Michael Karanicolas is the Wikimedia Fellow at Yale Law School, where he leads the Initiative on Intermediaries and Information. His research encompasses a number of thematic areas, including freedom of expression and content regulation, privacy and surveillance, digital contracts, internet governance, the right to information, human rights and international development, intellectual property law, and the regulation of political speech.
Prior to joining the ISP, Michael worked at the Centre for Law and Democracy, and carried out consultancies for the Open Government Partnership, UNESCO, and Dalhousie University. In this capacity, he has led law reform campaigns to promote foundational rights for democracy across the developing world, including particularly substantial engagement in Afghanistan, Jordan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malawi, the Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Palestine, and Tunisia.
Michael has a B.A. (Hons.) from Queen's University (Dean's List), an LL.B. from the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University (Dean's List), and an LL.M. from the University of Toronto. In addition to his role with the ISP, Michael is the President of the Right to Know Coalition, a Canadian NGO which works to promote government transparency, and he serves on the Executive Committee of ICANN’s Noncommercial Users’ Constituency.