Description
Tech Policy Press is a nonprofit media and community venture intended to provoke new ideas, debate and discussion at the intersection of technology and democracy.
You can find us at https://techpolicy.press/, where you can join the newsletter.
Episodes
- 2025 / 7 / 13How the EU's Voluntary AI Code is Testing Industry and Regulators AlikeLast week, following months of negotiation and just weeks before the first legal deadlines under the EU AI Act take effect, the European Commission published the final Code of Practice on General-Purpose AI....
- 2025 / 7 / 13How US States Are Shaping AI Policy Amid Federal Debate and Industry PushbackIn the United States, state legislatures are key players in shaping artificial intelligence policy, as lawmakers attempt to navigate a thicket of politics surrounding complex issues ranging from AI safety,...
- 2025 / 7 / 6Protecting Privacy and Dissent in an Age of Authoritarianism and AIHelen Nissenbaum, a philosopher, is a professor at Cornell Tech and in the Information Science Department at Cornell University. She is director of the Digital Life Initiative at Cornell Tech, which was...
- 2025 / 7 / 6Considering the Human Rights Impacts of LLM Content ModerationAt Tech Policy Press we’ve been tracking the emerging application of generative AI systems in content moderation. Recently, the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) released a comprehensive report...
- 2025 / 6 / 29Interrogating Tech Power and Democratic CrisisIf you’ve been reading Tech Policy Press closely over the last three weeks, you may have come across one or more posts from collaboration with Data & Society called “Ideologies of Control: A Series...
- 2025 / 6 / 22Through to Thriving: Honoring Our Elders with Dr. Timnit GebruFor a special series of episodes dubbed Through to Thriving that will air throughout the year, Tech Policy Press fellow Anika Collier Navaroli is hosting discussions intended to help us imagine possible...
- 2025 / 6 / 15AI Companions and the LawConcerns about AI chatbots delivering harmful, even profoundly dangerous advice or instructions to users is growing. There is deep concern over the effects of these interactions on children, and a growing...
- 2025 / 6 / 15Addressing Questions Over Europe's AI Act, Digital Sovereignty, and MoreIn Europe, the digital regulatory landscape is in flux. Over the past few years, the EU has positioned itself as a global leader in tech regulation, rolling out landmark laws like the AI Act. But now, as the...
- 2025 / 6 / 8Technology, Labor Rights, and Political Power in Kenya and Across AfricaIn this episode, Justin Hendrix speaks with Nerima Wako-Ojiwa, director of Siasa Place, and Odanga Madung, a tech and society researcher and journalist, about the intersection of technology, labor rights, and...
- 2025 / 6 / 8Through to Thriving: Journeying to Joy with Dr. Desmond Upton PattonFor a special series of episodes dubbed Through to Thriving that will air throughout the year, Tech Policy Press fellow Anika Collier Navaroli is hosting discussions intended to help us imagine possible...
- 2025 / 6 / 6Canada's Post-Election Outlook on Tech PolicyCanadian political leaders are in a precarious moment. Fresh off the resignation of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and ascendancy of his successor, new Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Mark...
- 2025 / 6 / 1Taking on the AI ConEmily M. Bender and Alex Hanna are the authors of a new book that The Guardian calls “refreshingly sarcastic” and Business Insider calls a “funny and irreverent deconstruction of AI.” They are also occasional...
- 2025 / 6 / 1Assessing the Relationship Between Information Ecosystems and Democracy's WoesEarlier this year, an entity called the Observatory on Information and Democracy released a major report called INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS AND TROUBLED DEMOCRACY: A Global Synthesis of the State of Knowledge on...
- 2025 / 5 / 29An Interview with California's New State Chief Technology Innovation OfficerIn February, California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Vera Zakem as California’s State Chief Technology Innovation Officer at the California Department of Technology. Zakem brings deep experience...
- 2025 / 5 / 29Considering a New 'Civil Rights Approach to AI'On May 29, the Center for Civil Rights and Technology at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights released its Innovation Framework, which it calls a “new guiding document for companies...
- 2025 / 5 / 25A 10-Year Moratorium on Enforcing State AI Laws?On Thursday, May 22, the United States House of Representatives narrowly advanced a budget bill that included the "Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology Modernization Initiative," which includes...
- 2025 / 5 / 23Decolonizing the Future: Karen Hao on Resisting the Empire of AIIn his New York Times review of the book, Columbia Law School professor and former White House official Tim Wu calls journalist Karen Hao’s new book, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s...
- 2025 / 5 / 18What the History of Internet Governance Tells Us About the Future of Tech PolicyToday’s guest is Milton L. Mueller, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the School of Public Policy and the head of an advocacy policy analysis group called the Internet Governance Project....
- 2025 / 5 / 13Between Borders and Lies: Fact-Checkers on Navigating the India-Pakistan ConflictIn the wake of the most intense India-Pakistan escalation in two decades, experts are still trying to make sense of the role that the information war played in the physical one. In this episode, Tech Policy...
- 2025 / 5 / 11Taking Stock of the Google Search Remedies TrialLast year, a United States federal judge ruled that Google is a monopolist in the market for online search. For the past three weeks, the company and the Justice Department have been in court to hash out what...
- 2025 / 5 / 6xAI's Memphis Neighbors Push for Facts and FairnessLast year, Elon Musk's xAI set up its "Colossus" supercomputer in an old Electrolux manufacturing facility in Memphis, Tennessee. Now, the residents of nearby neighborhoods are pushing for facts and fair...
- 2025 / 5 / 4How Venture Capital Warps the WorldCatherine Bracy is a civic technologist and community organizer whose work focuses on the intersection of technology and political and economic inequality. Justin Hendrix spoke with her about her new...
- 2025 / 4 / 27Adam Becker Takes Aim at Silicon Valley NonsenseFrom visions of AI paradise to the project to defeat death, many dangerous and unscientific ideas are driving Silicon Valley leaders. Justin Hendrix spoke to Adam Becker, a science journalist and author of...
- 2025 / 4 / 20Through to Thriving: Building Community with Ellen PaoFor a special series of episodes that will air throughout the year, Tech Policy Press fellow Anika Collier Navaroli is hosting a series of discussions intended to help us imagine possible futures—for tech and...
- 2025 / 4 / 16Researchers Defend the Scientific Consensus on Bias and Discrimination in AILast month, a group of researchers published a letter “Affirming the Scientific Consensus on Bias and Discrimination in AI.” The letter, published at a time when the Trump administration is rolling back...
- 2025 / 4 / 13A Guide to the FTC's Case Against MetaOn Monday, April 14, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will kick off its trial against Meta. In process for years, the case is over whether Mark Zuckerberg’s company has an illegal monopoly over social...
- 2025 / 4 / 8What We Don't Know About DSA EnforcementOn April 4, The New York Times reported that the European Commission is considering finding X, formerly Twitter, as part of its ongoing DSA investigation, which began in 2023. Tech Policy Press has discussed...
- 2025 / 4 / 6DOGE and the United States of AIAcross the United States and in some cities abroad yesterday, protestors took to the streets to resist the policies of US President Donald Trump. Dubbed the "Hands Off" protests, over 1,400 events took place,...
- 2025 / 3 / 30Part 2: Technology, Democracy, and Power—Journalism’s Role in a Time of CrisisOn Tuesday, March 25th, Tech Policy Press hosted a webinar discussion to talk shop with others on the tech and democracy beat. We gathered seven colleagues from around the world to explore how tech...
- 2025 / 3 / 30Part 1: Technology, Democracy, and Power—Journalism’s Role in a Time of CrisisOn Tuesday, March 25th, Tech Policy Press hosted a webinar discussion to talk shop with others on the tech and democracy beat. We gathered seven colleagues from around the world to explore how tech...
- 2025 / 3 / 27About that Signal ChatEvery now and again, a story that has a significant technology element really breaks through and drives the news cycle. This week, the Trump administration is reeling after The Atlantic magazine's Jeffrey...
- 2025 / 3 / 25A Conversation with Alvaro Bedoya on Trump's FTC FiringsLast week, President Donald Trump ordered the firing of two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission, an independent agency that enforces federal consumer protection and competition laws and that,...
- 2025 / 3 / 23Is an Anti-Fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence Possible?What is necessary to develop a future that is less hospitable to authoritarianism and, indeed, to fascism? How do we build collective power against authoritarian forms of corporate and state power? Is an...
- 2025 / 3 / 16A Conversation with Dr. Alondra Nelson on AI and DemocracyDr. Alondra Nelson holds the Harold F. Linder Chair and leads the Science, Technology, and Social Values Lab at the Institute for Advanced Study, where she has served on the faculty since 2019. From...
- 2025 / 3 / 9Should AGI Really Be the Goal of Artificial Intelligence Research?The goal of achieving "artificial general intelligence," or AGI, is shared by many in the AI field. OpenAI’s charter defines AGI as "highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically...
- 2025 / 3 / 9Assessing Europe's Digital Markets Act One Year InA year ago, Europe’s Digital Markets Act—the DMA—went into effect. The European Commission says the purpose of the regulation is to make “digital markets in the EU more contestable and fairer.” In...
- 2025 / 3 / 6Promising Opportunities, Distinct Risks: AI and Digital Public SquaresCould AI help design better, more democratic platforms and online environments for public discourse? What are the opportunities, challenges, and risks of deploying AI in contexts where people are engaged in...
- 2025 / 3 / 3Building Middleware for Bluesky: A Conversation with Blacksky Founder Rudy FraserOn this podcast, we regularly engage with questions about redesigning social media networks to make them more democratic, pluralist, and prosocial. One hypothesis people have about how to do that is through...
- 2025 / 3 / 2Inocencia en Juego: An Investigation into Groups Targeting Children on FacebookLast week, Tech Policy Press joined the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (EL CLIP) in publishing a report and series of articles documenting how adult users use public Facebook...
- 2025 / 2 / 28Watching the Watchers: The Future of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight BoardOn January 22, President Donald Trump terminated all three Democratic members of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), an intelligence watchdog charged with monitoring the United States...
- 2025 / 2 / 23Evaluating the First Systemic Risk and Audit Reports Under the Digital Services ActTech Policy Press Associate Editor Ramsha Jahangir hosts a roundtable discussion on the first systemic risk assessments and independent audit reports from Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines...
- 2025 / 2 / 23Digital Rights Activists in Taiwan Driven by Memory and Threat of AuthoritarianismThis week, RightsCon, which bills itself as "the world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age," descends on Taipei. To better understand the dynamics in the civil society community working...
- 2025 / 2 / 16Paths Diverge at the Paris AI SummitAt the Paris AI Action Summit on February 10-11, remarks by EU and US leaders indicated significant divergence on how to think about AI. But on balance, nations are moving decisively toward innovation and...
- 2025 / 2 / 9A National Heist? Evaluating Elon Musk’s March Through WashingtonAs Donald Trump’s second presidency enters its third week, Elon Musk is center stage as the Department of Government Efficiency moves to gut federal agencies. In this episode, Justin Hendrix speaks...
- 2025 / 2 / 9Online Lives, Space and Place: Exploring the Mobile CityOver the last two decades, as Berlin reinvented itself as a "creative city," social media both mirrored and shaped shifting social landscapes—offering new possibilities while also reinforcing inequalities....
- 2025 / 2 / 2The Dangerous Combination of Technology and CapitalismJustin Hendrix speaks with Jathan Sadowski, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia; co-host of This Machine Kills, a weekly podcast on...
- 2025 / 1 / 28DeepSeek Prompts a RethinkIf Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s efficiency and performance achievements stand up to scrutiny, it could have big implications for the AI race. It could call into question the strategic approach that the...
- 2025 / 1 / 26Evaluating Trump's First Moves on TechFrom Executive Orders on AI and cryptocurrency to "ending federal censorship," President Donald Trump had a busy first week in the White House. Justin Hendrix discussed the news with Damon Beres, a senior...
- 2025 / 1 / 19What's New at RightsCon? And How to Free Our FeedsThis episode features two segments. First, we hear from Nikki Gladstone, director of Rightscon, the annual conference organized by Access Now on issues at the intersection of human rights and...
- 2025 / 1 / 18The Dumbest Timeline: The Supreme Court Rules on TikTokToday- Friday, January 17, 2025 - the US Supreme Court delivered its order upholding the constitutionality of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, a law...