The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School is a leader in the study of the law and policy around the Internet and other emerging technologies.
On Friday, the President’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity published its final report, making 16 recommendations and identifying 53 action items to improve cybersecurity in the United States. Read more about The Economic Incentives for International Cybersecurity Coordination
The election of Donald Trump has triggered an anxious conversation about how President Obama can entrench some of his accomplishments before January 21, 2017. Importantly, given the Trump campaign’s embrace of waterboarding and “worse”, President Obama would do well to ensure that he has fully dismantled the Bush Administration’s post-9/11 detention and interrogation system. Read more about Memo to President Obama: You Have Another Memo to Withdraw
Andrew McLaughlin, technology executive:
Though it has been evident for years that Mark Zuckerberg really, really wants Facebook to operate in China, I’m genuinely surprised that the company appears, finally, to have made the decision to do it.
I’m surprised for two big reasons: Read more about Facebook Must Stay Out of China
More than two years after Ferguson became a hashtag, spawned a movement, and drew national attention to problems about police accountability, the most tangible reform has been the spread of police body cameras. Their use seemed like a clear solution to problems of trust and oversight, but the reality hasn’t been that simple. Body cameras have introduced new problems of their own. How can we do better when the next new police technology arrives? Here are five things to keep in mind.
Wendy Nelson Espeland and Michael Sauder’s new book, “Engines of Anxiety,” explains how law schools try to game the U.S. News & World Report’s academic rankings to attract students. I interviewed them by email to understand why these rankings are so important, and what law schools do to try to improve their rating. Read more about Law school administrators would like al-Qaeda to go after U.S. News & World Report. This is why.
This presidential election has kicked off tempestuous debates and much soul searching about the role of technology, especially social media, in the democratic process. These questions are vital, but now it is time to look forward. The core issue is the question of how the tech community should respond thoughtfully and critically to what for many (including us) was a surprising victory. Read more about How the Tech Industry Can Lead in the Trump Era
Palo Alto lawmakers have proposed legislation granting the community greater control over police surveillance — including the Police Department’s purchase and use of equipment such as drones, license plate readers and social media monitoring software. Palo Alto and 10 other cities around the country that have proposed similar laws are part of a movement to bring the community and elected representatives into decisions by local police to acquire such powerful and invasive surveillance technologies. We all should urge our own elected representatives to take similar steps. Read more about Citizens need more say over police surveillance technology
Organizations tracking hate crimes have seen a spike in racist and anti-Semitic incidents over the last several days. In the words of Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center: “The white supremacists out there are celebrating his victory and many are feeling their oats.” Read more about Trump’s election has undermined ‘political correctness.’ That might actually be a problem
Although it received little attention at the time, journalist Samuel Oakford broke the storylast month that the Pentagon has confirmed using weapons containing depleted uranium (DU) in Syria against ISIS targets—an about face from a previously ar Read more about What are the Legal Issues Surrounding the Use of Depleted Uranium in Syria and Iraq?
I have been honored to serve on a bipartisan Experts Committee on Preventing Mass Violence—convened by a coalition of human rights, religious, humanitarian, and peace organizations—for the purpose of generating a set of concrete recommendations around the atrocities prevention imperative for the next administration. Read more about Atrocities Prevention Experts Report Released with Concrete Recommendations for the Next Administration
