Internet Day 2026: Digital Sustainability and Central Event at the Senate

The World Internet Day is celebrated every year on May 17. For the 2026 edition, the official motto was 'Sustainability in the digital era, for a sustainable Internet', a proposal that connects technology use with environmental care, the reduction of digital gaps, and digital rights. This formulation brings together issues that are usually treated separately and places them within the same conversation about how Internet is developed and used.

This theme invites reflection on the environmental, social, and ethical impact of the digital transformation. It is not just about reducing energy consumption, but about integrating a global vision that places people at the center of technological development, fostering digital citizenship and the responsible use of tools. This broad perspective allows considering both the consequences of the operation of services and devices and the way technologies are incorporated into daily life.

The most prominent institutional event of the commemoration took place on Monday, May 18, 2026, at the Senate in Madrid. The gathering, organized by the Internet Day Promotion Committee, began with the welcome from the Senate Presidency and the reading of the Manifesto for Sustainability in the Digital Era. The text positioned sustainability as the axis of the day and served as a framework for the institutional activities planned for the event.

During the day, the 2026 Internet Awards were presented, which recognize outstanding initiatives, organizations, and individuals in the digital field. The event was broadcast live from 12:00 h, allowing citizens to follow reflections on the good use of Internet and the challenges of sustainability. The broadcast expanded access to the event beyond those who attended in person and provided public follow-up to the day's contents.

The National Institute of Cybersecurity (INCIBE), together with INTEF, developed specific activities for the educational sector. On May 11, an online workshop titled 'Sure, here is another proposal. What would you do?' was held, designed to work with students on decision-making in situations such as the spread of intimate images generated by AI or sextortion. The activity posed concrete situations so that students could assess how to respond to risks that may appear in digital environments.

The INCIBE program also included a conversation with Minister Óscar López and the award ceremony for the 'What is 017 to you?' contest. These actions aim to reinforce digital security and data protection among the youngest, using the 017 phone as a cybersecurity help resource. Overall, the program combines educational work with the dissemination of a support channel, so that prevention and the possibility of seeking guidance become part of the conversation about Internet security.

Organizations such as Somos Digital and the Digital Citizenship project of Castilla-La Mancha promoted more than 30 activities linked to digital sustainability. These included video forums on electronic waste, workshops on artificial intelligence, and dynamics like 'The digital story: of things', which invites discovering the full life cycle of devices. The range of proposals connected technological topics with nearby objects and decisions, and allowed them to be addressed through different formats.

The Internet Week (from May 10 to 17) brought together companies and e-commerce businesses to offer promotions and awareness actions. These initiatives seek to generate conversation and learning from everyday situations, such as what happens to a mobile phone when we stop using it or how to extend the useful life of our equipment. Thus, the activities relate digital consumption with practical questions about the duration of devices and their destination when they are no longer used.

Digital sustainability encompasses three main dimensions: environmental, social, and governance. In the environmental field, it focuses on reducing energy impact and the circular economy. In the social field, it promotes inclusive transformation, connectivity, and the reduction of digital gaps. Considering these dimensions together helps understand that the impact of technology is not limited to the resources it consumes: it also matters who can access it and under what conditions.

The governance dimension focuses on transparency, security, data protection, and the ethical use of artificial intelligence. This comprehensive vision seeks for the digital transformation to contribute to general well-being, not just economic growth, integrating values of responsibility and ethics in the design and use of technologies. Therefore, sustainability also depends on decisions about how systems are developed and applied, and on their effects being considered from the start.

The 2026 edition has served to make visible projects and reflections on the good use of Internet. However, it is important to distinguish between the activities held and specific political commitments or environmental results. The manifesto read at the Senate establishes a roadmap, but its implementation depends on the future actions of institutions and citizens. The celebration and dissemination of proposals allow opening the debate, although by themselves they do not prove that those commitments have already been translated into results.

Internet Day is not a technological novelty, but a commemoration of awareness. Its value lies in the ability to mobilize civil society, companies, and administrations to address the challenges of the digital era in a sustainable and responsible way, without losing sight of the real impact of our digital decisions on the planet. The balance, therefore, combines the visibility of initiatives with a prudent look at what remains to be applied: the continuity of actions will be decisive for reflection to turn into concrete changes.