Global Democracies Must Work to Protect Free Expression
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In the weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine, the world has moved quickly to respond. Some companies have cut off services to Russian users, and some Western tech and telecom companies have blocked access to Russian state-controlled media outlets.
This month, CDT joined over 35 civil society organizations in calling on the U.S. and other governments to ensure that their sanctions policies do not result in people in Russia being cut off from the internet. We also spoke out against a request by the Ukrainian government for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to — among other things — revoke Russian country domains and their digital security certificates. Fortunately, ICANN denied the request.
As CDT’s Mallory Knodel told CNN, such action could break "really critical authentication and web security functions.” Furthermore, she said, “Russia's been trying for a long time to figure out how to disconnect from the larger internet, and one of the main things standing in its way from doing that is the global domain name system." In a time when a growing number of countries, including Russia and Iran, are working to control the information their citizens consume and their countries’ internet infrastructures, global democracies should be working to protect free expression and citizens’ access to outside information.
Of course, there are actions companies and governments can take. In a piece for Barron’s, CDT President and CEO Alexandra Givens discussed the dynamics at play in Russia and Ukraine, and how to preserve means of free expression, including making virtual private networks, firewall circumvention technologies, and end-to-end encrypted messaging services more widely available. As Knodel discussed at SXSW last week, policymakers in democratic nations must ground their own laws, policies, and processes in democracy and human rights, and encourage the development of services that protect individual users’ rights.
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In Case You Missed It
- CDT’s Emma Llansó appeared before the Senate Finance Committee, testifying about how the U.S. can advance digital rights and foster robust digital economies through strategic trade engagements in the Indo-Pacific region. There, an alarming number of recent laws and legislative proposals seek to control speech and access to information, subject internet users to surveillance, and give state authorities control over internet infrastructure.
- CDT joined a coalition of civil society organizations, trade organizations, and companies in a letter opposing the SHOP SAFE Act. While the SHOP SAFE Act has the laudable goals of preventing the sale of counterfeits online and promoting consumer welfare, health, and safety, we are concerned that the bill will not actually achieve these goals and will harm internet users and small businesses.
- CDT sent a letter to Senator Klobuchar and Senator Grassley, along with other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, concerning the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S. 2992). The bill would prohibit covered online platforms from preferencing their own products and services over those of competing businesses that depend on the platform to reach their customers. While it is important to update our antitrust laws to address competition problems in the digital marketplace, the current draft of the bill still could undermine the ability of covered platforms to protect personal and business data against unauthorized access and misuse, and interfere with the platforms’ responsible efforts to curb hate speech, disinformation, or other abusive content.
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CDT in the Press
CDT’s Matt Scherer co-authored an op-ed in the Washington Post discussing the legal heritage of modern labor employment law, where old master/servant dynamics with roots in the Middle Ages are still visible.
On the use of robot dogs at the U.S. border, Greg Nojeim told CNN, "The border has become a testing ground for new and intrusive surveillance technology… Once the platform becomes accepted, believe me, new uses will be developed. It's inevitable. And I don't think we're ready as a society to say, this use is permissible, this is not.”
CDT President & CEO Alexandra Givens told CBS about the metaverse, “The worst-case scenario is that we don't learn anything from previous versions of the web, and we just move over those business models and that way of being.”
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CDT "in Person"- On March 24, join Executives for Health Innovation (EHI) and CDT for an overview and discussion of two reports, which aim to protect consumer data that is both held and used by companies that are not bound by the obligations of HIPAA. CDT’s Andrew Crawford will speak about placing equity at the center of healthcare and technology. You can learn more about the event and register here.
- Join CDT, the Stanford Internet Observatory, and the Greater Washington DC Chapter of the Internet Society on April 1 to discuss content moderation in an end-to-end encrypted world. You can learn more about the event and register here.
- In April, Lydia X.Z. Brown, CDT’s Policy Counsel for Privacy & Data, will join the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and other disability advocates in a dialogue on the intersection of philanthropy and ableism. You can learn more about the event and register here.
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Partner Spotlight
CDT is proud to partner with Freedom House, most recently at SXSW. Together, we hosted a panel on internet freedom in the face of authoritarian governments, particularly when it comes to the ability to connect, access information, and overcome censorship.
Freedom House is founded on the core conviction that freedom flourishes in democratic nations where governments are accountable to their people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, and belief, as well as respect for the rights of women, minority communities, and historically marginalized groups, are guaranteed. You can learn about them, and their work, on their website.
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Staff Spotlight
George Slover, CDT General Counsel & Senior Counsel for Competition Policy
How long have you been working in digital rights? I just joined CDT this month – four days ago, as I write this – after 9 years at Consumer Reports. I worked on a variety of digital rights issues over my time at CR – first and foremost, antitrust and competition policy, but also a full range of other digital rights issues. At earlier stages in my career, on the Hill and at the Antitrust Division, I worked on competition policy in telecom, where many of the issues were similar.
What is your proudest moment while at CDT? So far, my proudest moment was when I heard the words, “We’d like to offer you the position.” I look forward to adding new proud moments, now that I’m actually here.
What is the most recent cultural activity you've been to? I’ve been a rock concert-goer since age 13, when I saw the Doors and Jimi Hendrix. More recently, as a father, I have tried to introduce my children, now in their 20s, to groups from my generation that are still active in theirs. I took them both to see the current iteration of the Grateful Dead; they’ve both gone on their own to see the Rolling Stones, with my encouragement; I took my daughter to see Willie Nelson; and she and I have tickets to see Paul McCartney and the Who this spring.
Cats or dogs? Dogs, as long as they are friendly — as our dog is, with people. We are still trying to convince him that other dogs in the neighborhood might be his friends, if he would give them a chance.
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