A 101 on LLMs/GAI to help explain what this tech is, what it isn’t, what industry innovations we can anticipate the coming year and how it will affect the broader information ecosystems and democratic engagement.
When platform researchers undertake new projects, it is crucial to assess legal risks. Yet the legal constraints on platform research are often ambiguous. This webinar will explore what legal resources platform researchers need, as well as how to make decisions to reach research objectives.
Tech sector whistleblowers have played an increasingly vital role in exposing racism and toxic workplace environments, algorithmic bias, and other platform harms. But the cost of coming forward with information can be tremendous – including psychological, legal, and employment ramifications. This webinar will explore what is needed to build and maintain safe and secure channels for tech whistleblowers to share platform harms with the public, and how civil society can support whistleblowers who boldly tell the truth.
Speakers:
Delphine Halgand-Mishra, Executive Director, The Signals Network
Ifeoma Ozoma, Founder and Principal, Earthseed
Trevor Timm, Executive Director, Freedom of the Press Foundation
Moderator:
Amber French, Executive Director, Media Democracy Fund
A discussion on how platform research to address mis/disinformation should be approached through a race-based lens, new platform research solutions and methods being pioneered and utilized by researchers of color, the unique challenges researchers of color face, and how philanthropy can better support and empower Black and Brown tech platform researchers to carry out their work.
Speakers:
Safiya Umoja Noble, Co-Founder and Co-Director, UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry
Latanya Sweeney, Daniel Paul Professor of the Practice of Government and Technology, Harvard Kennedy School
Nabiha Syed, President, The Markup
Moderator:
Amber French, Executive Director, Media Democracy Fund
This discussion will explore the scope of US federal policy solutions available to mitigate the spread of mis/disinformation online. This will include a discussion of the viability of Section 230 reform and other proposed regulations and how the Biden Administration is approaching platform policy. This briefing will not only cover the scope of these issues, but also delve into the obstacles and potential solutions needed to achieve real reform.
Speakers:
Joan Donovan Principal Investigator and Research Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy; Director, Technology and Social Change Project
Jessica González Co-CEO, Free Press
Spencer Overton President, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Moderator:
Amber French, Media Democracy Fund
A discussion exploring the critical role that grassroots organizing and field-building must play in 2021 and beyond to address mis/disinformation with a particular focus on mobilizing communities of color. This webinar will explore how grassroots groups and communities of color can shape US federal policy and hold lawmakers accountable, the importance of grassroots pressure on tech companies to influence their behavior, which strategies have proven effective, and how philanthropy can better support organizing and capacity building for diverse grassroots groups and communities of color.
Speakers:
Juanita Monsalve, Senior Marketing & Creative Director, United We Dream
Steven Renderos, Executive Director, MediaJustice
Ranada Robinson, Research Director, New Georgia Project
Shawn Sebastian, Senior Strategist, People’s Action
Moderator:
Amber French, Media Democracy Fund
In the wake of heightened online radicalization over the past several years, including the rise of far-right nationalism, violence, and harms to democracy globally, it is clear that technology platforms are playing an outsized role in amplifying racialized disinformation and fomenting real world consequences.
As lawmakers and civil society grapple with the policy and legal interventions available to protect communities and democratic practices, it is also important to understand the ways in which technology is stoking racialized disinformation. The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the rise of white supremacist hate groups, the uptick in violence against Asian Americans, and the pervasiveness of anti-Black racism all underscore the urgency of addressing radicalized disinformation in the U.S.
This conversation will be dedicated to unpacking the factors behind the increase in racialized disinformation, the implications and role of technology, and the challenges that lie ahead.
