What Is Europe Trying to Achieve With Its Omnibus and Sovereignty Push?
This week, the European Commission unveiled a sweeping plan to overhaul how the EU enforces its digital and privacy rules as part of a ‘Digital Omnibus,’ aiming to ease compliance burdens and speed up implementation of the bloc’s landmark laws. Branded as a “simplification” initiative, the omnibus proposal touches core areas of EU tech regulation — notably the AI Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).The Commission argues that this update is necessary to ensure practical implementation of the laws, but civil society organizations see the proposed reform as the “biggest rollback of digital fundamental rights in EU history.”At the same time, leaders are talking loudly about digital sovereignty — including at last week’s summit in Berlin. But with the Omnibus appearing to weaken protections and tilt power toward large tech firms, what kind of sovereignty is actually being built?Tech Policy Press associate editor Ramsha Jahangir spoke to two experts to understand what the EU is trying to achieve:Leevi Saari, EU Policy Fellow at AI Now InstituteJulia Smakman, Senior Researcher at the Ada Lovelace Institute
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Through to Thriving: Protecting Our Privacy with Chris Gilliard
In the latest episode in her special podcast series, Through to Thriving, Tech Policy Press fellow Anika Collier Navaroli talks about protecting privacy with Chris Gilliard. Gilliard is co-director of the Critical Internet Studies Institute and the author of Luxury Surveillance, a forthcoming book from MIT Press.
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The Past, Present, and Future of the US Information Integrity Field
To discuss the past, present and future of information integrity work, Tech Policy Press contributing editor Dean Jackson spoke to American University Center for Security, Innovation and New Technology (CSINT) nonresident fellow Adam Fivenson and assistant professor and CSINT director Samantha Bradshaw.
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What Are the Implications if the AI Boom Turns to Bust?
This episode considers whether today’s massive AI investment boom reflects real economic fundamentals or an unsustainable bubble, and how a potential crash could reshape AI policy, public sentiment, and narratives about the future that are embraced and advanced not only by Silicon Valley billionaires, but also by politicians and governments. Justin Hendrix is joined by:Ryan Cummings, chief of staff at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and coauthor of a recent New York Times opinion on the possibility of an AI bubble;Sarah West, co-director of the AI Now Institute and coauthor of a Wall Street Journal opinion, "You May Already Be Bailing Out the AI Business"; andBrian Merchant, author of the newsletter Blood in the Machine, a journalist in residence at the AI Now Institute, and author of a recent piece in Wired on signals that suggest a bubble.
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Why Independent Researchers Need Better Access to Platform Data
This episode was recorded in Barcelona at this year’s Mozilla Festival. One session at the festival focused on how to get better access to data for independent researchers to study technology platforms and products and their effects on society. It coincided with the launch of the Knight-Georgetown Institute’s report, “Better Access: Data for the Common Good,” the product of a year-long effort to create “a roadmap for expanding access to high-influence public platform data – the narrow slice of public platform data that has the greatest impact on civic life,” with input from individuals across the research community, civil society, and journalism. In a gazebo near the Mozilla Festival mainstage, Justin Hendrix hosted a podcast discussion with three people working on questions related to data access and advocating for independent technology research:Peter Chapman, associate director of the Knight-Georgetown Institute;Brandi Geurkink, executive director of the Coalition for Independent Tech Research and a former campaigner and fellow at Mozilla; andLK Seiling, a researcher at the Weizenbaum Institute in Berlin and coordinator of the DSA40 Data Access Collaboratory.Thanks to the Mozilla Foundation and to Francisco, the audio engineer on site at the festival.
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