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Internet Health

Censorship, filtering, throttling, dead links, blockages. The health of the Internet can be measured by the ease with which its users can access and share information. We develop tools and research to understand where information on the Internet is obstructed, to identify the strategies communities use to circumvent those obstructions, and to support greater access.

Our Work 86

Mar 19, 2024

Meet Jonathan Bellack, New Senior Director of the Applied Social Media Lab

Jonathan is Senior Director of the Applied Social Media Lab within the Berkman Klein Center. He is building a team of technologists to invent new social media approaches that…

News
Oct 1, 2020

Web Integrity Project joins the Berkman Klein Center

Project spotlights government transparency

Project researches government transparency and censorship

News
May 15, 2020

Lumen database enables Wall Street Journal investigation

Removal request data from Google uncovers false takedown claims

The WSJ collaborated with Lumen, exploring its database of copyright removal notices and uncovering false takedown claims to Google.

Event
Apr 7, 2020 @ 12:00 PM

[Virtual] Bot or Human? Unreliable Automatic Bot Detection

Video & Podcast: An Analysis of Botometer

Video & Podcast: Jonas Kaiser and Adrian Rauchfleisch discuss their paper on Botometer's diagnostic ability over time

News
Mar 31, 2020

The false positive problem of automatic bot detection in social science research

A study of Botometer's diagnostic ability over time

A study of Botometer's diagnostic ability over time

Publication
Mar 31, 2020

The false positive problem of automatic bot detection in social science research

A study of Botometer's diagnostic ability over time

A study of Botometer's diagnostic ability over time

News
Dec 19, 2019

Lumen Comments on Copyright and Transparency for EU Meeting

Christopher Bavitz and Adam Holland joined an EU meeting to discuss the importance of data transparency in takedown regimes and key learnings from the Lumen Database. 

Nov 12, 2019

Illuminating the Flows – and Redactions – of Content Online

Arcadia to support expansion of Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center Lumen Database

Arcadia to support the expansion of Lumen Database

News
Jun 12, 2019

Announcing AccessCheck

Track website accessibility around the world

A new tool to track website accessibility, worldwide, in real time

News
Apr 1, 2019

"Public sector should lead on broadband"

There is good reason to believe municipal broadband would result in cost savings to citizens

Feb 5, 2019 @ 12:00 PM

A History of the Internet

featuring Scott Bradner

VIDEO & PODCAST: Why has the Internet had such a powerful impact? What are the challenges that may cause the Internet of tomorrow to be significantly less revolutionary than the…

Event
Jan 31, 2019 @ 6:00 PM

Cyberlaw and Human Rights

Intersections in the Global South

VIDEO & PODCAST: Academics and civil society representatives from across the Global South will discuss emerging legal challenges to human rights in digitally networked spaces,…

Publication
Jan 16, 2019

Internet Censorship and the Intraregional Geopolitical Conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa

How do adversarial relationships between states translate into Internet censorship practices?

News
Jan 15, 2019

Get to Know Berkman Klein Fellow Jessica Dheere

a spotlight on one of our 2018-2019 BKC Fellows

Jessica Dheere wants activists, policymakers, and researchers to be able to better observe, understand, and act on emerging legal trends in digital rights around the world.

News
Dec 14, 2018

Get to Know Berkman Klein Fellow Rachel Han

a spotlight on one of our 2018-2019 BKC Fellows

Rachel Han is a 2018-2019 Berkman Klein fellow and Director of Business Development at OpenDataSoft, where she focuses on IoT and smart cities initiatives as well as collaborating…

Event
Sep 18, 2018 @ 12:00 PM

Platforms, Politics, and Power

Understanding and Shaping the Internet in 2018

VIDEO & PODCAST: Jonathan Zittrain on platforms and society

Publication
Sep 5, 2018

Censorship and Collateral Damage

Analyzing the Telegram Ban in Iran

Analyzing the aftermath of the Telegram ban in Iran, and presenting detailed data on one of the most widely used circumvention tools among Iranians.

Event
Mar 27, 2018 @ 12:00 PM

Dividing Lines

Why Is Internet Access Still Considered a Luxury in America?

Internet access is a major social and economic justice issue of our time. Dividing Lines, a four-part documentary video series, sheds a light on who is being left behind as big…

Feb 28, 2018

The Yemen War Online: Propagation of Censored Content on Twitter

This study documents and analyzes the sharing of information on Twitter among different political groups related to the ongoing conflict in Yemen. 

Event
Jan 25, 2018 @ 12:00 PM

Net Neutrality in the United States

A panel featuring Christopher S. Yoo (UPenn) and Matthew Wood (Free Press)

The January 4 release of the Federal Communications Commission’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order marked the most recent turn of events in the longstanding and ever-changing…

Event
Oct 24, 2017 @ 5:00 PM

Safe Spaces, Brave Spaces

with author John Palfrey, Head of School at Phillips Academy, Andover

Often in today’s political climate our commitments to liberty and equality are set at odds with one another. This tension is nowhere more evident than when we pit free expression…

Event
Oct 13, 2017 @ 9:30 AM

China and the Internet featuring Kaiser Kuo

Join Kaiser Kuo as he explores the factors that may explain the inflection points in content policy, and examine some of the prevailing notions in the west about Internet…

Event
Oct 4, 2017 @ 12:00 PM

Did Fake News Save Kenya from an Internet Shutdown? Emerging Trends in Tech and Elections in Africa​

featuring Grace Mutung'u, the 2016/17 OTF Information Controls Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center

Technology and elections and the politics of technology​. How use of technology in Kenyan elections is shaping Internet freedom in Africa.

