WIII routinely convenes leading experts to discuss important issues related to intermediary liability, open internet, online speech, and the regulation of technology platforms. We host both open events geared toward educating the public as well as private meetings to further discussion among academics and practitioners. These workshops and events support our goals to raise awareness of threats to an open internet, especially those affecting online intermediaries and their users, and to make creative policy suggestions that protect and promote internet-facilitated access to information.
November 2020 - Moderate Globally, Impact Locally
While there has been plenty of discussion around the impact of social media on American democracy, across much of the Global South its influence has been even greater. Although some of the biggest platforms have made efforts to globalize their operations, there is still an inevitable tension surrounding the transnational role that they play. This event brought together global stakeholders from civil society, academia, and the private sector to discuss the challenges and tensions that platforms face in developing and applying their content moderation policies around the world, and to facilitate a constructive discussion on the impact of content moderation, and how its standards and processes might be improved. There were six panels in total, all of which are available to view on the Yale ISP YouTube page:
1. Understanding the Challenge
2. Transparency and Public Reporting
3. Civil Society Accountability Structures
4. Global Approaches to Intermediary Liability
5. Emerging Formal Accountability Structures
6. Devolving Moderation to Users
February 2018 - Beyond Intermediary Liability: The Future of Information Platforms
Leading experts from industry, civil society, and academia convened at Yale Law School for a series of non-public, guided discussions. The roundtable of experts considered pressing questions related to intermediary liability and the rights, roles, and responsibilities of information platforms in society.
Read our report and key takeaways here.
September 2018 - Intermediaries and Private Speech Regulation: A Transatlantic Dialogue
This workshop convened a transatlantic group of legal scholars from the U.S. and E.U. to discuss connections between intermediary liability laws and fundamental rights, including free speech and expression. A report will follow.