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NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER  

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Lessons from Young Users on Handling Unwanted Messages Online

Last week, CDT released a new study — ”More Tools, More Control: Lessons from Young Users on Handling Unwanted Messages Online ([link removed])” — examining how young people between the ages of 14 and 21 feel about unwanted messages online, and how they keep themselves safe. 

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CDT Research report, entitled “More Tools, More Control: Lessons from Young Users on Handling Unwanted Messages Online.” Illustration of a chat bubble, secured in a room with active controls (a door, menu options, notifications and action options, and more) for the (young) user sending and receiving messages online.

We found that the young people who regularly received unwanted messages online actively resisted them using a variety of strategies, and identified several tools they’d like platforms to offer to better assess and address unwanted interactions. We drew on those conversations to identify several baseline features for user safety that messaging platforms should provide, including:

Basic response tools such as the ability to delete, block, and report; 

Default private settings with limited discoverability

Friction in interactions with unknown profiles or potential strangers; an

Easy tracking of the outcomes of user reports.

As the research shows, there are key opportunities to help protect young people online that also increase their sense of safety, agency, and control. This approach is particularly important when considering social media’s complex role in the teen mental health crisis, and the difficulty of determining the most effective protective measures for online services and legislators to take. We encourage platforms to hand over some of the control, and provide all users — not just young people — with tools and knowledge to help them help themselves. 

In Case You Missed It

— Following the UK’s AI Safety Summit in early November, CDT and other civil society representatives to the Summit called for ([link removed]) “regulatory action to ensure the current and future trajectory of AI serves the needs of the public.” CDT also joined a letter — organized by Mozilla, and signed by industry and civil society representatives ([link removed]) — highlighting the important role that open-source software and open science can play in helping ensure a future AI ecosystem that is more transparent, accountable, secure, and competitive.

— In a new blog post, CDT Policy Counsel Ariana Aboulafia explores how developments in the bluetooth trackers space ([link removed]) consider the experiences and needs of disabled people.

— Five years after Congress passed the Fighting Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA), concerns that statute’s broad language would silence speech about sex and sex work have largely come true. In a new blog post ([link removed]), we explain why a DC Circuit Court’s July attempt to remedy some of these harms are unlikely to roll back the chilling impacts of the law

— Kate Ruane ([link removed]) joined CDT as Director of the Free Expression Project, and Tim Harper ([link removed]) joined CDT as Senior Policy Analyst for Democracy and Elections. Welcome to CDT, Kate and Tim!

CDT in the Press

— CDT President and CEO Alexandra Givens joined Marketplace ([link removed]) to discuss the White House’s recent executive order on artificial intelligence.

— CDT’s Jake Laperruque told Gizmodo ([link removed]) that the Government Surveillance Reform Act “will end the litany of abuse of FISA 702 we’ve seen year after year and close serious loopholes, all while preserving the operational value needed for national security… The only path forward for [surveillance authority] FISA 702 is with significant reforms, and the GSRA accomplishes this critical goal.”

— CDT’s Gabriel Nicholas discussed reliance on prepackaged AI content moderation models ([link removed]) with Wired: “From a free speech perspective, that means if there’s an error on one platform, you can’t bring your speech somewhere else–if there’s an error, that error will proliferate everywhere.”

CDT "in Person"

— On November 16, Miranda Bogen, founding director of CDT’s AI Governance Lab ([link removed]), will give a virtual talk through Princeton University ([link removed])’s Center for Information Technology Policy. The seminar, “Closing the Gap: Navigating Complexities and Contradictions In the Mitigation of Algorithmic Bias,” will delve into key tensions and open questions that emerge when attempting to mitigate algorithmic bias. The talk is open to the public.

CDT President and CEO Alexandra Givens speaks onstage at Tech Prom, with the CDT logo in the background.

— On November 8, CDT VP of Policy Samir Jain spoke at the U.S. Senate’s Artificial Intelligence Insight Forum on privacy and liability. His testimony ([link removed]) highlighted that the best way to protect against AI-related privacy issues is to pass legislation that places the privacy burden on companies that collect/profit from data rather than continue to place that burden on people.

— On November 2, CDT’s annual Tech Prom took place at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. CDT President and CEO Alexandra Givens delivered remarks ([link removed]) on recent events in technology policy, and CDT’s policy priorities in the months ahead.

Headshot of Kate Ruane, wearing glasses and a red top, smiling in front of a white wall.

Staff Spotlight
Kate Ruane ([link removed]), Director, Free Expression Project

How long have you been working in digital rights? I've been working in digital rights directly for about five years, but before that I was a legislative attorney for the Congressional Research Service for eleven years working on many issues impacting digital rights. So, 16 years all together.

What is your proudest moment while here at CDT? I have not been at CDT very long, but so far my proudest moment happened when I was saying good-bye to Emma Llansó at Tech Prom before she went to the NTIA and she said she felt very comfortable with me in my new role as her successor. I can't imagine higher praise and I will work to live up to it.

What is the most recent cultural activity you've been to? Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. It is beautifully written, heartbreaking, and lovely.

Dogs or cats? Dogs have a slight edge. I have an eighteen-year-old mutt named Jed and he's my best buddy.

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