Event
Sep 12, 2017 @ 12:00 PM

Technology for the Social Good

featuring Jonathan Zittrain

If you’re interested in connecting with the Berkman Klein Center's research, community, and events, or are just generally interested in digital technologies and their impact on…

Publication
Jun 29, 2017

The Shifting Landscape of Global Internet Censorship

An Uptake in Communications Encryption Is Tempered by Increasing Pressure on Major Platform Providers; Governments Expand Content Restriction Tactics

Documenting the practice of Internet censorship around the world through empirical testing of the availability of the world’s most-trafficked and influential websites.

Event
May 3, 2017 @ 12:00 PM

Digital Rights and Online Harassment in the Global South

featuring Berkman Klein Affiliate, Nighat Dad

An inside look at the challenges facing women, human rights defenders, and other internet users in Pakistan, from online harassment to privacy and free expression.

Publication
May 1, 2017

Analyzing Accessibility of Wikipedia Projects Around the World

This study, conducted by the Internet Monitor project, analyzes the scope of government-sponsored censorship of Wikimedia sites around the world. 

Event
Apr 25, 2017 @ 10:00 AM

Meeting 21st Century Municipal Internet Access Needs

Perspectives from Boston City Hall and Brookline on City and Regional Infrastructure Planning

Hosted by Responsive Communities, a project of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

Event
Apr 25, 2017 @ 4:00 PM

The International State of Digital Rights, a Conversation with the UN Special Rapporteur

David Kaye in conversation with Nani Jansen Reventlow

UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye, is joined in conversation by Nani Jansen Reventlow, a Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center…

Event
Apr 18, 2017 @ 12:00 PM

Internet Access as a Basic Service

Inspiration from our Canadian Neighbors

Join the Berkman Klein Center and the HLS Canadian Law Student Association as Mr. Blais speaks about broadband, internet, and the future of connectivity in Canada and around the…

Mar 14, 2017 @ 12:00 PM

An Introduction to Media Cloud

Mapping the attention and influence of news

The recent US election, and related conversations about misinformation, have brought questions about media influence to the forefront of internet research and communications…

Event
Feb 23, 2017 @ 12:00 PM

Public Health Echo Chambers in a Time of Mistrust & Misinformation - Digital Health @ Harvard, February 2017

with Berkman Klein fellows Natalie Gyenes and Brittany Seymour

Research shows that public health information networks online have been largely unsuccessful in driving an evidence-based information network narrative around key health topics…

Event
Jan 24, 2017 @ 4:00 PM

US Communications at a Crossroads

featuring Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler, in conversation with Harvard Law School Professor Susan Crawford

Join us for a conversation between Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler, and Harvard Law School Professor, Susan Crawford.

Publication
Jun 22, 2016

#IranVotes

Political Discourse on Iranian Twitter During the 2016 Parliamentary Elections

#IranVotes: Political Discourse on Iranian Twitter During the 2016 Parliamentary Elections” maps and analyzes the content and structure of the Iranian Twittersphere over the…

Publication
May 4, 2016

Public Opinion toward Internet Freedom in Asia: A Survey of Internet Users from 11 Jurisdictions

The purpose of the study is to understand the public opinion toward issues related to Internet freedom in Asia. This report provides a basic overview of the opinions and behaviors…

News
Apr 14, 2016

Cyberlaw Clinic and Lumen Project Reps Contribute to Section 512 Study

On April 1st, the Copyright Office closed the initial comment period for a public study undertaken to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the Digital Millennium…

Dec 10, 2015

Openness and Restraint

Structure, Discourse, and Contention in Saudi Twitter

"Openness and Restraint" maps and analyzes the structure and content of the Saudi Twittersphere and identifies the communities that coalesce around different political, religious,…

Publication
Nov 4, 2015

Beyond the Wall

Mapping Twitter in China

"Beyond the Wall: Mapping Twitter in China" offers a rare look at the activity of Chinese Internet users on a platform that is largely unregulated by the state and only reachable…

Publication
Oct 16, 2015

Good Practices for University Open-Access Policies

We have worked directly for many years with colleagues at many institutions on policies to facilitate open access to faculty research. We began writing this guide in 2011 to…

News
Sep 28, 2015

Berkman Center Launches New Internet Data Dashboard

Dashboard debuts at World Economic Forum meeting in Geneva

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University is pleased to announce the launch of the Internet Monitor dashboard, a freely accessible tool that aims to improve…

News
Jul 27, 2015

Project Spotlight: Internet Monitor

A new, customizable dashboard with real-time info about the Net coming soon

Internet Monitor’s mission is to collect and share data about how people all over the world access and use the Internet. This fall the project plans to release a new platform for…

Publication
Feb 5, 2015

Arab Religious Skeptics Online

Anonymity, Autonomy, and Discourse in a Hostile Environment

"Arab Religious Skeptics Online: Anonymity, Autonomy, and Discourse in a Hostile Environment," authored by Helmi Noman, is the sixth paper in the Internet Monitor special report…

Dec 16, 2014

Internet Monitor 2014: Reflections on the Digital World

The Internet Monitor project's second annual report—Internet Monitor 2014: Reflections on the Digital World—is a collection of roughly three dozen short contributions that…

Publication
Nov 20, 2014

The Tightening Web of Russian Internet Regulation

"The Tightening Web of Russian Internet Regulation," authored by Andrey Tselikov, is the fifth paper in the Internet Monitor special report series, which focuses on key events and…

Publication
Sep 30, 2014

Russia, Ukraine, and the West

Social Media Sentiment in the Euromaidan Protests

"Russia, Ukraine, and the West: Social Media Sentiment in the Euromaidan Protests," authored by Bruce Etling, is the fourth paper in the Internet Monitor special reports series,…

Publication
Apr 28, 2014

Blogs as an Alternative Public Sphere

The Role of Blogs, Mainstream Media, and TV in Russia’s Media Ecology

"Blogs as an Alternative Public Sphere: The Role of Blogs, Mainstream Media, and TV in Russia’s Media Ecology," authored by Bruce Etling, Hal Roberts, and Robert Faris, is the…

