Governance of the Internet is a matter of global importance and concern. The multi-stakeholder (MS) and multilateral (ML) forms have been presented as two competing and plausible models of Internet governance. Drawing on actor–network theory (ANT) and building on an interpretive case study of rich archival data, this paper examines how the focal actor’s (i.e. the U.S. government’s) beliefs influence the choice of Internet governance form. It further explores the strategies of the focal actor to translate the interests of the ML network’s supporters, with a view to enrolling them in the MS governance network. The analysis shows how the focal actor has established the MS governance form through the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) as an Obligatory Passage Point to keep the Internet successfully operational. The analysis also illuminates the combination of structural and collaborative strategies employed to allay the growing dissatisfaction with the MS governance form. The paper suggests that whilst the protocols and technical standards of the Internet are increasingly relegated to the background, the social and political network that Internet artefacts draw together in a meta-form has grown in prominence. It also argues that there may be a hierarchy of beliefs, which influence how actors enact their translation strategies. Finally, the paper discusses parallels between the MS/ML forms of Internet governance and IT governance in organizational contexts.

互联网治理是一个具有全球重要性和关注的问题。多利益相关方 (MS) 和多边 (ML) 形式已被视为两种相互竞争且看似合理的互联网治理模型。本文借鉴行动者网络理论 (ANT) 并在对丰富档案数据的解释性案例研究的基础上，研究了焦点行动者（即美国政府）的信念如何影响互联网治理形式的选择。它进一步探索了焦点参与者的策略来转化 ML 网络支持者的利益，以期将他们纳入 MS 治理网络。分析显示了焦点参与者如何通过互联网名称与数字地址分配机构 (ICANN) 建立 MS 治理表格作为强制性通道点保持互联网成功运行。该分析还阐明了为减轻对 MS 治理形式日益增长的不满而采用的结构性和协作策略的组合。该论文表明，虽然互联网的协议和技术标准越来越被置于背景之下，但互联网人工制品以元形式聚集在一起的社会和政治网络已经变得越来越突出。它还认为，可能存在信念等级，这会影响行为者如何制定他们的翻译策略。最后，本文讨论了互联网治理的 MS/ML 形式与组织环境中的 IT 治理之间的相似之处。