CDT’s U.S. Newsletter — April 2021


To view this email online, paste this link into your browser:
[link removed]





APRIL NEWSLETTER  

([link removed])

The COVID-19 Pandemic Has Changed Everything,
Including Tech Policy

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic about a year ago, the way we use technology and data has changed significantly. One of the most striking changes has taken place in schools, where millions of students are learning remotely on new digital platforms, which raises a host of privacy and security challenges. 

Although schools are making progress on privacy protection, new survey research ([link removed]) from CDT's Equity & Civic Technology team shows that important gaps ([link removed]) remain. Our report updates research we conducted last year ([link removed]) about parents' and teachers' views on privacy and online learning, providing new polling data that shows changes ([link removed]) from last spring and summer to February 2021. In the report, we also make several recommendations ([link removed]) for what education leaders and practitioners can do better to keep students safe. 

While schools made efforts to equip students with the devices and connectivity they needed, the pandemic has highlighted equity issues like the widespread lack of access to reliable, affordable broadband. Emergency measures like internet subsidies provided by the CARES Act were helpful, but the root causes of the digital divide ([link removed]) must still be addressed. With the pandemic as a backdrop, there is at least broader bipartisan agreement now that the government must play a part in expanding broadband access and promoting its affordability. 

To learn more about how the coronavirus has changed tech policy, visit cdt.org/coronavirus ([link removed]). 

In Case You Missed It

The New York City Council is considering a draft law that would require audits of automated decision-making tools used in hiring and employment. Because the ordinance would be the first of its kind in the U.S., its impact will be magnified nationally, which is why CDT and disability advocacy groups are urging the City Council to ensure that the final bill protects disabled jobseekers ([link removed]).

CDT joined an amicus brief ([link removed]) in Twitter v. Paxton filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, alongside the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Media Law Resource Center, and PEN America. It argues that the Texas Attorney General's efforts to use deceptive trade practice laws to investigate purported "bias" in content moderation violates the First Amendment and could be susceptible to abuse by public officials attempting to suppress political criticism of themselves or others.

CDT and four other civil society organizations wrote President Biden ([link removed]), urging the White House to rescind a dangerous and unconstitutional executive order issued by the Trump Administration. The Executive Order on Preventing Online Censorship is a drastic assault on free speech designed to punish online platforms that fact-checked President Trump. Its continued existence threatens internet users' ability to obtain accurate, truthful information about voting and other civic subjects.

CDT's European office is delighted to welcome two distinguished European scholars ([link removed]) and human rights advocates to its Board of Directors: Mireille Hildebrandt and Morten Kjaerum. CDT President & CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens welcomed Hildebrandt and Kjaerum to the Board. She said, "I am thrilled that CDT will benefit from the scholarship and experience of Mireille Hildebrandt and Morten Kjaerum. Our European work continues to expand under the leadership of veteran human rights advocate Iverna McGowan, as we engage on issues such as the Digital Services Act and regulation to prevent the dissemination of terrorist content online. We are grateful to have the partnership of two such renowned leaders as we work to keep human rights and democratic principles at the centre of EU tech law and policy."

([link removed])

CDT in the Press

CDT President & CEO Alexandra Givens joined Voice of America ([link removed]) to discuss the problem of online disinformation and the risks of making tech companies liable for political speech on their platforms.

CDT Chief Technology Officer Mallory Knodel was featured in a New York Times story ([link removed]) on replacing racist and offensive terms in computing, discussing a proposal she co-authored suggesting that the Internet Engineering Task Force use different language.

CDT Deputy General Counsel & Open Internet Counsel Stan Adams was quoted in Fast Company ([link removed]), discussing the Supreme Court's decision in the Google v. Oracle copyright case: "This decision is a huge win for developers and consumers because it allows reuse of the functional elements of APIs, like the way you can use the same commands for cut/copy/paste across different software applications, or the way universal remotes reuse the commands necessary to communicate with your television." 

CDT "in Person"

On April 1, 2021, Pennsylvania legislators considering changes to the commonwealth's election law invited CDT Senior Technologist Will Adler to testify about election security. The testimony detailed key principles for ensuring the security of election infrastructure, including by using machines with a durable paper trail and providing counties with the necessary resources. Legislators were engaged, asking detailed follow-up questions about voting machine security and about .GOV domains. You can learn more about Will's testimony and watch a recording here ([link removed]).