Publication
Dec 11, 2013

Internet Monitor 2013

Reflections on the Digital World

Internet Monitor 2013: Reflections on the Digital World, the Internet Monitor project's first-ever annual report, is a collection of essays from roughly two dozen experts around…

Publication
Nov 14, 2013

Measuring Internet Activity

A (Selective) Review of Methods and Metrics

"Measuring Internet Activity: A (Selective) Review of Methods and Metrics," authored by Robert Faris and Rebekah Heacock, explores current efforts to measure digital activity…

Publication
Jul 16, 2013

Rationing the Digital

The Policy and Politics of Internet Use in Cuba Today

"Rationing the Digital: The Policy and Politics of Internet Use in Cuba Today," authored by Internet Monitor contributor Ellery Roberts Biddle, explores Cuba's complex economy of…

Publication
Nov 6, 2012

Open Wireless vs. Licensed Spectrum: Evidence from Market Adoption

The paper reviews evidence from eight wireless markets: mobile broadband; wireless healthcare; smart grid communications; inventory management; access control; mobile payments;…

Event
Oct 23, 2012 @ 12:30 PM

How to Make Your Research Open Access (Whether You're at Harvard or Not)

Celebrating Open Access Week

How do you make your own work open access (OA)? The question comes up from researchers at schools with good OA policies (like Harvard and MIT) and at schools with no OA policies…

Event
Sep 11, 2012 @ 6:00 PM

Open Access Book Launch

Peter Suber tells us what open access is and isn’t, how it benefits authors and readers of research, how we pay for it, how it avoids copyright problems, how it has moved from the…

Jun 1, 2012

Open Access

In this concise introduction, Peter Suber tells us what open access is and isn’t, how it benefits authors and readers of research, how we pay for it, how it avoids copyright…

Publication
Nov 3, 2011

Access Contested: Security, Identity, and Resistance in Asian Cyberspace

"Access Contested: Security, Identity, and Resistance in Asian Cyberspace," edited by Ronald J. Deibert, John G. Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski and Jonathan Zittrain.

Publication
Sep 20, 2011

Account Deactivation and Content Removal: Guiding Principles and Practices for Companies and Users

In partnership with colleagues at the Center for Democracy & Technology, the Berkman Center is pleased to release a report on “Account Deactivation and Content Removal: Guiding…

Publication
Aug 18, 2011

International Bloggers and Internet Control: Full Survey Results

This document includes the full survey results for the Berkman Center’s International Bloggers and Internet Control survey.

Publication
Aug 18, 2011

International Bloggers and Internet Control

Infringements on Internet freedom, particularly through Internet filtering and surveillance, have inspired activists and technologists to develop technological counter-measures,…

Publication
Aug 18, 2011

The Evolving Landscape of Internet Control

A Summary of Our Recent Research and Recommendations

Over the past two years, we have undertaken several studies at the Berkman Center designed to better understand the control of the Internet in less open societies. In this paper,…

Publication
Aug 18, 2011

2011 Circumvention Tool Evaluation

Given the rising awareness of the potential of the Internet as a political space and increasing government control over the space, it is easy to understand the widespread interest…

Aug 1, 2011

Online Security in the Middle East and North Africa

A Survey of Perceptions, Knowledge, and Practice

The recent surge in digital activism that has helped to shape the Arab spring has been met with stiff resistance by governments in the region intent on reducing the impact of…

Jan 25, 2011 @ 12:30 PM

Distributed Denial of Service Attacks Against Independent Media and Human Rights Sites

Ethan Zuckerman, Hal Roberts, and Jillian C. York

Ethan Zuckerman, Hal Roberts, and Jillian C. York will discuss the recently released Berkman Center report on "Distributed Denial of Service Attacks Against Independent Media and…

Dec 20, 2010

2010 Report on Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks

This paper evaluates the impact of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on independent media and human rights sites in nine countries, as well as the broader impact of…

Publication
Oct 14, 2010

2010 Circumvention Tool Usage Report

This paper evaluates the usage of blocking-resistant circumvention tools, simple web proxies, and VPN services and finds that overall usage of circumvention tools is still very…

Apr 29, 2010

Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace

"Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace," edited by Ronald J. Deibert, John G. Palfrey, Rafal Rohozinski and Jonathan Zittrain, with a foreword by…

Event
Feb 8, 2010 @ 6:00 PM

When Countries Collide Online: Internet Spies, Cyberwar, and Government-sponsored Skullduggery

Cliff Stoll and Jonathan Zittrain

With the Internet woven into the fabric of all governmental activities, it's not surprising to find many international espionage agencies shadowing targets online and performing…

Event
Dec 10, 2009 @ 1:00 PM

FCC "Workshop: Review and Discussion of Broadband Deployment Research"

The FCC is holding a public workshop on two independent studies that were requested in connection with the development of the National Broadband Plan: the Berkman Center's "Next…

Nov 3, 2009 @ 12:30 PM

From Broadcast to Broadband: Redesigning public media for the 21st Century

Ellen Goodman of Rutgers University School of Law & Jake Shapiro, Executive Director, Public Radio Exchange (PRX)

Ellen and Jake Shapiro lead a discussion on how within the broader story of media transformation generally, there’s an important role played by public broadcasting as it also…

Event
Apr 21, 2009 @ 12:30 PM

Mediactive: Why media consumers, not just creators, need to be active users

Dan Gillmor, Berkman Fellow

The supply side of tomorrow's media is emerging quickly, if messily, in a democratization of media-creation tools that give us a vast and growing amount of content of all kinds,…

Publication
Mar 5, 2009

2007 Circumvention Landscape Report: Methods, Uses, and Tools

A large variety of different projects have developed tools that can be used to circumvent Internet filtering, allowing people in filtered countries access to otherwise filtered…

Event
Mar 3, 2009 @ 12:30 PM

The Tao of the Web: China and the future of the Internet

Rebecca MacKinnon

Most English-language discussions about "the future of the Internet" approach the subject from an Anglo-American and European perspective. But what if you take China - now with…

Event
Feb 10, 2009 @ 12:30 PM

Herdict: The Verdict of the Herd

Jonathan Zittrain and the Herdict Team

Jonathan Zittrain and the Herdict Team will present Herdict Web, a tool that seeks to gain insight into what users around the world are experiencing in terms of web accessibility.

