Calls to regulate the internet more strictly are now commonplace, but a new report from Freedom House observes both the promise and peril of internet regulation. The global drive to control big tech thus carries a seeming contradiction: it can be an expression of democracy but can also support authoritarianism. Consider recent examples of internet enforcement. Luxembourg seeks to fine Amazon nearly a billion dollars for data protection violations, while Russia fines Facebook and Google millions for failure to moderate content sufficiently. The US restricts surveillance company NSO Group from accessing U.S. technology, while Nigeria bans Twitter when it deletes tweets by its president.

On the tenth anniversary of the blackout of Wikipedia, Google, Reddit, and Mozilla in response to proposed internet regulation in the U.S., we ask what we learned from the SOPA/PIPA debates, take stock of where internet regulation stands today, and ask what internet regulations carry the most promise or risk today.

The panel will consist of a conversation with thought leaders on global internet regulation focused on understanding the current state of internet freedom and articulating possible paths towards internet freedom.

In this latest installment of the AI Governance Series, this upcoming panel will focus on China’s role in the world of AI, both in software development and a manufacturing hub for chips in the global supply chain. We hope you will be able to join us on this panel to lend your expertise to this discussion. The structure of the panel will be a one hour conversation moderated by Georgetown’s own Anupam Chander.

Data is everywhere. It is being collected in almost every industry and in every layer of government. While there have been many discussions about the automated decision making algorithms, there has not been enough investigation into the data itself, how it is collected, transferred in and out of the public sector, used in governance, and stored. As more data systems are built in all areas of life, we want to take a step back to explore the ever-growing collection and use of data and its hidden impacts. The symposium will explore these issues from a variety of perspectives, including those of lawyers, academics, journalists, media experts, political scientists, philosophers, industry experts, technologists, and policy makers.

Digital information is powerful: the information created, shared, and preserved by archives, libraries, and scholars provides everybody with greater access to knowledge. And no organization does digital information quite like the Internet Archive. To celebrate the Internet Archive’s 25 birthday, we’ll be welcoming its founder, Brewster Kahle, alongside panelists from DC’s premiere cultural institutions, to reflect on the past, present, and future of digital information.

Join this cohosted event organized by the Tech Institute's very own Professor Madhavi Sunder on Intellectual Property and COVID-19. View information about the event here.

The Biden-Harris Administration presents an opportunity to reset our country’s approach to global digital policy and renew our commitment to global engagement and development. The Georgetown Global TechNet Working Group and the Institute for Technology Law & Policy (Tech Institute) and Center for the Advancement of the Rule of Law in the Americas (CAROLA) are joining together to convene policymakers, industry leaders, and scholars to discuss key issues in digital trade. The discussion will center on inclusive digital trade to promote development and Transatlantic data flows, and explore the implications of emerging regulatory approaches to data and innovative technologies for trade and trade policy. The event is enabled by the generous support of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI).