{"id":327990,"date":"2021-05-28T16:24:54","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T20:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?p=327990"},"modified":"2024-01-11T20:23:55","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T01:23:55","slug":"fixing-the-internet-requires-cultural-shift-says-fran-berman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2021\/05\/fixing-the-internet-requires-cultural-shift-says-fran-berman\/","title":{"rendered":"Fixing the internet will require a cultural shift"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\n
\"Illustration

Photo illustration by Judy Blomquist\/Harvard Staff<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t

\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tNation & World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t

\n\t\tFixing the internet will require a cultural shift\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\tColleen Walsh\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tPrioritize public interest over profit with tech innovation, social and regulatory controls, expert says\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
\n

Solutions<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

How can we regulate the internet in a way that lets us reap the game-changing benefits and avoid the equally huge risks?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A Q&A with Francine Berman<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n

In this series, the Gazette asks Harvard experts for concrete solutions to complex problems. Francine Berman<\/a>, the Edward P. Hamilton Distinguished Professor in Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Berman\u2019s current work focuses on the social and environmental impacts of information technology, and in particular of the Internet of Things \u2014 a deeply interconnected ecosystem of billions of everyday things linked through the web.<\/em><\/p>\n

GAZETTE<\/strong>:<\/strong> Do you think the internet has been a force for good in the world?<\/p>\n

BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> Yes and no. What the internet and information technologies have brought us is tremendous power. Tech has become critical infrastructure for modern life. It saved our lives during the pandemic, providing the only way for many to go to school, work, or see family and friends. It also enabled election manipulation, the rapid spread of misinformation, and the growth of radicalism.<\/p>\n

Are digital technologies good or evil? The same internet supports both Pornhub and CDC.gov, Goodreads and Parler.com. The digital world we experience is a fusion of tech innovation and social controls. For cyberspace to be a force for good, it will require a societal shift in how we develop, use, and oversee tech, a reprioritization of the public interest over private profit.<\/p>\n

Fundamentally, it is the public sector\u2019s responsibility to create the social controls that promote the use of tech for good rather than for exploitation, manipulation, misinformation, and worse. Doing so is enormously complex and requires a change in the broader culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest.<\/p>\n

GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> How do we change the culture of tech opportunism?<\/p>\n

BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change \u2014 no single law, federal agency, institutional policy, or set of practices will do it, although all are needed. It\u2019s a long, hard slog. Changing from a culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest will require many and sustained efforts on a number of fronts, just like we are experiencing now as we work hard to change from a culture of discrimination to a culture of inclusion.<\/p>\n

That being said, we need to create the building blocks for culture change now \u2014 pro-active short-term solutions, foundational long-term solutions, and serious efforts to develop strategies for challenges that we don\u2019t yet know how to address.<\/p>\n

In the short term, government must take the lead. There are a lot of horror stories \u2014 false arrest based on bad facial recognition, data-brokered lists of rape victims, intruders screaming at babies from connected baby monitors \u2014 but there is surprisingly little consensus about what digital protections \u2014 specific expectations for privacy, security, safety, and the like \u2014 U.S. citizens should have.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