Event
Oct 17, 2008 @ 8:30 AM

Russia Online: the Russian-Language Blogosphere and Participatory Internet

An all-day conference in New York City made possible by the collaboration of the Harriman Institute and the School of Journalism at Columbia University, and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

Conference Wiki: http://cyber.harvard.edu/russiaonline/Main_Page User: russiaonline PW: columbia This conference is open to the public. Seating may be limited. To reserve…

Event
Mar 25, 2008 @ 7:30 PM

Digital Dilemmas: A Multi-stakeholder Response to Internet Censorship and Surveillance

NYU Law Information Law Institute Colloquium, co-sponsored by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School

Participants discussed the role that corporations should play in response to government-mandated Internet censorship and surveillance.

Event
Mar 14, 2008 @ 7:30 PM

Berkman Book Release: Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering

by Ronald Deibert (Editor), John G. Palfrey (Editor), Rafal Rohozinski (Editor), Jonathan Zittrain (Editor)

The OpenNet Initiative’s new book, Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering, is now on bookshelves.

Mar 13, 2008

Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering

Book Description, from Amazon: Many countries around the world block or filter Internet content, denying access to information--often about politics, but also relating to…

Event
May 18, 2007 @ 5:59 PM

OpenNet Initiative Conference: The Future of Free Expression on the Internet

The OpenNet Initiative held its first public conference to discuss the current state of play of Internet filtering worldwide. The conference was hosted by the Oxford Internet…

Event
Apr 24, 2007 @ 12:30 PM

Access Denied: the Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering

Robert Faris and John Palfrey previewed Access Denied

Rob Faris and John Palfrey gave us a preview of the OpenNet Initiative's most recent publication, Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering.

Event
Apr 17, 2007 @ 12:30 PM

Sacked by Copyright: DMCA Takedowns and Free Expression

Wendy Seltzer, Berkman Fellow

Wendy Seltzer, founder of Chilling Effects, discussed "Sacked by Copyright: DMCA Takedowns and Free Expression."

Publication
Mar 1, 2007

Reluctant Gatekeepers: Corporate Ethics on a Filtered Internet

Corporations are increasingly finding themselves caught in the crosshairs as they are asked by local authorities to carry out censorship and surveillance online. This chapter…

Event
Jan 30, 2007 @ 12:30 PM

Securing Human Rights Online: Addressing Long-term Problems of Sustainability, Coordination, and Resources

Ron Deibert, Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto

Ron Deibert on "Securing Human Rights Online: Addressing Long-term Problems of Sustainability, Coordination, and Resources"

Event
Jan 17, 2006 @ 12:30 PM

Citizens' Media

Dan Gillmor, Berkman Fellow

Dan Gillmor on Citizens' Media and the Center for Citizen Media which exists to study, encourage, and enable new forms of grassroots media.

Event
Jun 7, 2005 @ 12:30 PM

Filtering

Richard Clayton

Berkman Luncheon Series: 6/7/05 - Richard Clayton on Filtering. Richard Clayton recently presented "Failures in a Hybrid Content Blocking System" at the PET2005 workshop in…

Event
May 17, 2005 @ 12:30 PM

On Public Media

Jake Shapiro, Berkman Fellow

Berkman Luncheon Series: 5/17/05 - Jake Shapiro, et al, on Public Media. Jake Shapiro and colleagues from the Public Radio Exchange will discuss public media at today's Berkman…

Event
Nov 23, 2004 @ 12:30 PM

The Public Radio Exchange

Jake Shapiro, Berkman Fellow

Berkman Luncheon Series: 11/23/04 - Jake Shapiro of the Public Radio Exchange

Event
Sep 14, 2004 @ 12:30 PM

Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia

Jeffrey Engerman, Berkman Center Student Fellow

Berkman Luncheon Series: 9/14/04 - Berkman Center Student Fellow Jeffrey Engerman on Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia

Event
Apr 29, 2003 @ 12:30 PM

The Public Radio Exchange (2003)

Jake Shapiro, Berkman Fellow

Berkman Luncheon Series: 4/29/03 - Jake Shapiro on the Public Radio Exchange


Community 107

OONI

Russia blocked OONI Explorer, a large open dataset on Internet censorship

Maria Xynou details the latest censorship campaign against OONI Explorer.

Sep 25, 2024
Bellingcat

Introducing Bellingcat's Collaborative Open Source Toolkit

The Online Investigations Toolkit helps open source researchers discover new tools, and understand their uses and limitations.

Sep 24, 2024
Open Observatory of Network Interference

Kazakhstan: TLS MITM attacks and blocking of news media, human rights, and circumvention tool sites

An OONI-sponsored report investigates internet censorship in Kazakhstan.

Sep 19, 2024
Journal of Online Trust & Safety

Algorithmic Impact Assessments at Scale

Practitioners' Challenges and Needs

What challenges do practitioners face when implementing Algorithmic Impact Assessments?

Sep 18, 2024
Cyberlaw Clinic

Massachusetts High Court Issues Ruling in Online Racial Profiling Case

The Cyberlaw Clinic welcomes the SJC's holding that the BPD violated the law by refusing to turn over evidence of potential online racial profiling.

