Who’s Afraid of Big Tech?

Cato Institute

Friday, March 1, 2019 - 2:00pm to 9:50pm

Since the 2016 presidential election, the debate over the social role and power of America’s tech giants has intensified. Companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Google have found themselves on the receiving end of an array of complaints and regulatory proposals.

News of foreign interference in elections and allegations of mismanagement have prompted lawmakers to take action. Executives from the largest and most popular technology companies have been called before congressional committees and accused of being bad stewards of their users’ privacy, failing to properly police their platforms, and engaging in politically motivated censorship. At the same time, companies such as Google and Amazon have been criticized for engaging in monopolistic practices.

Are such criticisms and complaints legitimate? If so, how should regulators respond?

Schedule

8:45 - 9:15AM	REGISTRATION
9:15 - 9:20AM	WELCOMING REMARKS Matthew Feeney, Director, Cato Institute Project on Emerging Technologies
9:20 - 10:35AM	PANEL 1: BIG BROTHER IN BIG TECH Alec Stapp, Technology Policy Fellow, Niskanen Center Ashkhen Kazaryan, Director of Civil Liberties and Legal Research Fellow, TechFreedom Lindsey Barrett, Staff Attorney and Teaching Fellow, Georgetown University Law Center Institute for Public Representation Communications and Technology Clinic Moderated by Julian Sanchez, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute
10:35 - 10:50AM	FLASH TALK: THE TIME IS NOW: A FRAMEWORK FOR COMPREHENSIVE PRIVACY PROTECTION AND DIGITAL RIGHTS IN THE UNITED STATES Burcu Kilic, Director, Digital Rights Program Public Citizen
10:50 - 11:00AM	BREAK
11:00AM - 12:15PM	PANEL 2: IS BIG TECH TOO BIG? Matt Stoller, Policy Director, Open Markets Institute Kristian Stout, Associate Director, International Center for Law and Economics Moderated by Peter Van Doren, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute
12:15 - 1:15PM	LUNCH
1:20 - 1:35PM	FLASH TALK: ONLINE AD REGULATION: NECESSARY OR A DANGER TO FREE SPEECH? Allen Dickenson, Legal Director of the Institute for Free Speech
1:35 - 2:50PM	PANEL 3: FREE SPEECH IN AN AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA Corynne McSherry, Legal Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation Thomas Kadri, Resident Fellow, Yale Information Society Project Jonathan Rauch, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution Lori Moylan, Public Policy Manager at Facebook Moderated by John Samples, Vice President, Cato Institute
2:50 - 3:50PM	RECEPTION

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