The 2020 election may be over, but the debate over the role of technology in the election has only just begun. The pervasiveness of voting-related disinformation before and after the election, alongside new platform policies to combat it, has brought to the fore, as in 2016, questions about how social media and the online information […]
Joining government brings incredible opportunities to solve hard problems, fix under-resourced systems, and help people at a scale no other sector can. It’s incredibly rewarding work, but also incredibly challenging. The landscape is different. The rules are, too. As new waves of technologists raise their hands to consider government service, we’ll unpack some of those […]
Please join us for “What do the data tell us about election 2020?” a panel that will feature: Erika Franklin Fowler (Wesleyan University), Jill Lepore (Harvard University), Solomon Messing (ACRONYM), and Kate Starbird (University of Washington). Each panelist will speak about their research into topics such as the twentieth-century origins of election-related data science, the […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has tested our modern public health infrastructure like never before. Why have some nations successfully contained the virus, while others have failed? How can we use these insights to better prepare for and prevent future pandemics? On January 12-13, 2021, join health, science, and policy leaders at the Futures Forum on Preparedness […]
Society has been transformed by a technology revolution and its 24/7 influence on so many aspects of our reality. The COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide movement for racial justice have made it even clearer how essential these tools are for our daily lives. Silicon Valley has clearly followed through on its promise to change the […]
Trump supporters’ storming of the Capitol, as Trump refused to concede his loss in the 2020 presidential election, underscored the significant challenges confronting U.S. democracy. The presence of armed, violent vigilante groups roaming city streets, state capitals and university campuses, with the president’s blessing, affects every American, including and beyond those who are directly targeted […]
The recent decision by Big Tech to ban prominent politicians, including President Donald Trump, and enforce strict content moderation against hate speech, mis/disinformation, and violence is a new precedent that could prove consequential for the future of online speech—and for the future of democracy. Join Belfer Center’s Technology and Public Purpose (TAPP) Project as it […]
After a mob stormed the Capitol, major technology platforms acted nearly in unison – some said belatedly, others tyrannically – to “deplatform” President Trump and many other right-wing users of their services. How did we arrive at this unprecedented action, what’s at stake for our democracy, and what does this mean for the future? On […]
Social media and digital technologies have come under fire for their contribution to the development of the groups that ultimately stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Following the insurrection attempt, Facebook, Twitter, Google and other major platforms have banned or suspended President Trump’s accounts. Google and Apple removed Parler from their app stores, while […]
Join us for a discussion on how ethnographic theory and ethnographic practice are incorporated in civic technology projects in the US. A small panel will discuss the ways that qualitative research, political power and technology meet in government internet projects. Dr Andrew Schrock, OII alum and author of “Civic Tech: Making Technology Work for People”, […]