Speakers:
Adrian Reyna Co-Director and Co-Founder, New Currents Collective and Senior Strategy Advisor, Disinfo Defense League
Bridget Todd Communications Director, UltraViolet
Eric Ward Executive Director, Western States Center
John C. Yang President and Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Moderator:
Amber French, Media Democracy Fund
The academics, journalists, and activists working to understand the influence and impact of social platforms have pursued many avenues — and sometimes taken extraordinary risks — to obtain data about platform usage and effects. Even acknowledging the success of some novel methods to date, the social platform data available to researchers is often time-limited, siloed, or simply unavailable. Given the complexities of platform data access and usage, what can be done to advance high-quality research on and about social platforms?
On February 26, 2021, NetGain Partners hosted New Approaches to Platform Data Research, a webinar featuring Ethan Zuckerman of the Media Ecosystems Analysis Group and the Institute for Digital Public Infrastructure at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School, who highlighted key findings from their report, New Approaches to Platform Data Research.
In 2019, the NetGain Partnership commissioned research by Cedar Partners & Associates to identify the harms and constituencies involved in platform accountability efforts around the globe, with detailed examinations of specific regions including the European Union, Brazil, Kenya, South Africa, India, and Indonesia. Cedar Partners has now released its report, Platform Accountability, which includes more than 80 interviews with experts, officials, civil society groups and academics across six jurisdictions.
On Thursday, November 19 at 9am ET, join us for Platform Harms and Accountability: Preparing Civil Society to Meet New Global Challenges. This virtual convening will highlight the key findings from Cedar Partners’ Platform Accountability report, bring a new lens to existing work, and help put civil society in a stronger, better-informed position to respond to existing and future platform challenges.
Panelists:
Andrew Puddephatt, Lead Researcher, Cedar Partners
Anri van der Spuy, doctoral researcher with Research ICT Africa
César Rodríguez-Garavito, Founder, JustLabs
Grace Mutung’u, Research Fellow, Centre for IP and IT Law (CIPIT) at Strathmore University in Kenya
Sherly Haristya, Internet Governance Research Consultant, Freelancer, Indonesia
Hosted by Amber French, Executive Director, Media Democracy Fund.
As face-to-face and public discussions from classrooms to business meetings have been forced to move online exclusively, the substantial increase in traffic is already straining the world’s internet infrastructure. What are the long-term implications of this surging demand? How will the design of the internet change to accommodate the video and other tech platforms that we will increasingly rely on? How will governments and companies manage the surge in traffic and what will it mean for internet shutdowns and censorship? How will this dynamic affect the next range of internet standards meetings which will be taking place virtually for the first time in three decades?
This webinar convened leading experts to understand the changing landscape for internet infrastructure and technology in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key issues included the responses of telecom providers and technology companies to the recent surge in traffic and the policy reforms and standards needed to adapt to the new demands of a digital society.
The economic crisis caused by COVID-19 will further strengthen big tech’s hold over the economy and society, without intervention. Already, small businesses and retail outlets across the country are in a free fall as the result of social distancing measures, leaving Amazon to gain an even larger share of the marketplace. Meanwhile, local restaurants struggling to stay in business are now turning to online ordering and delivery apps, like Grubhub, that charge excessive fees and face little to no regulation. In addition, journalism and news outlets also face increasing financial difficulties as ad dollars and subscriptions both decrease, further diminishing revenues, and making them even more dependent upon Facebook, Google, and Apple to provide financial support for their content.
This webinar explored how the influence of big tech and digital platforms in the economy and our society is expanding in the wake of COVID-19, and what governments should do to preserve competition in our markets and protect the public interest in this moment of significant disruption.
Information disorder surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, in combination with the proliferation of mis/disinformation around the protests against ongoing police brutality, including the murder of George Floyd, has created an unprecedented landscape of digital hate and racialized disinformation. Extremists have capitalized on COVID-19 uncertainty, leveraging white racial resentment about the economy, unemployment, public health, and an uncertain future to stoke chaos and violence. Hateful content and speech across the internet has further fueled xenophobia and racism targeting Asian, Black, and other vulnerable communities. Moreover, social media platforms from Facebook (Instagram, Whatsapp) and Twitter to Google and YouTube, face increased pressure to quickly respond to disinformation, fraud, and online hate. What is the state of protest and COVID-19 related information and news on social media? And what are the platform companies doing to combat racialized disinformation and other harms?
