Twenty-Five Years Later: What Happened to Progressive Tech Policy?

[Commentary] As young policy wonks in D.C.—one working for Clinton-Gore, the other urging non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to engage tech policy—we listened to tech innovators and leaders for social justice. As we look back over those years, we see how many who inspired us in the early days decided to head off in a different direction. What precisely happened?

• Progressives gave up on democratic institutions and the rule of law.
• The First Amendment was repurposed to block regulation. 
• Race and gender were trivialized and tokenized.
• Progressives ignored newly emerging media monopolies.
• Progressive organizations gave up their identities. Literally. 

[Marc Rotenberg founded the Public Interest Computer Association in 1983 and helped establish Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. Larry Irving served as an assistant secretary of commerce and was a principal Internet policy adviser to the Clinton-Gore administration.]