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Evelyn Douek is an Assistant Professor of Law at Stanford Law School.

Before she came to Stanford, Douek was a Senior Research Fellow at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, and obtained a doctorate from Harvard Law School on the topic of private and public regulation of online speech. She also was an Associate (clerk) to the Honourable Chief Justice Susan Kiefel of the High Court of Australia and did short stints at two commercial litigation firms in Sydney. She graduated with First Class Honours from the University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Commerce/Laws in 2013, where she was the Executive Editor of the UNSW Law Journal and the Undergraduate Student Representative on UNSW Council, the University’s governing body.

Douek’s research has appeared or is forthcoming in the Harvard Law Review, Columbia Law Review, the University of Chicago Law Review Online, Lawfare, The Atlantic, WIRED, Slate, amongst other publications. Being human, she naturally has a couple of podcasts, most relevantly Moderated Content, podcast content about content moderation that she moderates.


News

News
May 21, 2020

The Breakdown: evelyn douek on doctored media, platform response and responsibility

Do tech companies have a responsibility for false content beyond the impact of that content on the information environment on their sites?

The second episode of our new video series asks, do tech companies have a responsibility for false content beyond the impact of that content on the information environment on…


Community

Harvard Law Review

Of Systems Thinking and Straw Men

BKC Faculty Associate Kate Klonick pens a response to Content Moderation as Systems Thinking by BKC Faculty Associate Evelyn Douek.

Apr 1, 2023
Harvard Law Review Blog

The Amendment the Court Forgot in Twitter v. Taamneh

Evelyn Douek writes with Genevieve Lakier about the free speech ramifications of Twitter v Taamneh...

Mar 1, 2023
Harvard Law Review

Content Moderation as Systems Thinking

Evelyn Douek, BKC Faculty Associate, writes about how to improve content moderation.

Dec 12, 2022
TIME

Elon Musk Has Inherited Twitter’s India Problem

BKC Faculty Associate Evelyn Douek discusses Twitter's content moderation practices in different areas of the world.  Musk has called himself a …

Nov 11, 2022
Slate

Spotify's Joe Rogan problem

evelyn douek speaks on Spotify's controversial involvement in the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

Feb 4, 2022
Rest of World

Why the rest of the world shrugged at the Facebook Papers

evelyn douek offers an explanation for why the Facebook Papers have failed to make as much of an impact internationally.

Nov 9, 2021
Harvard Law Today

Is it time to swipe left on social media?

Jonathan Zittrain, evelyn douek, and John Palfrey share insights on the consequences of social media after a Facebook whistleblower dominated headlines last week. …

Oct 12, 2021
The Lawfare Podcast

The Lawfare Podcast: Facebook Shuts Down Research On Itself

evelyn douek talks with Quinta Jurecic and Alex Abdo about the legal fight between researchers and Facebook about collecting data on Facebook ads. 

Aug 19, 2021
Lawfare

The Lawfare Podcast: Facebook’s Thoughts on Its Oversight Board

evelyn douek explores the impacts of the Facebook Oversight Board

Aug 5, 2021
Lawfare

The Lawfare Podcast: Can America Save the News?

Martha Minow and evelyn douek share how the decline of local news hurts democracy.

Jul 8, 2021
Harvard Law Bulletin

Oh, what a tangled web we weave

The Harvard Law Bulletin showcases work from members of the Berkman Klein community on mis- and disinformation and the Center’s projects and programs that produce it.

Jun 14, 2021
Lawfare

The Empire (Facebook) Strikes Back (at the Oversight Board’s Trump Decision)

evelyn douek shares the limitations of the Facebook Oversight Board's ruling on Donald Trump's account.

Jun 10, 2021
The Atlantic

Facebook Won’t Talk About the Insurrection

evelyn douek and Joan Donovan comment on Facebook’s response to the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Jun 7, 2021
WIRED

More Content Moderation Is Not Always Better

evelyn douek says simply erasing things from the internet comes at a cost and it might not be worth it.

Jun 2, 2021
The Atlantic

Somebody Has to Do It

evelyn douek says Facebook’s made-up court is filling an enormous legal void.

May 6, 2021
Lawfare

It's Not Over. The Oversight Board's Trump Decision is Just the Start.

evelyn douek explains details of Facebook Oversight Board’s recent decision and what they reveal about Facebook’s rules, and the FOB’s role in reviewing them.

May 5, 2021
The Washington Post

Facebook and Trump are at a turning point in their long, tortured relationship

evelyn douek weighs in on the Facebook Oversight Board’s upcoming decision

May 4, 2021
The Atlantic

What Facebook Did for Chauvin’s Trial Should Happen All the Time

evelyn douek says that if Facebook can discourage hate speech and incitements to violence on a special occasion, it can do so all the time.