COVID-19 has further exposed the major gaps in workplace protections and benefits for big tech’s contractors and employees. Amid the pandemic, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ wealth has grown by $24 billion, while frontline Amazon workers who have protested for protective equipment, hazard pay, and expanded sick leave have been fired in retaliation. Although the relief bill that was recently signed will provide short-term support for some workers at Uber, Lyft, Postmates, Instacart, and Amazon, many of these workers are not entitled to workers’ compensation, health care benefits, or sick pay.
This webinar explored the demand for workers protections during COVID-19, as well as the advocacy strategies that are being used – from walk-outs to the demand for the creation of employer generation hardship funds – as well as the long-term goal of permanent protections for workers.
COVID-19 has exposed the susceptibility of our democratic processes to digital shortcomings, including increasing uncertainty around the ability to carry out free, fair, and safe elections in 2020 as well as the already present challenges of a high tech census. Across the country, advocates and campaigns are also facing a new reality as community education, outreach, and offline mobilization grinds to a halt, and organizations must rely on digital formats to carry out their work plans.
This webinar explored the ways in which our democratic institutions are being forced to adapt quickly to the new environment posed by COVID-19, including digital security threats and other concerns related to civil society moving to exclusively digital formats.
As millions of homebound professionals, students, and more have become completely dependent on digital technologies to continue their lives and work, digital equity has never been more pressing. 141 million people in the US, nearly 43% of the population, don’t have home internet access at the FCC’s 25 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up broadband definition. While bridging the ‘digital divide’ is now imperative for remote work, education, and telehealth, the recent COVID-19 stimulus act did not address the need for internet access, raising the stakes for future relief bills.
This webinar explored these and other issues and how public interest organizations and advocates are seeking to immediately address the digital divide through campaigns, legislation, and future inclusion in stimulus bills.
We find ourselves in a challenging and uncertain time as the COVID-19 pandemic crisis grows in the US and around the world. Despite efforts by governments and the public to take significant protective measures, we cannot be sure how long the crisis will last or what the final impact of the pandemic will be on the world and different communities.
The NetGain Partnership is deeply concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on technology and society, especially as the crisis exacerbates economic and social inequities across the world and challenges our democratic institutions. There is a significant need for funders and civil society organizations to access critical information to help them understand the current and future impacts of COVID-19 on society and the unique role that technology and the internet are playing as the crisis continues. To meet this need, the NetGain Partnership hosted a series of webinars, for both funders and grantees, to explore technological issues and harms that have emerged as a result of COVID-19 and actionable responses from civil society to address them.
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Join Mozilla for an evening of art, technology, and community as we announce the 2018 Mozilla Creative Media Award recipients! Seven new awardee artists will present short talks on their approaches to using screen-based media to grow public awareness of the challenges and opportunities of artificial intelligence. The program will be followed by a cocktail and networking reception. Space is limited to 75 attendees.
Refiguring the Future: A NetGain Event was hosted on May 3, 2018 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
Please click here to view the live recording of the event.
This unique public program hosted by the NetGain Partnership explored the role of artists in critically examining the social impacts of artificial intelligence and related technologies, and highlighted how the arts can help us refigure the future. The event was the public launch of REFRESH, a new initiative that supports the work of women and women identified artists, especially women of color, LGBTQ+ artists, and artists with disabilities, with the aim of fostering creation of more diverse work in the field of art, science, and technology.
The NetGain Internet of Things (IoT) Conference was held at the New York Public Library in Manhattan on Friday, April 21, 2017. The event was livestreamed here.
Through a series of panel discussions, we will explore public interest issues surrounding IoT. What are the privacy and security issues that could arise from this new technology? How should we be thinking about public education and consumer advocacy? And how are cities leveraging sensor-based technology to improve services?