Sep 6, 2024
Harvard Kennedy School

A Hacker's Mind

HKS's Behind the Book series covers Bruce Schneier's latest work.

Aug 30, 2024
LiveNOW

French authorities charge Telegram's CEO

Juan Ortiz Freuler breaks down the latest information on the case against Pavel Durov.

Aug 29, 2024
Fast Company

Why France’s arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has divided tech regulation experts

There’s debate over whether Durov’s arrest is a good way to keep tech execs in check or sets a dangerous precedent.

Juan Ortiz Freuler and Apunam Chander weigh in on the arrest of Pavel Durov.

Aug 27, 2024

Personhood Credentials

Artificial intelligence and the value of privacy-preserving tools to distinguish who is real online

Wendy Seltzer and Tom Zick consider the efficacy of implementing "personhood credentials" as means to deter bad actors online while maintaining users' anonymity.

Aug 26, 2024
Prospect Magazine

When monoculture leads to monofailure

In computing, as in farming, the pursuit of efficiency can leave us vulnerable. Just look at CrowdStrike.

Ethan Zuckerman explores how the Crowdstrike outage makes computing farm more vulnerable than it ought to be.

Aug 21, 2024
The New York Times

How a Law That Shields Big Tech Is Now Being Used Against It

A Massachusetts professor has filed a lawsuit against Meta using a novel interpretation of Section 230, a law known primarily for shielding social media companies from liability.

The New York Times chronicles the latest in Ethan Zuckerman’s lawsuit against Meta.

Aug 20, 2024
ARXIV

SEAL: Systematic Error Analysis for Value ALignment

Manon Revel introduces evaluate metrics for rewards models' alignment with the values expressed in training datasets.

Aug 16, 2024
Lumen

More Local News Caught in Flood of Unrelated Copyright Takedown Requests

Lumen details a slew of wrongful takedown requests, many of which target local news URLs.

Aug 15, 2024
Tech Policy Press

Will Social Media Companies Ever Stop Platforming Extreme Anti-Trans Hate and Lies?

Amidst escalating online scapegoating, offline attacks are rising, writes Alejandra Caraballo.

Jun 27, 2024
Prospect Magazine

Are there any humans left on the internet?

Ethan Zuckerman writes about the relationship between human-generated content and AI models on the internet.

Jun 24, 2024
Yale University Press

Loneliness and Screens: Causes and Consequences

Jeffrey Hall writes about the loneliness epidemic and how to address its core.

Jun 7, 2024
Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure at UMass Amherst

Reframing Digital Safety with Diana Freed: For Survivors and Youth, The Biggest Threats Come From Everyday Tech

Diana Freed sits down with Ethan Zuckerman to talk about digital safety for young people and survivors of intimate partner violence.

May 29, 2024
The Regulatory Review

Is AI-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence the Next Pandemic?

"The rise of deep fakes and other AI-generated misinformation presents a direct threat to women’s freedom."

May 6, 2024
The New York Times

I Love Facebook. That’s Why I’m Suing Meta.

Ethan Zuckerman discusses his decision to sue Meta.

May 5, 2024
Bloomberg

The State of Crypto Is Anything But Strong

Molly White writes about the state of the crypto industry.

May 2, 2024
The Atlantic

It’s the End of the Web as We Know It

Judith Donath and Bruce Schneier warn that, without intervention, the continued expansion of generative AI will end the Web's utility as a public resource.

Apr 22, 2024
Lawfare

Backdoor in XZ Utils That Almost Happened

Bruce Schneier writes about a recent potential cybersecurity catastrophe.

Apr 9, 2024
NBC News

A new book has amplified fierce debate around teens, mental health and smartphones

Joe Bak-Coleman speaks about the debate on kids' mental health and the relationship to social media and smartphones. “Ninety percent of this debate is basically just back…

Apr 3, 2024
WGBH

Transgender attorney says Musk's handling of X is 'extremely concerning'

Alejandra Caraballo discusses her experiences with content moderation issues on Elon Musk's X and the lack of trust and safety mechanisms on the platform.

Mar 28, 2024
TIME

The Next Tech Backlash Will Be About Hygiene

Jonnie Penn argues that the increased incorporation of AI into our lives may harm our basic hygiene.

Mar 18, 2024
The Atlantic

What to Do About the Junkification of the Internet

Nathaniel Lubin writes about internet "junkification."

Mar 12, 2024
Tech Policy Press

The Race to Detect AI-Generated Content and Tackle Harms

Sameer Hinduja, Nighat Dad, and coauthors detail the troubling proliferation of deepfakes and the various legal, technological, and even user-education-focused interventions…

Mar 11, 2024
Wall Street Journal

What Gen Z Will Lose if They Don’t Have Friendships at Work

Jeffrey Hall discusses research around making friendships in the workplace.

Mar 7, 2024
TIME

How to Use Apps to Actually Make Friends

Jeffrey Hall discusses making friends online.

Mar 6, 2024
Harvard Magazine

Facebook’s Failures

BKC Graduate Student Fellow Dylan Moses joins Jeff Horwitz and Latanya Sweeney to discuss Horwitz's book, Broken Code: Inside Facebook and the Fight to Expose Its Harmful Secrets.

Mar 1, 2024
RSM

We spend less time on TikTok than we fear

RSM Alumna Elissa Redmiles summarizes her collaborative work on the (in)accuracy of user estimates of TikTok usage, and lays out the implications: 

Feb 23, 2024
LA Times

Opinion: Many Americans believe migrants bring fentanyl across the border. That’s wrong and dangerous

Susan Benesch and Catherine Buerger use the context of fentanyl and border crossings to explain the dangers of combining facts, lies, and emotional language.

