TBD: Technology By Design

Shan Li is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, based in Beijing, China. She covered the early outbreak of the coronavirus in Wuhan, and has now been quarantined twice, once in China and once in California.  We talk with Shan about the benefits and pitfalls of online expression in the midst of a public health crisis. How do you report on an outbreak in a country so concerned with censorship? And what was it like to be in America’s first mandatory quarantine since the smallpox outbreak in the 1960s? Listen in to find out.

• Inside China's Giant Quarantine - The Journal Podcast

In a moment of toxic politics, hot takes, and diatribes fired off on Facebook and Twitter, how do you cover Tech Policy deeply and fairly? David McCabe is a tech policy reporter for TheNew York Times, and he’s seeking an answer to this question through his intense dedication to his craft. In this episode, David and Matt discuss the relationship between the press and big tech companies, the craft of reporting, and what it's like to be a journalist in Washington. 

*BONUS EPISODE* Tech Policy is a rapidly evolving field, and from time-to-time we hope to release these bonus episodes to give you some insight into things as they're happening in real time. This week, the European Union released a new set of rules on Artificial Intelligence and Andrew Woods, Professor of Law at the University of Arizona, was asked by the media for comment on this new set of rules. He gave us his insight here. 

Show Notes

EU white paper on artificial intelligence: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/commission-white-paper-artificial-intelligence-feb2020_en.pdf

Andrew Woods:

https://law.arizona.edu/andrew-keane-woods

https://www.lawfareblog.com/our-robophobia

How to make cacio e pepe:

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017304-cacio-e-pepe

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/batali-cacio-e-pepe-52901591

Gabrielle Kohlmeier used to suffer from Imposter Syndrome: she spent hours agonizing over whether she was good enough for her job, what her boss thought of her, and whether one mistake at her job might cost her a successful career. But she doesn't do that anymore. Gabi's love of tech, being part of a business environment, and studying diversity and leadership has helped her quell the imposter syndrome that felt paralyzing before she got into the tech arena. She's moved outside of her head and into a space of mental freedom and opportunity. Gabi now spends her energy investing in the things she cares about: women in tech, learning as much as she can, and her family. Listen in to hear her take on life at Verizon. 

How can we use technology in a way that is purposeful?  In this conversation, Matt and Franklin Foer discuss the blurry lines of technological boundaries, what it means to take a tech sabbath and the art of craftsmanship in our daily lives. Franklin Foer is a staff writer for The Atlantic, lecturer at Georgetown University, and author of World Without Mind. He has spent an extensive amount of time thinking (and writing) about technology and its impact on our lives.

Sam Knox is the Associate General Counsel for Competition at Facebook, and one of the company's leading lawyers on antitrust issues. Matt and Sam worked closely together when he was at Facebook: she was a great mentor and a great friend, and we were lucky to have her on the podcast. Together, Matt and Sam reminisce on what made their team so strong, talk about some of the top issues facing the antitrust community, and discuss what it's like being a leading woman in a male-dominated industry. 

Mark Overbay, founder of Big Spoon Roasters, joins Matt for a discussion on the founding of his business, and how he has used social media and technology to grow his business. This episode is best enjoyed with a jar of Big Spoon Nut Butter in your hand!

Senator Elizabeth Warren’s plan to break up big tech firms

Bon Appetit’s piece on Big Spoon

When you're working in the tech sector, China is one of the most difficult challenges you face: with over a billion residents, there's so much economic potential, but there are also so many challenges to face in the Chinese market. It's a difficult place to do business. When you're facing these types of challenges, you need a guide to help navigate them. Samm Sacks was Matt's guide during his time at Facebook, which is why we've asked her to come on the podcast. Together, Matt and Samm discuss China and technology, what the NBA can learn from tech companies' experiences in China, and women in the tech sector. 

Samm Sacks is a Cybersecurity Policy and China Digital Economy Fellow at New America. Her research focuses on emerging information and communication technology (ICT) policies globally, particularly in China. She has worked on Chinese technology policy issues for over a decade, both with the U.S. government and in the private sector. 

• Matt’s article in Lawfare: Doing Business in China, What the NBA Can Learn from Big Tech

This episode of TBD: Technology By Design, is brought to you by another podcast, Competition Lore, with Caron Beaton-Wells. Competition Lore is a podcast series that engages us all in a debate about the transformative potential and risks of digitalized competition. Caron Beaton-Wells, Professor in Competition Law at the University of Melbourne, tackles what it means to participate as a competitor, consumer or citizen in a digital economy and society. This recording originally aired on Competition Lore on December 5th, 2019, and Caron graciously agreed to allow us to co-publish it here. 

If we regulate to protect privacy, do we risk competition? If we regulate to strengthen competition, do we risk innovation? If we regulate to exclude harmful content, do we risk free speech? Over-simplified perhaps, but these are in essence some of the hard questions in tech policy right now, and grappling with such questions from within a tech company must be one of the most challenging jobs there is.

In this episode we Caron interviews our own host, Matt Perault, former head of global policy development at Facebook. Matt has looked the challenges squarely in the eye and shares with us how the social network giant has been dealing with them, together with his thoughts on how interactions between stakeholders can affect policy outcomes, for better or worse. It’s a rich and wide-ranging conversation that you won’t want to miss. 

• Access Mark Zuckerberg’s recent speech at Georgetown University
• Facebook’s Statement on a Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking and its White Paper on Data Portability.

It was a rainy Thursday afternoon when Matt received a text from Daniel Kreiss, telling him to keep an eye on the news that day. A few minutes later, Twitter announced that they would be banning all political ads in the 2020 election. They immediately agreed that Twitter’s decision was the wrong one: political advertising has its downsides, but there are a lot of benefits too. A blanket ban gets rid of the bad stuff, but it gets rid of the good stuff too. Together, Matt and Daniel wrote an op-ed for the NYT proposing four possible solutions that Twitter could’ve implemented instead of banning political ads altogether. We invited Daniel to the podcast to further discuss these solutions.

Daniel Kreiss is an associate professor at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and Director of the PhD in Media and Communication. His research explores the impact of technological change on the public sphere and political practice.

• NYT Op-Ed: Four Ways to Fix Social Media’s Political Ads Problem – Without Banning Them
• Link to Jack Dorsey’s Tweets on the policy

Music by Velvet Negroni