“It\u2019s hard to solve problems online that you haven\u2019t solved in the real world. Moreover, legislation isn\u2019t useful if the solution isn\u2019t clear.”<\/p>\nFrancine Berman<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We need to fix that. Europe\u2019s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is based on a well-articulated set of digital rights of European Union citizens. In the U.S. we have some specific digital rights \u2014 privacy of health and financial data, privacy of children\u2019s online data \u2014 but these rights are largely piecemeal. What are the digital privacy rights of consumers? What are the expectations for the security and safety of digital systems and devices used as critical infrastructure?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specificity is important here because to be effective, social protections must be embedded in technical architectures. If a federal law were passed tomorrow that said that consumers must opt in to personal data collection by digital consumer services, Google and Netflix would have to change their systems (and their business models) to allow users this kind of discretion. There would be trade-offs for consumers who did not opt in: Google\u2019s search would become more generic, and Netflix\u2019s recommendations wouldn\u2019t be well-tailored to your interests. But there would also be upsides \u2014 opt-in rules put consumers in the driver\u2019s seat and give them greater control over the privacy of their information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once a base set of digital rights for citizens is specified, a federal agency should be created with regulatory and enforcement power to protect those rights. The FDA was created to promote the safety of our food and drugs. OSHA was created to promote the safety of our workplaces.  Today, there is more public scrutiny about the safety of the lettuce you buy at the grocery store than there is about the security of the software you download from the internet. Current bills in Congress that call for a Data Protection Agency, similar to the Data Protection Authorities required by the GDPR, could create needed oversight and enforcement of digital protections in cyberspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional legislation that penalizes companies, rather than consumers, for failure to protect consumer digital rights could also do more to incentivize the private sector to promote the public interest. If your credit card is stolen, the company, not the cardholder, largely pays the price. Penalizing companies with meaningful fines and holding company personnel legally accountable \u2014 particularly those in the C suite \u2014 provide strong incentives for companies to strengthen consumer protections. Refocusing company priorities would positively contribute to shifting us from a culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> Is specific legislation needed to solve some of today\u2019s thorniest challenges \u2014misinformation on social media, fake news, and the like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> It\u2019s hard to solve problems online that you haven\u2019t solved in the real world. Moreover, legislation isn\u2019t useful if the solution isn\u2019t clear. At the root of our problems with misinformation and fake news online is the tremendous challenge of automating trust, truth, and ethics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social media largely removes context from information, and with it, many of the cues that enable us to vet what we hear. Online, we probably don\u2019t know whom we\u2019re talking with or where they got their information. There is a lot of piling on. In real life, we have ways to vet information, assess credentials from context, and utilize conversational dynamics to evaluate what we\u2019re hearing. Few of those things are present in social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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“There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change,” says Berman. “It\u2019s a long, hard slog.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer <\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Fran<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Harnessing the tremendous power of tech is hard for everyone. Social media companies are struggling with their role as platform providers (where they are not responsible for content) versus their role as content modulators (where they commit to taking down hate speech, information that incites violence, etc.). They\u2019ve yet to develop good solutions to the content-modulation problem. Crowdsourcing (allowing the crowd to determine what is valuable), third-party vetting (employing a fact-checking service), advisory groups, and citizen-based editorial boards all have truth, trust, and scale challenges. (Twitter alone hosts 500 million tweets per day<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tremendous challenges of promoting the benefits and avoiding the risks of digital technologies aren\u2019t just Silicon Valley\u2019s problem. The solutions will need to come from sustained public-private discussions with the goal of developing protective strategies for the public. This approach was successful in setting the original digital rights agenda for Europe, ultimately leading to multiple digital rights initiatives and the GDPR. While GDPR has been far from perfect in both conceptualization and enforcement, it was a critical step toward a culture of technology in the public interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GAZETTE:<\/strong> <\/strong>What do you see as foundational longer-term solutions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BERMAN:<\/strong> <\/strong>Today it is largely impossible to thrive in a digital world without knowledge and experience with technology and its impacts on society. In effect, this knowledge has become a general education requirement for effective citizenship and leadership in the 21st century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it should be a general education requirement in educational institutions, especially in higher ed, which serve as a last stop before many professional careers. Currently, forward-looking universities, including Harvard, are creating courses, concentrations, minors, and majors in public interest technology \u2014 an emerging area focused on the social impacts of technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education in public interest technology is more than just extra computer science courses. It involves interdisciplinary courses that focus on the broader impacts of technology \u2014 on personal freedom, on communities, on economics, etc. \u2014 with the purpose of developing the critical thinking needed to make informed choices about technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And students are hungry for these courses and the skills they offer. Students who have taken courses and clinics in public interest technology are better positioned to be knowledgeable next-generation policymakers, public servants, and business professionals who may design and determine how tech services are developed and products are used. With an understanding of how technology works and how it impacts the common good, they can better promote a culture of tech in the public interest, rather than tech opportunism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interview was edited for clarity and length.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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computer.","mediaHeight":1666,"mediaId":328008,"mediaType":"image","mediaUrl":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Berman.jpg","mediaWidth":2500,"poster":"","subheading":"Prioritize public interest over profit with tech innovation, social and regulatory controls, expert says","title":"Fixing the internet will require a cultural shift","className":"is-style-full-width-text-below","backgroundFixed":false,"backgroundTone":"light","coloredBackground":false,"coloredHeading":true,"displayDetails":"","displayOverlay":true,"displayTitle":"","fadeInText":false,"isAmbient":false,"mediaCaption":"","mediaLength":"","mediaPosition":"","mediaSize":"header-full","posterText":"","titleAbove":false,"useUncroppedImage":false,"lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"Illustration of woman at computer.\" height=\"1666\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Berman.jpg\" width=\"2500\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Photo illustration by Judy Blomquist\/Harvard Staff<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","innerContent":["\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"Illustration of woman at computer.\" height=\"1666\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Berman.jpg\" width=\"2500\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Photo illustration by Judy Blomquist\/Harvard Staff<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n"],"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-full-width-text-below centered-image\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"Illustration of woman at computer.\" height=\"1666\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Berman.jpg\" width=\"2500\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Photo illustration by Judy Blomquist\/Harvard Staff<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tNation & World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tFixing the internet will require a cultural shift\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tColleen Walsh\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2021-05-28\">\n\t\t\tMay 28, 2021\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t8 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tPrioritize public interest over profit with tech innovation, social and regulatory controls, expert says\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"center"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/heading","attrs":{"textAlign":"","content":"<span style=\"color: #be004b;\">Solutions<\/span>","level":2,"levelOptions":[],"placeholder":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-solutions\"><span style=\"color: #be004b;\">Solutions<\/span><\/h2>\n","innerContent":["\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-solutions\"><span style=\"color: #be004b;\">Solutions<\/span><\/h2>\n"],"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-solutions\"><span style=\"color: #be004b;\">Solutions<\/span><\/h2>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/heading","attrs":{"textAlign":"","content":"<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> How can we regulate the internet in a way that lets us reap the game-changing benefits and avoid the equally huge risks?