Disinformation is a cross-platform, cross-medium, intersectional problem, so what questions should policymakers be asking? What areas of evidence should disinformation researchers prioritize? The attacks on the U.S. Capitol showed that the epidemic of online disinformation can have severe offline consequences, and yet there are still major research gaps. CDT co-hosted a panel with the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law and Policy looking at some of the pressing policy and research issues around online disinformation. You can learn more about this event and watch the recording here ([link removed]).

Have you listened to the latest episodes of our Tech Talk podcast? Part of CDT's ongoing "Tech Tales" series, join host Jamal Magby in two separate discussions with Phil Dunn and Elizabeth Laird ([link removed]), and with Nicole Johnson-Douglas and Kirk Anderson ([link removed]), on collaborative approaches to school technology and why it is critical to ensuring students are safe and privacy is protected while learning online. 

([link removed])

Partner Spotlight

CDT was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Kurt Wimmer on April 4th. A partner at Covington & Burling ([link removed]), Kurt was a true champion for free expression and privacy, and a strong advocate for CDT. One of our fondest memories of Kurt was of him flying to Russia on extremely late notice, landing in a snowstorm, and testifying on international standards and practices related to press freedoms, media regulation, and the role of the internet. His support extended to all aspects of CDT's work, including deepening our relationship with Covington, a long-time supporter of Tech Prom and a strong resource for our policy team, offering over 300 hours of pro bono work in 2020 alone.

Kurt was a cherished member of the CDT family, and he will be missed greatly.

([link removed])

Staff Spotlight

Mallory Knodel, Chief Technology Officer

How long have you been working in digital rights? In 2008, I joined the leadership of May First people Link, a membership organization that provides emaiil and website hosting to hundreds of nonprofits and movement groups in the U.S., Mexico, and internationally. Back then, the main digital rights issues were free software and independent alternatives to corporate tools. I focused on the network's international outreach, which became rather fraught after Snowden's leaks demonstrated the fragility of U.S.-based infrastructure. Now, there are additional concerns about fragility of alternative and independent internet infrastructure, which is what I still try to focus on at CDT — but from a different angle, namely internet protocol standards.

What is your proudest moment while here at CDT? I felt very proud to be part of CDT as we collectively brainstormed and came up with concrete actions that we could take as an influential institution to help offset the effects of anti-Black racism in the United States and around the world. In June 2020, I worked with Airbnb on Project Lighthouse, and I restarted some hard conversations on exclusionary technical terminology at the Internet Engineering Task Force that are still raging today. I knew, in the high mark of protests and action in D.C. and around the country last year, that I was alongside colleagues and leadership that didn't just give lip service to racial justice, but are invested in a long-term vision of diversity, equity, and inclusion in technology and society. 

What is the best book you've read recently? As a queer single parent, my emotional life and close relationships were literally transformed by the book Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters. I have to thank my dear friend Wade, who agreed to mail me the gorgeous hard copy all the way from Michigan, which I then passed on to the next lucky reader in our network. I can't recommend it enough as a contemporary cultural marker for the ways that social and family relationships can intentionally make room for more beautifully complicated, and awfully difficult, configurations and ways of being in deep community with one another.   

Cats or dogs? Our cats Daniel and Archimedes (Archie for short) have been real-life family members to me and my kids — we are certainly Team Cat. I also have a cat mascot or avatar, Catnip, who is the hero of a book that I co-authored with the talented illustrator and Tor developer Ulrike Uhlrig about "How the Internet Really Works" that came out last year.

#CONNECT WITH CDT

SUPPORT OUR WORK ([link removed])

([link removed])

([link removed])

([link removed])

([link removed])





1401 K St NW Suite 200 | Washington, DC xxxxxx United States

This email was sent to [email protected].
To ensure that you continue receiving our emails,
please add us to your address book or safe list.

manage your preferences ([link removed])
opt out ([link removed]) using TrueRemove(r).

Got this as a forward? Sign up ([link removed]) to receive our future emails.
email powered by Emma(R)
[link removed]