The Next Wave of Technology Regulation: The Need for New Authorities in the U.S. and Beyond

Over the last few years, tremendous attention has been focused on the need to address the challenges and harms created by the technology sector. Biden Administration has outlined plans for a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, information integrity research, and new cybersecurity rules for critical infrastructure and called for new bipartisan legislation around privacy, algorithms, and tech antitrust. While there is a clear need for strong federal privacy legislation and new competition policies, even if Congress were to enact those laws tomorrow, significant gaps would remain in addressing the challenges and harms from existing and emerging technologies.

The last few years have seen increasing recognition of the need for a strong sector-specific regulator for the digital space to address not only competition and privacy, but also a wide range of novel consumer protection issues including emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, addiction by design, algorithmic discrimination, and even concerns about the health of democracy. Researchers and policymakers have begun to outline new approaches to address these gaps centering on the need for policy innovation, new regulatory authorities, and even new agencies to provide the needed guardrails, expertise, and enforcement capability. Across the Atlantic, the European Union is now putting its sweeping Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Acts into effect and is soon to finalize its AI act. 

Remarks

• Dr. Alondra Nelson, Former Acting Director, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Harold F. Linder Professor, Institute for Advanced Study 

Moderator

• Adam Conner, Vice President for Technology Policy at the Center for American Progress and co-author of “How to Regulate Tech: A Technology Policy Framework for Online Services.”

Panel Discussion 

• Tom Wheeler, former Chairman of the FCC, Visiting Fellow, Governance Studies, Center for Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution, and author of “New Digital Realities; New Oversight Solutions in the U.S.”
• Anna Lenhart formerly served with the House Judiciary Committee Antitrust Subcommittee under Chairman David Cicilline (D-RI) and supported work on technology oversight and investigations.
• Harold Feld, Senior Vice President at Public Knowledge and author of “The Case for the Digital Platform Act: Breakups, Starfish Problems, & Tech Regulation.”

Closing remarks 

• Chris Lewis, President and CEO of Public Knowledge 

A light lunch will be provided for those who will be joining us in person. To join virtually, please click here.