<\/span>","level":2,"levelOptions":[],"placeholder":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-can-we-regulate-the-internet-in-a-way-that-lets-us-reap-the-game-changing-benefits-and-avoid-the-equally-huge-risks\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> How can we regulate the internet in a way that lets us reap the game-changing benefits and avoid the equally huge risks?<\/span><\/h2>\n","innerContent":["\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-can-we-regulate-the-internet-in-a-way-that-lets-us-reap-the-game-changing-benefits-and-avoid-the-equally-huge-risks\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> How can we regulate the internet in a way that lets us reap the game-changing benefits and avoid the equally huge risks?<\/span><\/h2>\n"],"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-can-we-regulate-the-internet-in-a-way-that-lets-us-reap-the-game-changing-benefits-and-avoid-the-equally-huge-risks\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> How can we regulate the internet in a way that lets us reap the game-changing benefits and avoid the equally huge risks?<\/span><\/h2>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/heading","attrs":{"level":3,"textAlign":"","content":"<span style=\"color: #be004b;\">A Q&A with Francine Berman<\/span>","levelOptions":[],"placeholder":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-q-amp-a-with-francine-berman\"><span style=\"color: #be004b;\">A Q&A with Francine Berman<\/span><\/h3>\n","innerContent":["\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-q-amp-a-with-francine-berman\"><span style=\"color: #be004b;\">A Q&A with Francine Berman<\/span><\/h3>\n"],"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-q-amp-a-with-francine-berman\"><span style=\"color: #be004b;\">A Q&A with Francine Berman<\/span><\/h3>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/html","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<p><em>In this series, the Gazette asks Harvard experts for concrete solutions to complex problems. <a href=\"https:\/\/cyber.harvard.edu\/people\/francine-berman\">Francine Berman<\/a>, the Edward P. Hamilton Distinguished Professor in Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Berman\u2019s current work focuses on the social and environmental impacts of information technology, and in particular of the Internet of Things \u2014 a deeply interconnected ecosystem of billions of everyday things linked through the web.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE<\/strong>:<\/strong> Do you think the internet has been a force for good in the world?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> Yes and no. What the internet and information technologies have brought us is tremendous power. Tech has become critical infrastructure for modern life. It saved our lives during the pandemic, providing the only way for many to go to school, work, or see family and friends. It also enabled election manipulation, the rapid spread of misinformation, and the growth of radicalism.<\/p>\n<p>Are digital technologies good or evil? The same internet supports both Pornhub and CDC.gov, Goodreads and Parler.com. The digital world we experience is a fusion of tech innovation and social controls. For cyberspace to be a force for good, it will require a societal shift in how we develop, use, and oversee tech, a reprioritization of the public interest over private profit.<\/p>\n<p>Fundamentally, it is the public sector\u2019s responsibility to create the social controls that promote the use of tech for good rather than for exploitation, manipulation, misinformation, and worse. Doing so is enormously complex and requires a change in the broader culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest.<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> How do we change the culture of tech opportunism?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change \u2014 no single law, federal agency, institutional policy, or set of practices will do it, although all are needed. It\u2019s a long, hard slog. Changing from a culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest will require many and sustained efforts on a number of fronts, just like we are experiencing now as we work hard to change from a culture of discrimination to a culture of inclusion.<\/p>\n<p>That being said, we need to create the building blocks for culture change now \u2014 pro-active short-term solutions, foundational long-term solutions, and serious efforts to develop strategies for challenges that we don\u2019t yet know how to address.<\/p>\n<p>In the short term, government must take the lead. There are a lot of horror stories \u2014 false arrest based on bad facial recognition, data-brokered lists of rape victims, intruders screaming at babies from connected baby monitors \u2014 but there is surprisingly little consensus about what digital protections \u2014 specific expectations for privacy, security, safety, and the like \u2014 U.S. citizens should have.<\/p><\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<p><em>In this series, the Gazette asks Harvard experts for concrete solutions to complex problems. <a href=\"https:\/\/cyber.harvard.edu\/people\/francine-berman\">Francine Berman<\/a>, the Edward P. Hamilton Distinguished Professor in Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Berman\u2019s current work focuses on the social and environmental impacts of information technology, and in particular of the Internet of Things \u2014 a deeply interconnected ecosystem of billions of everyday things linked through the web.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE<\/strong>:<\/strong> Do you think the internet has been a force for good in the world?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> Yes and no. What the internet and information technologies have brought us is tremendous power. Tech has become critical infrastructure for modern life. It saved our lives during the pandemic, providing the only way for many to go to school, work, or see family and friends. It also enabled election manipulation, the rapid spread of misinformation, and the growth of radicalism.<\/p>\n<p>Are digital technologies good or evil? The same internet supports both Pornhub and CDC.gov, Goodreads and Parler.com. The digital world we experience is a fusion of tech innovation and social controls. For cyberspace to be a force for good, it will require a societal shift in how we develop, use, and oversee tech, a reprioritization of the public interest over private profit.<\/p>\n<p>Fundamentally, it is the public sector\u2019s responsibility to create the social controls that promote the use of tech for good rather than for exploitation, manipulation, misinformation, and worse. Doing so is enormously complex and requires a change in the broader culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest.<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> How do we change the culture of tech opportunism?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change \u2014 no single law, federal agency, institutional policy, or set of practices will do it, although all are needed. It\u2019s a long, hard slog. Changing from a culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest will require many and sustained efforts on a number of fronts, just like we are experiencing now as we work hard to change from a culture of discrimination to a culture of inclusion.<\/p>\n<p>That being said, we need to create the building blocks for culture change now \u2014 pro-active short-term solutions, foundational long-term solutions, and serious efforts to develop strategies for challenges that we don\u2019t yet know how to address.<\/p>\n<p>In the short term, government must take the lead. There are a lot of horror stories \u2014 false arrest based on bad facial recognition, data-brokered lists of rape victims, intruders screaming at babies from connected baby monitors \u2014 but there is surprisingly little consensus about what digital protections \u2014 specific expectations for privacy, security, safety, and the like \u2014 U.S. citizens should have.<\/p><\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<p><em>In this series, the Gazette asks Harvard experts for concrete solutions to complex problems. <a href=\"https:\/\/cyber.harvard.edu\/people\/francine-berman\">Francine Berman<\/a>, the Edward P. Hamilton Distinguished Professor in Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Berman\u2019s current work focuses on the social and environmental impacts of information technology, and in particular of the Internet of Things \u2014 a deeply interconnected ecosystem of billions of everyday things linked through the web.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE<\/strong>:<\/strong> Do you think the internet has been a force for good in the world?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> Yes and no. What the internet and information technologies have brought us is tremendous power. Tech has become critical infrastructure for modern life. It saved our lives during the pandemic, providing the only way for many to go to school, work, or see family and friends. It also enabled election manipulation, the rapid spread of misinformation, and the growth of radicalism.<\/p>\n<p>Are digital technologies good or evil? The same internet supports both Pornhub and CDC.gov, Goodreads and Parler.com. The digital world we experience is a fusion of tech innovation and social controls. For cyberspace to be a force for good, it will require a societal shift in how we develop, use, and oversee tech, a reprioritization of the public interest over private profit.<\/p>\n<p>Fundamentally, it is the public sector\u2019s responsibility to create the social controls that promote the use of tech for good rather than for exploitation, manipulation, misinformation, and worse. Doing so is enormously complex and requires a change in the broader culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest.<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> How do we change the culture of tech opportunism?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change \u2014 no single law, federal agency, institutional policy, or set of practices will do it, although all are needed. It\u2019s a long, hard slog. Changing from a culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest will require many and sustained efforts on a number of fronts, just like we are experiencing now as we work hard to change from a culture of discrimination to a culture of inclusion.