Apr 21, 2021
Politico

Trump faces a narrow path to victory against Facebook suspension

evelyn douek comments on the Facebook Oversight Board

Apr 9, 2021
Politico

Facebook's 'supreme court' struggles to set global free speech rules

evelyn douek speaks with Politico about the Facebook Oversight Board

Apr 1, 2021
Vox

If Mark Zuckerberg won’t fix Facebook’s algorithms problem, who will?

evelyn douek and Julie Owono talk with Vox Recode about the Facebook Oversight Board

Mar 26, 2021
Buzzfeed

Amazon Is Pushing Readers Down A "Rabbit Hole" Of Conspiracy Theories About The Coronavirus

evelyn douek discusses Amazon profiting from sales of conspiracy theory books

Mar 15, 2021
Buzzfeed

India Has Its Own Alternative To Twitter. It's Filled With Hate.

evelyn douek discusses the increasing use of alternative platforms

Feb 23, 2021
The New York Times

The Internet Is Splintering

Chinmayi Arun and evelyn douek discuss Internet governance in The New York Times.

Feb 17, 2021
The New York Times

Why Is Big Tech Policing Speech? Because the Government Isn’t

evelyn douek discusses the deplatforming of Donald Trump with The New York Times.

Jan 26, 2021
The New York Times

Facebook outsources its decision to ban Trump to oversight board

evelyn douek discusses Facebook’s decision to refer Trump’s case to its oversight board with The New York Times

Jan 21, 2021
NPR

Judge Refuses To Reinstate Parler After Amazon Shut It Down

evelyn douek discusses content moderation – and who makes the decisions – with NPR.

Jan 21, 2021
Lawfare

Facebook Has Referred Trump’s Suspension to Its Oversight Board. Now What?

evelyn douek puts the referral in context

Jan 21, 2021
The New York Times

Inside Twitter’s Decision to Cut Off Trump

evelyn douek weighs in on Twitter removing Trump

Jan 16, 2021
Lawfare

Jonathan Zittrain on the Great Deplatforming

Jonathan Zittrain joins the Lawfare Podcast

Jan 14, 2021
Harvard Law Today

Blocking the president

Harvard Law experts Yochai Benkler and evelyn douek weigh in on the suspension of President Trump’s social media accounts

Jan 13, 2021
Lawfare

The Facebook Oversight Board Should Review Trump’s Suspension

evelyn douek pens an op-ed on Facebook’s Oversight Board

Jan 11, 2021
The Atlantic

Trump Is Banned. Who Is Next?

evelyn douek says tech giants must not treat their crackdown on the president’s social accounts as an edge case. The social web should be different now.

Jan 9, 2021
OneZero

‘Free Speech’ Platforms Are Emerging as Facebook and Twitter Suspend Trump

evelyn douek speaks with OneZero about content moderation and alternative social media platforms

Jan 8, 2021
The Atlantic

The Year That Changed the Internet

In 2020, the need to contain misinformation about COVID-19 pushed Facebook and Twitter into a role they never wanted—arbiters of the truth.

Dec 28, 2020
WIRED

Better Than Nothing: A Look at Content Moderation in 2020

evelyn douek shares her thoughts on content moderation in 2020

Dec 27, 2020
Marketplace Tech

We hardly ever talk about YouTube and disinformation. Not anymore.

evelyn douek joins Marketplace Tech podcast to discuss YouTube and disinformation

Dec 17, 2020
WIRED

Why Isn't Susan Wojcicki Getting Grilled By Congress?

YouTube is a major vector for election and other disinformation. evelyn douek asks why its CEO wasn’t with Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey on Capitol Hill.

Nov 17, 2020
The New York Times

Twitter says it labeled 0.2% of all election-related tweets as disputed

evelyn douek discusses content moderation and the 2020 election

Nov 12, 2020
Bloomberg

YouTube Election Loophole Lets Some False Trump-Win Videos Spread

evelyn douek talks with Bloomberg about YouTube’s election response

Nov 10, 2020
Harvard Law Today

‘Be the Twitter that you want to see in the world’

Platform governance and the 2020 Presidential Election

Nov 7, 2020
The Washington Post

How viral videos helped blast voting lies across the Web

evelyn douek explains YouTube’s content moderation policies

Nov 5, 2020
The New York Times

It’s the End of an Era for the Media, No Matter Who Wins the Election

evelyn douek and Zeynep Tufekci are cited by The New York Times

Nov 1, 2020
The New York Times

Twitter Changes Course After Republicans Claim ‘Election Interference’

evelyn douek speaks to The New York Times about Twitter blocking the link to a New York Post article.

Oct 15, 2020
Centre for International Governance Innovation

Should Big Tech Be Setting the Terms of Political Speech?

evelyn douek, Dipayan Ghosh talk with the Centre for International Governance Innovation

Oct 5, 2020
The Guardian

Facebook's long-awaited oversight board to launch before US election

Julie Owono and evelyn douek discuss Facebook Oversight Board

Sep 24, 2020
Lawfare

Twitter Brings Down the Banhammer on QAnon

Twitter’s QAnon response underlines “how powerful and unaccountable” companies are, evelyn douek says.

Jul 24, 2020
Slate

Twitter Finally Cracked Down on QAnon—but There’s a Catch

evelyn douek discusses Twitter’s recent plans to mitigate QAnon with Slate

Jul 24, 2020
Slate

What Does “Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior” Actually Mean?