Feb 19, 2024
WIRED

Social Media Is Getting Smaller—and More Treacherous

Ethan Zuckerman writes about social media getting smaller, allowing for more people to connect, but also more extremism to arise. 

Jan 24, 2024
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Confronting Bullying in the Cyber Age

BKC Faculty Associate Sameer Hinduja provides insight on the impacts of online bullying in children.

Jan 24, 2024
The Atlantic

Don’t Talk to People Like They’re Chatbots

Bruce Schneier co-authors a piece in The Atlantic discussing human interactions and the impacts of AI on them.

Jan 17, 2024
MSNBC

How social media algorithms can lead users into temptation

Leah Plunkett writes about how algorithms can quickly become privacy violations.

Dec 12, 2023

Unveiling Gatekeeping Practices in Mobile Environments: A Comparative Analysis of Operating Systems and App Gardens

Juan Ortiz Freuler examines the handling of user requests to access Web content via links within mobile apps in the Apple iOS ecosystem.

Nov 16, 2023
Business Insider

Great news — social media is falling apart

Faculty Associate Ben Grosser and RSM Executive Director Rebecca Rinkevich comment on the potential dawn of the social media pluriverse.

Nov 13, 2023
The New York Times

Sam Bankman-Fried and the People Who Gave Up Their Money for Nothing

BKC Affiliate Molly White argues that Sam Bankman-Fried and the collapse of FTX exposed the greater fragility of cryptocurrency.

Nov 8, 2023
NPR

FTX is now defunct. Does crypto have a future?

BKC Affiliate Molly White discusses crypto's future after the collapse of FTX.

Nov 5, 2023
The Hill

Elon Musk’s Twitter is a ‘$44 billion albatross’ a year later

BKC Faculty Associate Larry Lessig discusses Twitter, now X, a year after Elon Musk's takeover of the platform.

Oct 31, 2023
Prospect Magazine

How we’ve enshittified the tech economy

BKC Faculty Associate Ethan Zuckerman suggests that in certain markets turning to cooperatives may fight the "enshittification" of the tech economy.

Oct 4, 2023
Business Insider

Great news — social media is falling apart

BKC Faculty Associate Ben Grosser comments on the potential end of the big platform social media party.

Oct 3, 2023
Tech Policy Press

Will AI Degrade Online Communities?

BKC Senior Research Coordinator Kaylie Mayberry explains how increased use of generative AI may degrade online communities. 

Sep 7, 2023
WIRED

The Internet Is Ruined. The Metaverse Can Still Be Saved

BKC Affiliate Micaela Mantegna spoke about avoiding mistakes made with the internet in the metaverse.

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
WIRED

Platforms Are Fighting Online Abuse—but Not the Right Kind

BKC Responsible AI Fellow Rumman Chowdhury co-writes a piece on the shortfalls of platforms fighting online abuse.

Feb 28, 2023
Inside INdiana Business

IU Kelley prof: More TikTok suits likely

BKC Faculty Associate Abbey Stemler was interviewed about TikTok’s legal liability for failing to protect children from inappropriate content.

Jan 4, 2023
Harvard Law Review

Content Moderation as Systems Thinking

Evelyn Douek, BKC Faculty Associate, writes about how to improve content moderation. "Content moderation should be understood as a project of mass speech administration and…

Dec 12, 2022
The Hill

Musk boosts Twitter’s right-wing appeal with moderation changes, ‘Twitter Files’

David Weinberger discusses the shift in Twitter’s appeal to the right following Musk’s takeover. “It’s easy to understand why the right is overall so happy with what Musk has…

Dec 8, 2022
Texas Law Review

Self-Regulating Platforms and Anti-Trust Justice

BKC Affiliate Elettra Bietti explores the distinctions and assumptions around platforms' functioning in markets. 

Dec 8, 2022
GNET

Not all Superheros Wear Capes: Identity Triggers the Trolls

BKC Fellow Kesa White writes about extremism and its links to identity and gender.  "Identities make people unique and allow them to live their truth…

Dec 2, 2022
Scientific American

Twitter Is Not Rocket Science—It’s Harder

RSM Assembly Fellow Joe Bak-Coleman writes about the challenges of managing human behavior, especially as applied to Twitter.  “On a social network, interactions between…

Nov 21, 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 “free speech absolutist,”…

Nov 11, 2022
Tech Policy Press

On Elon Musk’s Vision of Twitter as a Hive Mind

BKC Affiliate Joe Bak-Coleman writes about conceptualizing activity on Twitter as a “cybernetic super-intelligence” as described by Elon Musk.

Nov 3, 2022
The New York Times Opinion

We should try to prevent another Alex Jones

BKC Faculty Associate Zeynep Tufekci writes about disinformation and "prevent[ing] another Alex Jones." “It has become so easy to lucratively lie to so many people, and we…

Oct 16, 2022
The New York Times

How Social Media Amplifies Misinformation More Than Information

Rebooting Social Media Assembly Fellow and Integrity Institute Co-founder Sahar Massachi's work with the Integrity Institute's weekly misinformation dashboard was featured in The…

Oct 14, 2022
The New York Times

The Uber Hack Exposes More Than Failed Data Security

BKC Fellow Bruce Schneier writes about the Uber hack. "In all of these cases, the victimized organizations could have very likely protected our data better, but the reality is…

Sep 26, 2022
Harvard Business Review

Why Build in Web3

Jad Esber writes about how the Web3 model can change how digital companies operate and handle data. “A major change is coming to the internet. While today’s dominant platforms…

May 16, 2022
Barrons

Bring Social Media Enforcement into the Light

BKC Faculty Associate Susan Benesch writes about Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter and implications for content moderation and social media enforcement.

May 5, 2022
ProMarket

How the Free Software and the IP Wars of the 1990s and 2000s Presaged Today’s Toxic, Concentrated Internet

Elettra Bietti traces "the origins and evolution of digital regulation from its early cyberlibertarian roots to contemporary debates around the governance of digital platforms."

