Internet

Writing the Rules: Redefining Norms of Global Digital Governance
This chapter examines China’s increasingly assertive efforts to influence international data governance, especially cross-border data flows, and promote its concept of “cyber sovereignty,” while also analyzing its restrictive approach to domestic data governance as the basis for its international advocacy efforts.
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For a menu of actionable ideas for policymakers related to the Internet, see ITIF’s “Tech Policy To-Do List.”

Internet
Check a box to narrow search for individual content items that cover numerous issues.
May 17, 2022
Upholding Texas’ Social Media Law Will Make Users Worse Off
A federal appeals court ruled on May 11, 2022, that Texas can enforce its recently enacted social media law, which prohibits social media platforms with over 50 million monthly active users in the United States from “censoring” users.
May 5, 2022
Obama Risks Embracing Cynicism With Recent Speech About Social Media
Obama showed how easy it is to slip into populist rhetoric. He directed most of the blame at the sophisticated actors actively generating the disinformation, but he also accused social media companies of allowing disinformation to protect their profits.
May 4, 2022
Obama’s Proposed Section 230 Reforms Would Have Unintended Consequences
Blaming social media for weakening democracy globally also seems to be an incomplete portrayal that ignores many other factors at play.
April 28, 2022
Lessons from Social Media for Creating a Safe Metaverse
While scrutiny of metaverse platforms is essential to ensure a safe, equitable, and inclusive environment, policymakers should be cautious of rushing to regulate the metaverse, such as by eroding intermediary liability protections or restricting the use of “algorithms” because allowing platforms the freedom to experiment and innovate will best position them to address new challenges.
April 28, 2022
The Declaration for the Future of the Internet Is an Invitation for the EU to Dictate Global Policy
It is a mistake to think that the Internet needs to be governed by one set of laws. Just as nations have different laws in the offline world, they should have different laws in the online world depending on their values, institutions, and legal traditions.
April 15, 2022
The IRS’s “Where’s My Refund?” Tool Reflects Larger Issues with Public-Facing U.S. Government Websites
Many government websites aren’t mobile-friendly, easily navigable, or effectively utilizing data. The IRS’ “Where’s My Refund?” tool has all of these problems. These issues are emblematic of federal government websites in general, namely offering a poor customer experience that lacks easy access to information and services that users expect from modern websites.
April 5, 2022
Internet Governance During Times of War and Conflict
In the aftermath of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, a new iron curtain has descended on Russia’s Internet, with a multitude of social networks, online services, and payment services, either leaving th
March 30, 2022
The New Federal IT Dashboard Falls Short of Its Aims
While the new Federal IT Dashboard looks nice and delivers partly on the “premier user-centric site” self-designation through a clean and navigable user interface, the website fails to present the underlying data in a way that most users can interpret and ultimately falls short as a tool that different stakeholders can leverage to explore federal IT investments and initiatives.
March 21, 2022
Fact of the Week: In the First Year of the Pandemic, E-Commerce Leapt from 10.5 Percent of Retail Sales to 14.6 Percent
Prior to 2020, there were consistent, gradual increases in the share of retail purchases made online—an uptick of 0.49 percentage points each year from 1998 to 2019.
March 8, 2022
To Meet Tech Mandates, Federal Agencies Should Leverage Best-In-Class Technology That Delivers on Both Customer Experience and Cybersecurity
Last year, President Biden issued two executive orders (EOs) that mandated federal agencies invest in cybersecurity and customer experience (CX).

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