Jeff Landale

[Commentary] In a show of "clicktivism," more than 1.4 million people on Facebook used geolocation tagging to "check in" to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation page. The flurry of check-ins spread across Facebook after reports surfaced that the local sheriff's department in North Dakota relied on Facebook to "find out who is at [Standing Rock] in order to target them in attempts to disrupt the prayer camps." But can checking in at Standing Rock actually help? Will it really confuse police? Can anyone interfere with a crackdown on protesters by clicking a button on Facebook? Without really knowing what kind of surveillance technology the police there are relying on, it's actually impossible to know. And that's a problem that should alarm anyone concerned about First Amendment rights.

[Commentary] The 2016 Democratic Party Platform fails to offer meaningful improvements to national tech policy that would improve cybersecurity. Americans deserve a plan that would strengthen networks, bolster security, and safeguard civil liberties. Progressive and tech advocates must begin to engage cybersecurity policy in earnest. Without policy experts capable of translating progressive ideals into digital policies, laws will continue to be crafted by those who view the internet as a space to surveil, and a domain of war, and not as a space for the overcoming of barriers, growing commerce, and spreading humanity's best ideals.

[Karl Grindal and Jeff Landale work at X-Lab]