Social Media's Role in the US Election
On October 29, TheBridge and All Tech is Human hosted the latest discussion in our livestream series. The 2016 US election made it clear that social media companies play a profound role in how voters are informed and influenced. In this conversation, we focused on social media's role in elections, democracy and society today.
We were joined by special guests Dipayan Ghosh, Co-Director of the Digital Platforms & Democracy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, Author of Terms of Disservice, and former Public Policy Advisor at Facebook, and Vera Zakem, Senior Policy and Technology Advisor at the Institute for Security and Technology, CEO of Zakem Global Strategies, and former strategy and research at Twitter. Moderated by David Ryan Polgar, Founder of All Tech Is Human.
WATCH the conversation here:
Follow along on twitter:
@AllTechIsHuman
@TheBridgeWork
Dipayan Ghosh, Ph.D.
Dipayan Ghosh is the co-director of the Digital Platforms & Democracy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School and lecturer at Harvard Law School. He is the author of Terms of Disservice (Brookings). Ghosh previously served as privacy and public policy advisor at Facebook, and prior was a technology and economic policy advisor in the Obama White House. His work on AI, privacy, disinformation, and internet economics has been cited and published widely, including in The New York Times, The Washington Post, HBR, CNN, MSNBC, NPR and BBC. Named to the Forbes 30 Under 30, he received a Ph.D. in electrical & computer engineering from Cornell and an MBA from MIT.
Vera Zakem
Vera Zakem is an accomplished leader, working with governments, industry, and nonprofit organizations to achieve impact at the intersection of technology, global policy, and democracy. She is a recognized expert on disinformation and influence campaigns, democracy and human rights, cybersecurity, and ethical use of technology in the U.S. and Europe.
In addition to founding Zakem Global Strategies, Vera is also a Senior Technology and Policy Advisor at the Institute for Security and Technology. Vera previously led strategy and research at Twitter, leading and scaling initiatives to serve the public conversation. Before entering the tech sector, she spent many years leading foreign policy and national security strategy, research, and policy development for various organizations in Washington, DC, including the CNA Corporation.
Vera has been featured in the New York Times, BBC, CNN, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, War on the Rocks, NPR, Medium, and Working Mother Magazine. She has conducted a radio tour across 20 stations in America, educating listeners about how to identify and combat disinformation. Vera is a Term Member, Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Tech Advisory Council for Atlas Corps, and a Swiss American Foundation Young Leader
As a working mom, she is an ardent champion of diversity and inclusion in industry and public institutions, and is passionate about elevating women from all backgrounds in all sectors of society.
ALL TECH IS HUMAN
All Tech Is Human is an accelerator for tech consideration and hub for the Responsible Tech movement. By promoting knowledge-sharing & collaboration among a broad range of stakeholders, we aim to lessen the gap between how quickly we develop and deploy emerging technology and how slowly we consider its use, misuse, and unintended consequences. By leveraging the collective intelligence of the community, we can build a more thoughtful tech future. Sign-up for the All Tech Is Human newsletter.
THEBRIDGE
TheBridge is a non-partisan organization breaking down silos and connecting professionals across technology, policy and politics — building stronger, more collaborative relationships. Join the community and learn more about TheBridge resources: searchable leaders directory, job board, events. Sign up for TheBridge bi-weekly updates.
If you would like to partner with TheBridge on an event, email us at hello@thebridgework.com.