There’s no clear definition, and that’s worrisome, evelyn douek says.

Jul 2, 2020
Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Advertisers retreating from Facebook amid backlash over hate speech on social media

evelyn douek joins Australian Broadcasting Corporation to discuss backlash over hate speech on social media

Jul 1, 2020
ZDNET

Australia warned to not ignore domestic misinformation in social media crackdown

evelyn douek spoke to Australia’s Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media about misinformation.

Jun 22, 2020
Slate

Why We Should Care That Facebook Accidentally Deplatformed Hundreds of Users

evelyn douek discusses content moderation and different types of speech

Jun 12, 2020
Wired

Trump's Tweets Force Twitter Into a High-Wire Act

evelyn douek cautions against expecting a platform like Twitter to completely solve the problems of political discourse.

May 29, 2020
The Atlantic

Trump Is a Problem That Twitter Cannot Fix

When a duly elected president is bent on spreading misinformation, tech companies can rein him in only so much, writes evelyn douek.

May 27, 2020
Lawfare

Real Reporting on Fake News

evelyn douek interviews Craig Silverman, the media editor for Buzzfeed News, for the Lawfare Podcast.

May 14, 2020
Columbia Journalism Review

evelyn douek talks about the Facebook Oversight Board

douek speaks with Columbia Journalism Review’s Mathew Ingram

May 11, 2020
The University of Chicago Law Review Online

“What Kind of Oversight Board Have You Given Us?”

evelyn douek explains Facebook’s Oversight Board

May 11, 2020
The Atlantic

The Internet’s Titans Make a Power Grab

Facebook and other platforms insisted that they didn’t want to be “arbiters of truth.” The coronavirus changed their mind overnight.

Apr 18, 2020
The Lawfare Podcast

Location, Location, Location. And the Virus.

evelyn douek discusses content moderation and COVID-19

Mar 30, 2020
Lawfare

COVID-19 and Social Media Content Moderation

evelyn douek on changes to content moderation on social media platforms as a result of the pandemic

Mar 25, 2020
The Lawfare Podcast

The Lawfare Podcast: Kate Starbird on Pandemics and Infodemics

evelyn douek speaks with Kate Starbird, an expert in crisis informatics, or the study of how information flows during crisis events.

Mar 16, 2020
Lawfare

Facebook’s White Paper on the Future of Online Content Regulation

evelyn douek reviews a recent white paper from Facebook on online content moderation

Feb 18, 2020
The Lawfare Podcast

The Hard Tradeoffs of the Internet

Alex Stamos discusses his experience at Facebook handling 2016 election interference, as well as his work on cybersecurity, disinformation, and end-to-end encryption with evelyn…

Feb 13, 2020
The Knight First Amendment Institute

The Rise of Content Cartels

evelyn douek urges transparency and accountability in industry-wide content removal decisions

Feb 11, 2020
Vox

Facebook announces new details about independent oversight board for content moderation

evelyn douek weighed in on the upsides and shortcomings drawbacks of Facebook‘s new content moderation policy. 

Jan 28, 2020
Columbia Journalism Review

Who is right about political ads, Twitter or Facebook?

evelyn douek joined a virtual panel of experts to weigh in on the two approaches

Jan 16, 2020
The Lawfare Podcast

Danielle Citron and evelyn douek on Deep Fakes

evelyn douek spoke with law professors Bobby Chesney and Danielle Citron about deep fakes.

Jan 16, 2020
Columbia Journalism Review

Facebook, free speech, and political ads

Jonathan Zittrain and evelyn douek weigh in on the power of platforms like Facebook

Oct 31, 2019
Galley by Columbia Journalism Review

evelyn douek talks Facebook and Speech

BKC affiliate discusses free speech, platform regulation, political advertising, and Facebook’s oversight board.

Oct 29, 2019
Lawfare

New U.N. Report on Online Hate Speech

evelyn douek reviews David Kaye’s latest report

Oct 25, 2019
The New York Times

Do We Need to Break Up Facebook?

Breaking up Facebook isn’t enough, says evelyn douek

Oct 4, 2019
The New York Times

Facebook Expands Definition of Terrorist Organizations to Limit Extremism

evelyn douek shares her perspective with The New York Times

Sep 18, 2019
The Atlantic

Finally, Facebook Put Someone in Charge

Deciding which postings to take down is a difficult and unpopular job. So Mark Zuckerberg is outsourcing it, says evelyn douek

Sep 18, 2019
The New York Times

Host Violent Content? In Australia, You Could Go to Jail

Australia has held itself up as a model for cracking down on violent extremist material online since the Christchurch massacre in New Zealand. But the limits to its approach have…

Sep 11, 2019

Courses

Freedom of Speech Frontiers: Comparative and Global Perspectives - Fall 2020

Professor Martha Minow, evelyn douek The interconnected…


Events

Oct 27, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

Election Chaos: Platform Preparations for the US Election

Video & Podcast: A discussion with evelyn douek and Julie Owono

Video & Podcast: Discover how platforms are preparing for disinformation campaigns in the forthcoming US election.