TPRC 48 will take place virtually from February 17-19, 2021. The conference, to be hosted by American University in September 2020, was rescheduled for February 2021 in the hope that in-person interaction might be possible by then. In response to continuing concerns about the COVID-20 pandemic, the conference was move to an online mode.
The Quello Center will have a strong presence at TPRC 48. Quello Center Director Johannes M. Bauer and CITI Director Eli M. Noam will co-moderate a townhall titled Free speech, diverse media, and social harmony. In addition, we will host a panel discussion on the role of resilience as a goal of communications policy. Center-affiliated researchers and graduate students will share five single- and co-authored papers, some with colleagues from the University of Oxford.
Section 230 townhall
Thursday, February 18, 2:30-4:00 PM: “FREE SPEECH, SOCIETAL HARMONY, AND MEDIA DIVERSITY: PICK TWO”
Drawing on the heated discussion of Section 230 Communications Act, this townhall will explore the relations between First Amendment, platform power, content moderation, and the needs of society to tone down fragmentation and polarization. Can one achieve all these worthy goals, or do we have to make tradeoffs? And if so, how? This raises questions of policy, law, economics, and technology. What are the (old and new) research questions we should ask? And what solutions might we propose?
Opening speakers: Olivier Sylvain, Fordham University; Nadine Strossen, NYU; L. Jean Camp, Indiana University; Thomas W. Hazlett, Clemson University. Co-moderated by Johannes M. Bauer, Quello Center and Eli M. Noam, CITI, Columbia University.
Resilience panel
Thursday, February 18, 1:00-2:00 PM: RESILIENCE AS A GOAL OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION POLICY: A REASSESSMENT AND OUTLOOK
Resilience is the capacity of a system to recover quickly from difficulties and unexpected events and the ability of a system to deliver its output despite continuing adverse events. The panel will explore whether communications policy should embrace resilience as one of its goals.
Panelists: David D. Clark (MIT); Lai Yi Ohlsen, Chris Ritzo, (Measurement Lab); Patricia H. Longstaff (Syracuse University); Richard Whitt (GLIAnet); Angela Siefer (National Digital Inclusion Alliance); Carleen F. Maitland (Penn State University). Moderated by Johannes M. Bauer, Quello Center.
Research papers
Wednesday, February 17, 11:00 AM: Digital Platforms and Innovation: Lessons for Innovation Policy and Regulation, Johannes M. Bauer, Michigan State University; and Tiago S. Prado, Michigan State University
Thursday, February 18, 10:00 AM: Assessing the Market Power of Digital Platforms, Tiago S. Prado, Michigan State University
Thursday, February 18, 10:00 AM: Repercussions of Poor Broadband Connectivity for Students in Rural and Small Town Michigan, Keith N. Hampton, Michigan State University; Laleah H. Fernandez, Michigan State University; Craig T. Robertson, University of Oxford, and Johannes M. Bauer, Michigan State University
Friday, February 19, 10:00 AM: Cybersecurity Capacity Building: Cross-National Benefits and International Divides, Sadie Creese, University of Oxford; William H. Dutton, University of Southern California, GCSCC Computer Science, University of Oxford; Patricia Esteve-Gonzalez, University of Oxford; and Ruth Shillair, Michigan State University
Friday, February 19, 11:00 AM: Information Policy, Privacy Failings, and Steps Towards Empowerment in Cases of Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence, Megan Knittel, Michigan State University and Ruth Shillair, Michigan State University
TPRC will record the sessions. We will update this list once the links to the video archive are available.