<\/p>\n<p>That being said, we need to create the building blocks for culture change now \u2014 pro-active short-term solutions, foundational long-term solutions, and serious efforts to develop strategies for challenges that we don\u2019t yet know how to address.<\/p>\n<p>In the short term, government must take the lead. There are a lot of horror stories \u2014 false arrest based on bad facial recognition, data-brokered lists of rape victims, intruders screaming at babies from connected baby monitors \u2014 but there is surprisingly little consensus about what digital protections \u2014 specific expectations for privacy, security, safety, and the like \u2014 U.S. citizens should have.<\/p><\/div>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/quote","attrs":{"value":"<cite>Francine Berman<\/cite>","citation":"Francine Berman","textAlign":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","layout":[],"anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"\"It\u2019s hard to solve problems online that you haven\u2019t solved in the real world. Moreover, legislation isn\u2019t useful if the solution isn\u2019t clear.\"","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>\"It\u2019s hard to solve problems online that you haven\u2019t solved in the real world. Moreover, legislation isn\u2019t useful if the solution isn\u2019t clear.\"<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>\"It\u2019s hard to solve problems online that you haven\u2019t solved in the real world. Moreover, legislation isn\u2019t useful if the solution isn\u2019t clear.\"<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>\"It\u2019s hard to solve problems online that you haven\u2019t solved in the real world. Moreover, legislation isn\u2019t useful if the solution isn\u2019t clear.\"<\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><cite>Francine Berman<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n","innerContent":["\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">","<cite>Francine Berman<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n"],"rendered":"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\"It\u2019s hard to solve problems online that you haven\u2019t solved in the real world. Moreover, legislation isn\u2019t useful if the solution isn\u2019t clear.\"<\/p>\n<cite>Francine Berman<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"We need to fix that. Europe\u2019s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is based on a well-articulated set of digital rights of European Union citizens. In the U.S. we have some specific digital rights \u2014 privacy of health and financial data, privacy of children\u2019s online data \u2014 but these rights are largely piecemeal. What are the digital privacy rights of consumers? What are the expectations for the security and safety of digital systems and devices used as critical infrastructure?","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>We need to fix that. Europe\u2019s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is based on a well-articulated set of digital rights of European Union citizens. In the U.S. we have some specific digital rights \u2014 privacy of health and financial data, privacy of children\u2019s online data \u2014 but these rights are largely piecemeal. What are the digital privacy rights of consumers? What are the expectations for the security and safety of digital systems and devices used as critical infrastructure?<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>We need to fix that. Europe\u2019s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is based on a well-articulated set of digital rights of European Union citizens. In the U.S. we have some specific digital rights \u2014 privacy of health and financial data, privacy of children\u2019s online data \u2014 but these rights are largely piecemeal. What are the digital privacy rights of consumers? What are the expectations for the security and safety of digital systems and devices used as critical infrastructure?<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>We need to fix that. Europe\u2019s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is based on a well-articulated set of digital rights of European Union citizens. In the U.S. we have some specific digital rights \u2014 privacy of health and financial data, privacy of children\u2019s online data \u2014 but these rights are largely piecemeal. What are the digital privacy rights of consumers? What are the expectations for the security and safety of digital systems and devices used as critical infrastructure?<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"Specificity is important here because to be effective, social protections must be embedded in technical architectures. If a federal law were passed tomorrow that said that consumers must opt in to personal data collection by digital consumer services, Google and Netflix would have to change their systems (and their business models) to allow users this kind of discretion. There would be trade-offs for consumers who did not opt in: Google\u2019s search would become more generic, and Netflix\u2019s recommendations wouldn\u2019t be well-tailored to your interests. But there would also be upsides \u2014 opt-in rules put consumers in the driver\u2019s seat and give them greater control over the privacy of their information.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>Specificity is important here because to be effective, social protections must be embedded in technical architectures. If a federal law were passed tomorrow that said that consumers must opt in to personal data collection by digital consumer services, Google and Netflix would have to change their systems (and their business models) to allow users this kind of discretion. There would be trade-offs for consumers who did not opt in: Google\u2019s search would become more generic, and Netflix\u2019s recommendations wouldn\u2019t be well-tailored to your interests. But there would also be upsides \u2014 opt-in rules put consumers in the driver\u2019s seat and give them greater control over the privacy of their information.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>Specificity is important here because to be effective, social protections must be embedded in technical architectures. If a federal law were passed tomorrow that said that consumers must opt in to personal data collection by digital consumer services, Google and Netflix would have to change their systems (and their business models) to allow users this kind of discretion. There would be trade-offs for consumers who did not opt in: Google\u2019s search would become more generic, and Netflix\u2019s recommendations wouldn\u2019t be well-tailored to your interests. But there would also be upsides \u2014 opt-in rules put consumers in the driver\u2019s seat and give them greater control over the privacy of their information.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>Specificity is important here because to be effective, social protections must be embedded in technical architectures. If a federal law were passed tomorrow that said that consumers must opt in to personal data collection by digital consumer services, Google and Netflix would have to change their systems (and their business models) to allow users this kind of discretion. There would be trade-offs for consumers who did not opt in: Google\u2019s search would become more generic, and Netflix\u2019s recommendations wouldn\u2019t be well-tailored to your interests. But there would also be upsides \u2014 opt-in rules put consumers in the driver\u2019s seat and give them greater control over the privacy of their information.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"Once a base set of digital rights for citizens is specified, a federal agency should be created with regulatory and enforcement power to protect those rights. The FDA was created to promote the safety of our food and drugs. OSHA was created to promote the safety of our workplaces.\u00a0 Today, there is more public scrutiny about the safety of the lettuce you buy at the grocery store than there is about the security of the software you download from the internet. Current bills in Congress that call for a Data Protection Agency, similar to the Data Protection Authorities required by the GDPR, could create needed oversight and enforcement of digital protections in cyberspace.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>Once a base set of digital rights for citizens is specified, a federal agency should be created with regulatory and enforcement power to protect those rights. The FDA was created to promote the safety of our food and drugs. OSHA was created to promote the safety of our workplaces.  Today, there is more public scrutiny about the safety of the lettuce you buy at the grocery store than there is about the security of the software you download from the internet. Current bills in Congress that call for a Data Protection Agency, similar to the Data Protection Authorities required by the GDPR, could create needed oversight and enforcement of digital protections in cyberspace.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>Once a base set of digital rights for citizens is specified, a federal agency should be created with regulatory and enforcement power to protect those rights. The FDA was created to promote the safety of our food and drugs. OSHA was created to promote the safety of our workplaces.  Today, there is more public scrutiny about the safety of the lettuce you buy at the grocery store than there is about the security of the software you download from the internet. Current bills in Congress that call for a Data Protection Agency, similar to the Data Protection Authorities required by the GDPR, could create needed oversight and enforcement of digital protections in cyberspace.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>Once a base set of digital rights for citizens is specified, a federal agency should be created with regulatory and enforcement power to protect those rights. The FDA was created to promote the safety of our food and drugs. OSHA was created to promote the safety of our workplaces.  Today, there is more public scrutiny about the safety of the lettuce you buy at the grocery store than there is about the security of the software you download from the internet. Current bills in Congress that call for a Data Protection Agency, similar to the Data Protection Authorities required by the GDPR, could create needed oversight and enforcement of digital protections in cyberspace.