Jan 28, 2022
The Conversation

Facebook has a misinformation problem, and is blocking access to data about how much there is and who is affected

Ethan Zuckerman points out room for improvement in Facebook's openness to misinformation research.

Nov 2, 2021
The Atlantic

The Internet Is Rotting

Jonathan Zittrain shares the ways humanity’s knowledge can change or disappear without warning on the Internet

Jun 30, 2021
Minnesota Law Review

Understanding Chilling Effects

Jon Penney outlines a new framework for understanding "chilling effects" on speech.

Jun 7, 2021
The Verge

New research shows how many important links on the web get lost to time

The Verge features study from John Bowers and Jonathan Zittrain

May 21, 2021
Columbia Journalism Review

What the ephemerality of the Web means for your hyperlinks

A study by John Bowers, Clare Stanton, and Jonathan Zittrain examined hyperlinks in New York Times articles from 1996 through mid-2019.

May 21, 2021
BKC Medium Collection

What happened with digital rights in Africa in Q1 2021?

Tunde Okunoye shares an overview of developments in digital rights in Africa for the BKC Medium Collection.

Apr 12, 2021
BKC Medium Collection

Provocations for a better Internet

Jad Esber shares a curated set of provocations focused on why the internet is broken and what needs to change.

Feb 23, 2021
BKC Medium Collection

Internet Shutdowns in 2021

Tunde Okunoye urges a rethinking of advocacy strategies against internet shutdowns

Jan 6, 2021
BKC Medium Collection

Lumen — The Year in Review

The Lumen project’s annual report highlights the technical improvements, research, outreach, and data collection from the last year.

Oct 14, 2020
Variety

Twitter Deletes Trump’s Photo of Himself After NY Times Copyright Complaint

Lumen database hosts DMCA notice for the tweet

Jul 2, 2020
Daily Journal

Hotelier and lawyers try using allegedly false court order to stop news article

The Lumen Database helped a researcher uncover widespread fraud and aided in a criminal charge.

Dec 19, 2019
Harvard Law Today

Shedding light on fraudulent takedown notices

Berkman Klein Center’s Lumen database helps bring attention to falsified court orders

Dec 13, 2019
The Wall Street Journal

How Google Interferes With Its Search Algorithms and Changes Your Results

The internet giant uses blacklists, algorithm tweaks and an army of contractors to shape what you see

Nov 15, 2019
Committee to Protect Journalists

India uses opaque legal process to suppress Kashmiri journalism, commentary on Twitter

The Committee to Protect Journalists used Lumen in an investigation of Indian government censorship of Kashmiri journalism.

Oct 24, 2019
The New York Times

Even Trump Can’t Turn Down a Nickelback Joke (but Twitter Did)

Lumen shows why Twitter took down a video posted by President Trump

Oct 3, 2019
Open Technology Fund

Examining the Expanding Web of Chinese and Russian Information Controls

Valentin Weber tracks the global diffusion of repressive information controls and techniques

Sep 17, 2019
Foreign Policy in Focus

Digital Authoritarianism Is Rising in the Middle East

Internet Monitor paper offers insight into current events

Aug 20, 2019
The Wire

The ‘Special Status’ of Kashmir’s Internet Must Go

2017 Report from Internet Monitor informs online censorship in India

Aug 14, 2019
Medium

The future of the decentralized web

The inventor of the World Wide Web has a new vision to rescue it.

Jul 31, 2019
Medium

Thinking in Solid

Ethan Zuckerman envisions a review service built in Solid

Jul 29, 2019
Medium

Three reflections on decentralization

The co-chairs of the Re-decentralization of the Web Reading Group at BKC share their thoughts on decentralization and a reading list from the year

Jul 3, 2019
Medium

The Far-Right and its Vicious Cycle of Extremism

Contemporary transformations in radical forms

How the internet can contribute to individual and group radicalization.

Apr 15, 2019
The International Journal of Bullying Prevention

When Twitter Fingers Turn to Trigger Fingers: a Qualitative Study of Social Media-Related Gang Violence

Leveraging expertise to understand social media's role in gang activity

Apr 3, 2019
Colombia Journalism Review

What we learned from analyzing thousands of stories on the Christchurch shooting

An analysis of over 6,000 articles about the recent tragedy reveals useful guidelines for journalists on reporting extreme content

Mar 26, 2019
BBC News

Tim Berners-Lee: 'Stop web's downward plunge to dysfunctional future'

Global action is required to tackle the web's "downward plunge to a dysfunctional future", its inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee has told the BBC.

Mar 10, 2019
sabelo.io

The culture of self-similarity

A fractal philosophy for a better internet

As internet technology continues to be an important part of humanity’s lived experience, humanity as a whole must be empowered to dictate their desired experience.

Feb 6, 2019
Scroll.in

The ‘Purdah’ amendment

Proposed changes to the IT Act could draw a veil over the Indian internet

"The planned changes will undermine freedom of expression and privacy online, weakening Indian democracy itself."

Jan 23, 2019
Bloomberg

Artificial Intelligence vs. the Hackers

Machine-learning algorithms watch hackers’ behavior and adapt to their evolving tactics.

A profile of "Data Cowboy" Ram Shankar Siva Kumar, who trains security algorithms

Jan 3, 2019
Foreign Policy

The War Torn Web

A once-unified online world has broken into new warring states.

"Digitalpolitik," is an emerging tactical playbook for how governments use their political, regulatory, military, and commercial powers to project influence in global, digital…

Dec 19, 2018
TechCrunch

Senators aim to give internet companies doctor-like duties to protect our data

A new bill would prevent tech companies from knowingly doing harm to their users.

