data protection, and online safety. 

During the hour-long panel discussion, several contributions were heard from various experts.

Opening remarks: 

• Kjersti Stenseng, Minister the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development  
• Ole-Henrik Bjørkmo Lifjell, Member of the Governing Council of the Sámi Parliament 

Panel: 

• Sjur Nørstebø Moshagen, head of the Divvun group and a chief engineer at the Department of Language and Culture at UiT The Arctic University of Norway 
• Aili Keskitalo, political advisor for Amnesty International Norway 
• Lars Ailo Bongo, professor at Sámi AI Lab and UiT The Arctic University of Norway 
• Kevin Chan, Senior Director at Meta 
• Valts Ernštreits, Director at the UL Livonian Institute 
• Outi Laiti, Senior Advisor at the National Audiovisual Institute for the Finnish Government  

Closing remarks:  

• Tawfik Jelassi – UNESCO’s Assistant Director General for Communication and Information  

Language is a human right, not a feature 

In her presentation, Outi discussed Finland’s 2016 curriculum reform, which introduced programming from first grade across all subjects. This shift created a demand for computing resources in all three Sámi languages. To address this, the National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI) produced programming and media education guides (2020–2023) in all three Saami languages spoken in Finland.  

KAVI’s television and radio archives include content from sources such as Sámi Radio, and these archives have been used to train speech recognition tools in a project led by Aalto University and the University of Lapland. Outi highlighted the role of digital games in Sámi language education, and noted growing interest in using extended reality, though progress is limited by underdeveloped ASR technologies. Outi also emphasized the ethical challenges of designing AI-driven games with Indigenous characters, advocating for community-led, culturally sensitive, and non-human-centered approaches. 

As hinted in the headline, some of the language technology barriers are not technical. Language can be used to control, meaning that there is a risk of political interference and gatekeeping. The discussion focused on how to empower communities to manage their languages online, ensure data ownership and control of linguistic resources, and prevent AI from harming Indigenous languages. Platforms often exclude minority languages due to limited resources. As Sjur Nørstebø Moshagen noted, with over 7,000 languages worldwide, no platform can support them all alone. Our approach to language rights in digital platforms needs updating. Language is a human right—not just a feature, a localization option, or a liability. 

Text: Outi Laiti, IGF 2025 

Image: IGF 2025