Social Media Threats & Opportunities - Georgetown Law

What We Do

Generating policy models to address the privacy concerns and national security threats and opportunities presented by data collected through social media.

The interplay between technology, innovation, and national security has never been more complex. Social media captures what individuals read and believe, what they do, and how they are likely to respond to certain inputs, creating the risk of surveillance, micro-targeting, identity theft, and the ability to disrupt society. The Center’s high-level Task Force, supported by a Research Consortium of Fellows and more than 100 stakeholders from across government, the private sector and civil society, focuses on the domestic impacts of new and emerging social media. We provide a comprehensive analysis of novel threats presented by social media and illuminate a path forward for effective social media governance.

Social Media Intelligence

As we enter the next phase of the debate over potential reforms and renewal of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 2025, the Center continues to facilitate robust debate on this critical issue. We convene experts, policymakers, legislators, and judges who are writing, interpreting, executing, and analyzing the law. This includes multiple conferences and panels on the origins and evolution of FISA, as well as briefings for members of Congress and judges.

Featured

Report

Social Media: The Canary in the Coal Mine

This report offers a comprehensive “Roadmap for a Healthy Digital World” that focuses on reinforcing effective governance, responsible platforms, and an empowered public, with specific pathways to achieve each. It also proposes a Digital Bill of Rights to empower the public; a Developer’s Code of Conduct to hold technology and companies to a higher standard, and Information Governance Principles to prioritize policy making in this arena.

Read the full report

PRESS RELEASE

Tech & Public Policy program awards $2M in research funding

In partnership with Project Liberty’s Institute (formerly The McCourt Institute), the McCourt School’s Tech & Public Policy (TPP) grant program supports technologists, ethicists, legal scholars and social scientists working in collaboration to explore and articulate novel uses and misuses of technology. The 2023-2024 grantees will investigate the effects of technology on individuals and society, as well as how to address the challenge of new technologies born in the information age.

Task Force

Social Media Governance

This high-level Task Force, supported by a Research Consortium of Fellows and more than 100 stakeholders from across government, the private sector and civil society, focuses on the domestic impacts of new and emerging social media.

Research Consortium

CNS convened a year-long Research Consortium of academic experts, fellows, and students to do a deep dive into the underlying technology, legal, and policy issues presented by social media, resulting in cross-sector learning, academic papers, and policy memos presented to the high level Task Force.

Paper

New Media, Free Expression, and the Offences Against the State Acts

Since 1939, the Offences Against the State Act (OAS) has served as the primary vehicle for confronting political violence and challenges to state authority. How effective is it in light of new media? This article explores the ways in which OAS and related laws have historically treated free expression as a prelude to understanding how and whether the existing provisions are adequate for challenges from new media.