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"Additional legislation that penalizes companies, rather than consumers, for failure to protect consumer digital rights could also do more to incentivize the private sector to promote the public interest. If your credit card is stolen, the company, not the cardholder, largely pays the price. Penalizing companies with meaningful fines and holding company personnel legally accountable \u2014 particularly those in the C suite \u2014 provide strong incentives for companies to strengthen consumer protections. Refocusing company priorities would positively contribute to shifting us from a culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>Additional legislation that penalizes companies, rather than consumers, for failure to protect consumer digital rights could also do more to incentivize the private sector to promote the public interest. If your credit card is stolen, the company, not the cardholder, largely pays the price. Penalizing companies with meaningful fines and holding company personnel legally accountable \u2014 particularly those in the C suite \u2014 provide strong incentives for companies to strengthen consumer protections. Refocusing company priorities would positively contribute to shifting us from a culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>Additional legislation that penalizes companies, rather than consumers, for failure to protect consumer digital rights could also do more to incentivize the private sector to promote the public interest. If your credit card is stolen, the company, not the cardholder, largely pays the price. Penalizing companies with meaningful fines and holding company personnel legally accountable \u2014 particularly those in the C suite \u2014 provide strong incentives for companies to strengthen consumer protections. Refocusing company priorities would positively contribute to shifting us from a culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>Additional legislation that penalizes companies, rather than consumers, for failure to protect consumer digital rights could also do more to incentivize the private sector to promote the public interest. If your credit card is stolen, the company, not the cardholder, largely pays the price. Penalizing companies with meaningful fines and holding company personnel legally accountable \u2014 particularly those in the C suite \u2014 provide strong incentives for companies to strengthen consumer protections. Refocusing company priorities would positively contribute to shifting us from a culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"<strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> Is specific legislation needed to solve some of today\u2019s thorniest challenges \u2014misinformation on social media, fake news, and the like?","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> Is specific legislation needed to solve some of today\u2019s thorniest challenges \u2014misinformation on social media, fake news, and the like?<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> Is specific legislation needed to solve some of today\u2019s thorniest challenges \u2014misinformation on social media, fake news, and the like?<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> Is specific legislation needed to solve some of today\u2019s thorniest challenges \u2014misinformation on social media, fake news, and the like?<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"<strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> It\u2019s hard to solve problems online that you haven\u2019t solved in the real world. Moreover, legislation isn\u2019t useful if the solution isn\u2019t clear. At the root of our problems with misinformation and fake news online is the tremendous challenge of automating trust, truth, and ethics.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> It\u2019s hard to solve problems online that you haven\u2019t solved in the real world. Moreover, legislation isn\u2019t useful if the solution isn\u2019t clear. At the root of our problems with misinformation and fake news online is the tremendous challenge of automating trust, truth, and ethics.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> It\u2019s hard to solve problems online that you haven\u2019t solved in the real world. Moreover, legislation isn\u2019t useful if the solution isn\u2019t clear. At the root of our problems with misinformation and fake news online is the tremendous challenge of automating trust, truth, and ethics.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> It\u2019s hard to solve problems online that you haven\u2019t solved in the real world. Moreover, legislation isn\u2019t useful if the solution isn\u2019t clear. At the root of our problems with misinformation and fake news online is the tremendous challenge of automating trust, truth, and ethics.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"Social media largely removes context from information, and with it, many of the cues that enable us to vet what we hear. Online, we probably don\u2019t know whom we\u2019re talking with or where they got their information. There is a lot of piling on. In real life, we have ways to vet information, assess credentials from context, and utilize conversational dynamics to evaluate what we\u2019re hearing. Few of those things are present in social media.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>Social media largely removes context from information, and with it, many of the cues that enable us to vet what we hear. Online, we probably don\u2019t know whom we\u2019re talking with or where they got their information. There is a lot of piling on. In real life, we have ways to vet information, assess credentials from context, and utilize conversational dynamics to evaluate what we\u2019re hearing. Few of those things are present in social media.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>Social media largely removes context from information, and with it, many of the cues that enable us to vet what we hear. Online, we probably don\u2019t know whom we\u2019re talking with or where they got their information. There is a lot of piling on. In real life, we have ways to vet information, assess credentials from context, and utilize conversational dynamics to evaluate what we\u2019re hearing. Few of those things are present in social media.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>Social media largely removes context from information, and with it, many of the cues that enable us to vet what we hear. Online, we probably don\u2019t know whom we\u2019re talking with or where they got their information. There is a lot of piling on. In real life, we have ways to vet information, assess credentials from context, and utilize conversational dynamics to evaluate what we\u2019re hearing. Few of those things are present in social media.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"tagName":"figure","align":"wide","className":"wp-block-table","templateLock":null,"lock":[],"metadata":[],"style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","layout":[],"ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/columns","attrs":{"verticalAlignment":"top","className":"alignwide media-cluster","isStackedOnMobile":true,"templateLock":null,"lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","layout":[],"anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/column","attrs":{"verticalAlignment":"top","width":"","templateLock":null,"lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","layout":[],"anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"tagName":"figcaption","className":"wp-element-caption","templateLock":null,"lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","layout":[],"ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"className":"wp-element-caption--caption","align":"","content":"\"There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change,\" says Berman. \"It\u2019s a long, hard slog.\"","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\"There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change,\" says Berman. \"It\u2019s a long, hard slog.\"<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\"There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change,\" says Berman. \"It\u2019s a long, hard slog.\"<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\"There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change,\" says Berman. \"It\u2019s a long, hard slog.\"<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"className":"wp-element-caption--credit","align":"","content":"Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer ","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer <\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer <\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer <\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<figcaption class=\"wp-block-group wp-element-caption\">\n\n<\/figcaption>\n","innerContent":["\n<figcaption class=\"wp-block-group wp-element-caption\">","\n\n","<\/figcaption>\n"],"rendered":"\n<figcaption class=\"wp-block-group wp-element-caption is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\"There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change,\" says Berman. \"It\u2019s a long, hard slog.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer <\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top\"><\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top\">","<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figcaption class=\"wp-block-group wp-element-caption is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\"There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change,\" says Berman. \"It\u2019s a long, hard slog.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer <\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/column","attrs":{"verticalAlignment":"top","width":"","templateLock":null,"lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","layout":[],"anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/image","attrs":{"align":"none","id":327998,"sizeSlug":"full","className":"is-resized","blob":"","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/013019_Fran_001_2500.jpg","alt":"Fran Berman.","caption":null,"lightbox":[],"title":"","href":"","rel":"","linkClass":"","width":"","height":"","aspectRatio":"","scale":"","linkDestination":"","linkTarget":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"style":[],"borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/013019_Fran_001_2500.jpg\" alt=\"Fran Berman.\" class=\"wp-image-327998\"\/><\/figure>\n","innerContent":["\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/013019_Fran_001_2500.jpg\" alt=\"Fran Berman.\" class=\"wp-image-327998\"\/><\/figure>\n"],"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/013019_Fran_001_2500.jpg\" alt=\"Fran Berman.