Dec 13, 2018
sabelo.io

Technology and Development in an Anti-Black World

Technology and Development in an Anti-Black world for a better world require an inquiry into the nature of power.

Dec 8, 2018
Ribbon Farm

The Digital Maginot Line

We are immersed in an evolving, ongoing conflict: an Information World War in which state actors, terrorists, and ideological extremists leverage the social infrastructure…

Nov 28, 2018
Global Network Initiative

Ten Years of the Global Network Initiative

How GNI works to counteract the pressures on companies to act in ways that may pose risks for users’ rights

Nov 20, 2018
El Pais

The Leaders of the Big Technology Think Themselves Smarter than Others

Jonathan Zittrain says the chances that the Internet will be a engine for positivity are lower than they were ten years ago

Nov 12, 2018
New York Magazine

An Xiao Mina on the Internet cold war

An American internet rife with hyperpartisanship and stratified along race, gender, and class lines, versus a Chinese internet tranquil and free of abuse

Oct 25, 2018
Design Use Build

Why organizational culture matters for online groups

World of Warcraft and the study of online communities

Oct 22, 2018
Design Use Build

What we lose when we move from social to market exchange

The shift away from social exchange and toward markets, and what this means for the sharing economy

Oct 9, 2018
WINS

Wind is a Mozilla & National Science Foundation Grand Prize Winner

A service providing off-grid communications services to everyday people received the grand prize at the Wireless Innovation for a Networked Society (WINS) Challenge from Mozilla…

Sep 26, 2018
MIT Technology Review

How social media took us from Tahrir Square to Donald Trump

To understand how digital technologies went from instruments for spreading democracy to weapons for attacking it, you have to look beyond the technologies themselves.

Aug 14, 2018
Medium

The Uncertain Effects of HTTPS Adoption on Access to Information Worldwide

The wider adoption of encrypted protocols for website delivery — HTTPS — could have uncertain long-term implications for online access to information around the world.

Aug 9, 2018
Medium

Filling the void Alex Jones left behind

How social media bans reshape the filter bubble

Aug 8, 2018
Medium

Toward a safe and open Internet in Pakistan

Navigating and Understanding Digital Rights in Pakistan

Aug 7, 2018
YouTube

What Does A Tech Positive Future Look Like?

EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn and Harvard's Jonathan Zittrain discuss what a tech-positive future looks like—and how we can get there.

Jul 27, 2018
Medium

Paid Trolls and Online Harassment

How a Journalist Confronts Azerbaijani Censorship

Journalist Arzu Geybullayeva discusses censorship, threats, and human rights in Azerbaijan

Jul 2, 2018
Knight First Amendment Institute

Internet Freedom Without Imperialism

"The US has neglected the role of other rights and non-state entities in guaranteeing online freedom"

Jun 15, 2018

Projects, Programs, and Tools 15

Internet Robustness

The Internet Robustness project is developing, testing, and piloting software and protocols to safeguard the promise of the URL: that information placed online can remain there.

Lumen

Lumen collects and studies online content removal requests, providing transparency and supporting research and analysis of the Web's notice and takedown ecosystem, in terms of who…

Past

Center for Citizen Media

The Center for Citizen Media is a new initiative aimed at helping to enable and encourage grassroots media, especially citizen journalism, at every level.

Past

Circumvention

The Berkman Center's Circumvention project is engaged in designing and conducting research aimed at gaining a broad understanding of the usage of circumvention tools.

Past

DDoS research project

The DDoS research project seeks to understand the ways in which DDoS attacks are becoming a popular technique for limiting access to independent media and human rights sites…

Past

Documentation of Internet Filtering Worldwide

A variety of organizations, institutions, companies, and countries seek to restrict Internet access from within their premises and territories...

Global Network Initiative

In partnership with the Center for Democracy and Technology and Business for Social Responsibility, in addition to leading human rights groups, academic institutions, socially…

Past

Harmful Speech Online

The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society is in the third year of a research, policy analysis, and network building effort devoted to the study of harmful speech, in close…

Past

Herdict

Herdict collected and disseminated real-­time, crowdsourced information about Internet filtering, denial of service attacks, and other blockages.

Internet Monitor

Internet Monitor's aim is to evaluate, describe, and summarize the means, mechanisms, and extent of Internet content controls and Internet activity around the world.

Internet Radio Initiatives

We are engaged in three initiatives to explore new possibilities in Internet radio: Whole Wide World, the Berkman Radio Project, and the Public Radio Exchange.

Past

Net Dialogue

The Net Dialogue project strives to encourage greater public access to Net-related rulemaking by intergovernmental organizations, and to engage technologists and policymakers in…

Past

OpenNet Initiative

A collaborative project between the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto; the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University; and…

Responsive Communities

Responsive Communities addresses issues of social justice, civil liberties, and economic development involving Internet access and government use of data.

Past

Web Integrity Project

The Web Integrity Project (WIP) monitors changes to government websites


People 41

Fernando Bermejo

Faculty Associate

Ryan Budish

Affiliate

Sasha Costanza-Chock

Faculty Associate

Judith Donath

Faculty Associate

Robert Faris

Affiliate

Mayo Fuster Morell

Faculty Associate

Urs Gasser

Director

Noah Giansiracusa

Visting Scholar

Jonas Kaiser

Faculty Associate

SJ Klein

Affiliate

Harry Lewis

Faculty Associate

Colin Maclay

Faculty Associate

Max Neu

Affiliate

Julie Owono

Affiliate

Kathy Pham

Affiliate

Felix Reda

Affiliate

Ben Reis

Faculty Associate

Paul Resnick

Visting Scholar

Aaron Shaw

Faculty Associate

Zahra Takhshid

Faculty Associate

Zeynep Tufekci

Faculty Associate

Joseph B. Walther

Faculty Associate

Molly White

Affiliate

Ethan Zuckerman

Faculty Associate