Amar Ashar is a senior researcher at Spotify.
Previously, he was an assistant director of research at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.
His research areas included issues of the ethics and governance of Artificial Intelligence with a focus on global governance, inclusion, and media/information quality. He has published research related to harmful and hate speech online, networked policymaking, and improving information for decision makers in the public and private sectors. He manages a number of strategic and emerging efforts at the Center and works closely with staff, fellows, faculty, affiliates, and alumni across the Berkman Klein community, as well as with numerous global partners and collaborators.
In his time at the Berkman Klein Center, Amar played a leadership role in the formation of various interdisciplinary and cross-sector networks including the Global Network of Internet & Society Centers and Digitally Connected. He has contributed to many of the Center's research and educational initiatives including: Media Cloud, AGTech Forum, Rethink Music, HyperPublic, Truthiness in Digital Media, Reshaping Knowledge Institutions in the Digital Age, Open Education, Cyberscholars, the Berkman Klein fellows program, Digital Public Library of America, Berkman@10, Oxford's Summer Doctoral Program, and IS2K7. Amar also directed the Center's flagship public forum for discussion and debate and transformed it into a leading forum for practitioners and researchers across the field of Internet & society to share cutting edge work.
Amar holds an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School and a BA from Boston College. He serves on the Board of Advisors for WZBC 90.3 FM and was previously a technology and development consultant, a teaching fellow at the Harvard Extension School, and an intern at the Software Freedom Law Center. In his free time, he has volunteered with Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly and led a league of outdoor laser tag enthusiasts.