\" class=\"wp-image-327998\"\/><\/figure>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top\"><\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top\">","<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/013019_Fran_001_2500.jpg\" alt=\"Fran Berman.\" class=\"wp-image-327998\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-top alignwide media-cluster\">\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-top alignwide media-cluster\">","\n\n","<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-top alignwide media-cluster is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figcaption class=\"wp-block-group wp-element-caption is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\"There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change,\" says Berman. \"It\u2019s a long, hard slog.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer <\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/013019_Fran_001_2500.jpg\" alt=\"Fran Berman.\" class=\"wp-image-327998\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-group alignwide wp-block-table\"><\/figure>\n","innerContent":["\n<figure class=\"wp-block-group alignwide wp-block-table\">","<\/figure>\n"],"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-group alignwide wp-block-table is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-top alignwide media-cluster is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figcaption class=\"wp-block-group wp-element-caption is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\"There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change,\" says Berman. \"It\u2019s a long, hard slog.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer <\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/013019_Fran_001_2500.jpg\" alt=\"Fran Berman.\" class=\"wp-image-327998\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"Harnessing the tremendous power of tech is hard for everyone. Social media companies are struggling with their role as platform providers (where they are not responsible for content) versus their role as content modulators (where they commit to taking down hate speech, information that incites violence, etc.). They\u2019ve yet to develop good solutions to the content-modulation problem. Crowdsourcing (allowing the crowd to determine what is valuable), third-party vetting (employing a fact-checking service), advisory groups, and citizen-based editorial boards all have truth, trust, and scale challenges. (Twitter alone hosts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dsayce.com\/social-media\/tweets-day\/\">500 million tweets per day<\/a>.)","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>Harnessing the tremendous power of tech is hard for everyone. Social media companies are struggling with their role as platform providers (where they are not responsible for content) versus their role as content modulators (where they commit to taking down hate speech, information that incites violence, etc.). They\u2019ve yet to develop good solutions to the content-modulation problem. Crowdsourcing (allowing the crowd to determine what is valuable), third-party vetting (employing a fact-checking service), advisory groups, and citizen-based editorial boards all have truth, trust, and scale challenges. (Twitter alone hosts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dsayce.com\/social-media\/tweets-day\/\">500 million tweets per day<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>Harnessing the tremendous power of tech is hard for everyone. Social media companies are struggling with their role as platform providers (where they are not responsible for content) versus their role as content modulators (where they commit to taking down hate speech, information that incites violence, etc.). They\u2019ve yet to develop good solutions to the content-modulation problem. Crowdsourcing (allowing the crowd to determine what is valuable), third-party vetting (employing a fact-checking service), advisory groups, and citizen-based editorial boards all have truth, trust, and scale challenges. (Twitter alone hosts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dsayce.com\/social-media\/tweets-day\/\">500 million tweets per day<\/a>.)<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>Harnessing the tremendous power of tech is hard for everyone. Social media companies are struggling with their role as platform providers (where they are not responsible for content) versus their role as content modulators (where they commit to taking down hate speech, information that incites violence, etc.). They\u2019ve yet to develop good solutions to the content-modulation problem. Crowdsourcing (allowing the crowd to determine what is valuable), third-party vetting (employing a fact-checking service), advisory groups, and citizen-based editorial boards all have truth, trust, and scale challenges. (Twitter alone hosts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dsayce.com\/social-media\/tweets-day\/\">500 million tweets per day<\/a>.)<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"The tremendous challenges of promoting the benefits and avoiding the risks of digital technologies aren\u2019t just Silicon Valley\u2019s problem. The solutions will need to come from sustained public-private discussions with the goal of developing protective strategies for the public. This approach was successful in setting the original digital rights agenda for Europe, ultimately leading to multiple digital rights initiatives and the GDPR. While GDPR has been far from perfect in both conceptualization and enforcement, it was a critical step toward a culture of technology in the public interest.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>The tremendous challenges of promoting the benefits and avoiding the risks of digital technologies aren\u2019t just Silicon Valley\u2019s problem. The solutions will need to come from sustained public-private discussions with the goal of developing protective strategies for the public. This approach was successful in setting the original digital rights agenda for Europe, ultimately leading to multiple digital rights initiatives and the GDPR. While GDPR has been far from perfect in both conceptualization and enforcement, it was a critical step toward a culture of technology in the public interest.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>The tremendous challenges of promoting the benefits and avoiding the risks of digital technologies aren\u2019t just Silicon Valley\u2019s problem. The solutions will need to come from sustained public-private discussions with the goal of developing protective strategies for the public. This approach was successful in setting the original digital rights agenda for Europe, ultimately leading to multiple digital rights initiatives and the GDPR. While GDPR has been far from perfect in both conceptualization and enforcement, it was a critical step toward a culture of technology in the public interest.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>The tremendous challenges of promoting the benefits and avoiding the risks of digital technologies aren\u2019t just Silicon Valley\u2019s problem. The solutions will need to come from sustained public-private discussions with the goal of developing protective strategies for the public. This approach was successful in setting the original digital rights agenda for Europe, ultimately leading to multiple digital rights initiatives and the GDPR. While GDPR has been far from perfect in both conceptualization and enforcement, it was a critical step toward a culture of technology in the public interest.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"<strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>What do you see as foundational longer-term solutions?","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong> <\/strong>What do you see as foundational longer-term solutions?<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong> <\/strong>What do you see as foundational longer-term solutions?<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong> <\/strong>What do you see as foundational longer-term solutions?<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"<strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Today it is largely impossible to thrive in a digital world without knowledge and experience with technology and its impacts on society. In effect, this knowledge has become a general education requirement for effective citizenship and leadership in the 21st century.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong> <\/strong>Today it is largely impossible to thrive in a digital world without knowledge and experience with technology and its impacts on society. In effect, this knowledge has become a general education requirement for effective citizenship and leadership in the 21st century.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong> <\/strong>Today it is largely impossible to thrive in a digital world without knowledge and experience with technology and its impacts on society. In effect, this knowledge has become a general education requirement for effective citizenship and leadership in the 21st century.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong> <\/strong>Today it is largely impossible to thrive in a digital world without knowledge and experience with technology and its impacts on society. In effect, this knowledge has become a general education requirement for effective citizenship and leadership in the 21st century.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"And it should be a general education requirement in educational institutions, especially in higher ed, which serve as a last stop before many professional careers. Currently, forward-looking universities, including Harvard, are creating courses, concentrations, minors, and majors in public interest technology \u2014 an emerging area focused on the social impacts of technology.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>And it should be a general education requirement in educational institutions, especially in higher ed, which serve as a last stop before many professional careers. Currently, forward-looking universities, including Harvard, are creating courses, concentrations, minors, and majors in public interest technology \u2014 an emerging area focused on the social impacts of technology.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>And it should be a general education requirement in educational institutions, especially in higher ed, which serve as a last stop before many professional careers. Currently, forward-looking universities, including Harvard, are creating courses, concentrations, minors, and majors in public interest technology \u2014 an emerging area focused on the social impacts of technology.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>And it should be a general education requirement in educational institutions, especially in higher ed, which serve as a last stop before many professional careers. Currently, forward-looking universities, including Harvard, are creating courses, concentrations, minors, and majors in public interest technology \u2014 an emerging area focused on the social impacts of technology.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"Education in public interest technology is more than just extra computer science courses. It involves interdisciplinary courses that focus on the broader impacts of technology \u2014 on personal freedom, on communities, on economics, etc. \u2014 with the purpose of developing the critical thinking needed to make informed choices about technology.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>Education in public interest technology is more than just extra computer science courses. It involves interdisciplinary courses that focus on the broader impacts of technology \u2014 on personal freedom, on communities, on economics, etc. \u2014 with the purpose of developing the critical thinking needed to make informed choices about technology.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>Education in public interest technology is more than just extra computer science courses. It involves interdisciplinary courses that focus on the broader impacts of technology \u2014 on personal freedom, on communities, on economics, etc. \u2014 with the purpose of developing the critical thinking needed to make informed choices about technology.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>Education in public interest technology is more than just extra computer science courses. It involves interdisciplinary courses that focus on the broader impacts of technology \u2014 on personal freedom, on communities, on economics, etc. \u2014 with the purpose of developing the critical thinking needed to make informed choices about technology.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"And students are hungry for these courses and the skills they offer. Students who have taken courses and clinics in public interest technology are better positioned to be knowledgeable next-generation policymakers, public servants, and business professionals who may design and determine how tech services are developed and products are used. With an understanding of how technology works and how it impacts the common good, they can better promote a culture of tech in the public interest, rather than tech opportunism.","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>And students are hungry for these courses and the skills they offer. Students who have taken courses and clinics in public interest technology are better positioned to be knowledgeable next-generation policymakers, public servants, and business professionals who may design and determine how tech services are developed and products are used. With an understanding of how technology works and how it impacts the common good, they can better promote a culture of tech in the public interest, rather than tech opportunism.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>And students are hungry for these courses and the skills they offer. Students who have taken courses and clinics in public interest technology are better positioned to be knowledgeable next-generation policymakers, public servants, and business professionals who may design and determine how tech services are developed and products are used. With an understanding of how technology works and how it impacts the common good, they can better promote a culture of tech in the public interest, rather than tech opportunism.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>And students are hungry for these courses and the skills they offer. Students who have taken courses and clinics in public interest technology are better positioned to be knowledgeable next-generation policymakers, public servants, and business professionals who may design and determine how tech services are developed and products are used. With an understanding of how technology works and how it impacts the common good, they can better promote a culture of tech in the public interest, rather than tech opportunism.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/paragraph","attrs":{"align":"","content":"<em>Interview was edited for clarity and length.<\/em>","dropCap":false,"placeholder":"","direction":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p><em>Interview was edited for clarity and length.<\/em><\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p><em>Interview was edited for clarity and length.<\/em><\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p><em>Interview was edited for clarity and length.<\/em><\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","\n\n","<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-solutions\"><span style=\"color: #be004b;\">Solutions<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-can-we-regulate-the-internet-in-a-way-that-lets-us-reap-the-game-changing-benefits-and-avoid-the-equally-huge-risks\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> How can we regulate the internet in a way that lets us reap the game-changing benefits and avoid the equally huge risks?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-q-amp-a-with-francine-berman\"><span style=\"color: #be004b;\">A Q&A with Francine Berman<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div dir=\"ltr\">\n<p><em>In this series, the Gazette asks Harvard experts for concrete solutions to complex problems. <a href=\"https:\/\/cyber.harvard.edu\/people\/francine-berman\">Francine Berman<\/a>, the Edward P. Hamilton Distinguished Professor in Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Berman\u2019s current work focuses on the social and environmental impacts of information technology, and in particular of the Internet of Things \u2014 a deeply interconnected ecosystem of billions of everyday things linked through the web.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE<\/strong>:<\/strong> Do you think the internet has been a force for good in the world?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> Yes and no. What the internet and information technologies have brought us is tremendous power. Tech has become critical infrastructure for modern life. It saved our lives during the pandemic, providing the only way for many to go to school, work, or see family and friends. It also enabled election manipulation, the rapid spread of misinformation, and the growth of radicalism.<\/p>\n<p>Are digital technologies good or evil? The same internet supports both Pornhub and CDC.gov, Goodreads and Parler.com. The digital world we experience is a fusion of tech innovation and social controls. For cyberspace to be a force for good, it will require a societal shift in how we develop, use, and oversee tech, a reprioritization of the public interest over private profit.<\/p>\n<p>Fundamentally, it is the public sector\u2019s responsibility to create the social controls that promote the use of tech for good rather than for exploitation, manipulation, misinformation, and worse. Doing so is enormously complex and requires a change in the broader culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest.<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> How do we change the culture of tech opportunism?<\/p>\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change \u2014 no single law, federal agency, institutional policy, or set of practices will do it, although all are needed. It\u2019s a long, hard slog. Changing from a culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest will require many and sustained efforts on a number of fronts, just like we are experiencing now as we work hard to change from a culture of discrimination to a culture of inclusion.<\/p>\n<p>That being said, we need to create the building blocks for culture change now \u2014 pro-active short-term solutions, foundational long-term solutions, and serious efforts to develop strategies for challenges that we don\u2019t yet know how to address.<\/p>\n<p>In the short term, government must take the lead. There are a lot of horror stories \u2014 false arrest based on bad facial recognition, data-brokered lists of rape victims, intruders screaming at babies from connected baby monitors \u2014 but there is surprisingly little consensus about what digital protections \u2014 specific expectations for privacy, security, safety, and the like \u2014 U.S. citizens should have.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\"It\u2019s hard to solve problems online that you haven\u2019t solved in the real world. Moreover, legislation isn\u2019t useful if the solution isn\u2019t clear.\"<\/p>\n<cite>Francine Berman<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>We need to fix that. Europe\u2019s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is based on a well-articulated set of digital rights of European Union citizens. In the U.S. we have some specific digital rights \u2014 privacy of health and financial data, privacy of children\u2019s online data \u2014 but these rights are largely piecemeal. What are the digital privacy rights of consumers? What are the expectations for the security and safety of digital systems and devices used as critical infrastructure?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Specificity is important here because to be effective, social protections must be embedded in technical architectures. If a federal law were passed tomorrow that said that consumers must opt in to personal data collection by digital consumer services, Google and Netflix would have to change their systems (and their business models) to allow users this kind of discretion. There would be trade-offs for consumers who did not opt in: Google\u2019s search would become more generic, and Netflix\u2019s recommendations wouldn\u2019t be well-tailored to your interests. But there would also be upsides \u2014 opt-in rules put consumers in the driver\u2019s seat and give them greater control over the privacy of their information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once a base set of digital rights for citizens is specified, a federal agency should be created with regulatory and enforcement power to protect those rights. The FDA was created to promote the safety of our food and drugs. OSHA was created to promote the safety of our workplaces.  Today, there is more public scrutiny about the safety of the lettuce you buy at the grocery store than there is about the security of the software you download from the internet. Current bills in Congress that call for a Data Protection Agency, similar to the Data Protection Authorities required by the GDPR, could create needed oversight and enforcement of digital protections in cyberspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additional legislation that penalizes companies, rather than consumers, for failure to protect consumer digital rights could also do more to incentivize the private sector to promote the public interest. If your credit card is stolen, the company, not the cardholder, largely pays the price. Penalizing companies with meaningful fines and holding company personnel legally accountable \u2014 particularly those in the C suite \u2014 provide strong incentives for companies to strengthen consumer protections. Refocusing company priorities would positively contribute to shifting us from a culture of tech opportunism to a culture of tech in the public interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong><\/strong> Is specific legislation needed to solve some of today\u2019s thorniest challenges \u2014misinformation on social media, fake news, and the like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong><\/strong> It\u2019s hard to solve problems online that you haven\u2019t solved in the real world. Moreover, legislation isn\u2019t useful if the solution isn\u2019t clear. At the root of our problems with misinformation and fake news online is the tremendous challenge of automating trust, truth, and ethics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Social media largely removes context from information, and with it, many of the cues that enable us to vet what we hear. Online, we probably don\u2019t know whom we\u2019re talking with or where they got their information. There is a lot of piling on. In real life, we have ways to vet information, assess credentials from context, and utilize conversational dynamics to evaluate what we\u2019re hearing. Few of those things are present in social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-group alignwide wp-block-table is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-top alignwide media-cluster is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figcaption class=\"wp-block-group wp-element-caption is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">\"There is no magic bullet that will create this culture change,\" says Berman. \"It\u2019s a long, hard slog.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Kris Snibbe\/Harvard Staff Photographer <\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/013019_Fran_001_2500.jpg\" alt=\"Fran Berman.\" class=\"wp-image-327998\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Harnessing the tremendous power of tech is hard for everyone. Social media companies are struggling with their role as platform providers (where they are not responsible for content) versus their role as content modulators (where they commit to taking down hate speech, information that incites violence, etc.). They\u2019ve yet to develop good solutions to the content-modulation problem. Crowdsourcing (allowing the crowd to determine what is valuable), third-party vetting (employing a fact-checking service), advisory groups, and citizen-based editorial boards all have truth, trust, and scale challenges. (Twitter alone hosts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dsayce.com\/social-media\/tweets-day\/\">500 million tweets per day<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The tremendous challenges of promoting the benefits and avoiding the risks of digital technologies aren\u2019t just Silicon Valley\u2019s problem. The solutions will need to come from sustained public-private discussions with the goal of developing protective strategies for the public. This approach was successful in setting the original digital rights agenda for Europe, ultimately leading to multiple digital rights initiatives and the GDPR. While GDPR has been far from perfect in both conceptualization and enforcement, it was a critical step toward a culture of technology in the public interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>GAZETTE:<\/strong> <\/strong>What do you see as foundational longer-term solutions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>BERMAN:<\/strong> <\/strong>Today it is largely impossible to thrive in a digital world without knowledge and experience with technology and its impacts on society. In effect, this knowledge has become a general education requirement for effective citizenship and leadership in the 21st century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it should be a general education requirement in educational institutions, especially in higher ed, which serve as a last stop before many professional careers. Currently, forward-looking universities, including Harvard, are creating courses, concentrations, minors, and majors in public interest technology \u2014 an emerging area focused on the social impacts of technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Education in public interest technology is more than just extra computer science courses. It involves interdisciplinary courses that focus on the broader impacts of technology \u2014 on personal freedom, on communities, on economics, etc. \u2014 with the purpose of developing the critical thinking needed to make informed choices about technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And students are hungry for these courses and the skills they offer. Students who have taken courses and clinics in public interest technology are better positioned to be knowledgeable next-generation policymakers, public servants, and business professionals who may design and determine how tech services are developed and products are used. With an understanding of how technology works and how it impacts the common good, they can better promote a culture of tech in the public interest, rather than tech opportunism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Interview was edited for clarity and length.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16232,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2002\/10\/berman-named-acting-vp-for-finance\/","url_meta":{"origin":327990,"position":0},"title":"Berman named acting VP for finance","author":"gazetteimport","date":"October 3, 2002","format":false,"excerpt":"Senior adviser to the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Ann Berman has agreed to serve as acting vice president for finance while the search for a permanent successor to Elizabeth Beppie Huidekoper proceeds. Berman will assume her new role on Oct. 10.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44755,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2005\/09\/ann-berman-to-step-down-as-vp-for-finance\/","url_meta":{"origin":327990,"position":1},"title":"Ann Berman to step down as VP for finance","author":"gazetteimport","date":"September 15, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Ann E. Berman, vice president for finance and chief financial officer of the University, announced her decision to step down effective April 1, 2006.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":208518,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2016\/10\/now-arriving-internet-of-things\/","url_meta":{"origin":327990,"position":2},"title":"Now arriving: Internet of Things","author":"gazettejohnbaglione","date":"October 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Internet of Things is growing ever more sophisticated, enabling everything from smart cities to automatic appliances. A Harvard ethicist says we should think not just about what we can do, but what we should do.","rel":"","context":"In "Science & Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Science & Tech","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/science-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/092916_hubthings_056_605_main.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/092916_hubthings_056_605_main.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/092916_hubthings_056_605_main.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51674,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2010\/08\/harvard-grad-awarded-fulbright\/","url_meta":{"origin":327990,"position":3},"title":"Harvard grad awarded Fulbright","author":"harvardgazette","date":"August 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Harvard graduate Alexander J. Berman \u201910 has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarship to Russia in filmmaking, the Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced recently.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/012010_film_170.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/012010_film_170.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/012010_film_170.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":292815,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2020\/02\/how-regulation-can-minimize-online-risk\/","url_meta":{"origin":327990,"position":4},"title":"The good, bad, and scary of the Internet of Things","author":"Lian Parsons","date":"February 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Radcliffe researcher explores how to create a framework for the Internet of Things that minimizes risk and maximizes safety.","rel":"","context":"In "Science & Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Science & Tech","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/science-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Illustration of people walking around.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IOT-vertical.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IOT-vertical.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IOT-vertical.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IOT-vertical.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42097,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2003\/12\/corporation-to-hike-endowment-payout\/","url_meta":{"origin":327990,"position":5},"title":"Corporation to hike endowment payout","author":"gazetteimport","date":"December 11, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Soaring health care and other fringe benefit costs have prompted the Harvard Corporation to take a second look at next years financial picture and add an extra $16 million in endowment funds to 2004-2005 budgets across the University.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131912115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327990"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":375621,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327990\/revisions\/375621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327990"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=327990"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=327990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}