Authoritarian regimes are competing to create and control emerging technology to gain the upper hand in the global power competition, while democracies have the potential to harness emerging technology to strengthen democratic institutions and freedoms. From 5G to social media, find ASD’s work on emerging technology on this page.
How Authoritarians Can Exploit Apple’s Child Safety Initiatives
Much has been said about Apple’s recently announced “Child Safety” initiatives. The focus has been (rightly so) on the perceptions of user privacy and implications of content processing happening on user devices versus cloud servers. Child safety pr [...]
Lindsay Gorman with NBR: China’s Data Ambitions
Lindsay Gorman details China’s data ambitions with a particular eye to how they relate to emerging technology goals associated with AI. She then discusses how these efforts complicate democratic values in cyberspace and analyzes options for how demo [...]
Maurice Turner on Tackling the Remnants of Systematic Discrimination in the Tech Industry at Def Con
It’s easy to just accept the status quo even when it’s harmful because that’s just how it’s always been done. Discrimination in the tech industry is no different. The reuse and amplification of discriminatory language can have damaging effects on th [...]
Economic Statecraft Toward China from Trump to Biden: More Continuity Than Meets the Eye
In the final year of the Trump administration, the U.S. government issued a flurry of actions related to China, utilizing a diverse basket of economic statecraft tools in furtherance of national security objectives.The Trump administration’s tariffs [...]
Making Cyberspace Safe for Democracy
Cybersecurity Fellow Maurice Turner led a conversation on making cyberspace safe for democracy at the German Marshall Fund's Brussels Forum. He was joined Mieke Eoyang, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy at the U.S. Departmen [...]
The Weaponized Web: The National Security Implications of Data
This paper is the second in a series on technology policy through the lens of national security, published in partnership with the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. Read the first paper on the digita [...]
The Good Web: Tensions in Democratic Responses to Authoritarian Technology Threats
In April 2021, ASD held a security and geopolitics workshop as part of the Good Web project entitled “Tensions: Authoritarian Internet Threats and Democratic Responses,” in which participants debated the merits of different responses democracies hav [...]
The Good Web: Is There an Authoritarian Model for the Internet?
What Countries Buy Into When They Buy Authoritarian Technologies In February 2021, ASD held a security and geopolitics workshop as part of the Good Web project entitled “Authoritarian Models, Practices, and Threats,” in which participants discussed [...]
The Good Web: Democratic Values, Practices, and Procedures
In December 2020, ASD held a security and geopolitics workshop as part of the Good Web project entitled “Democratic Values and the Internet.” Participants included experts in cyber policy, cybersecurity, foreign policy, law, human rights, and intern [...]
How to Structure a Foreign Malign Influence Center
On Monday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) confirmed to Politico that it is working to establish a Foreign Malign Influence Center. The center, which was first authorized as part of the 2020 Defense Authorization bill, wil [...]
Lindsay Gorman Discusses Technology Cooperation with China at Berkeley’s Tech, Trade, and China Conference
Emerging Technologies Fellow Lindsay Gorman joined the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology’s third annual Tech, Trade, and China conference, where she discussed export controls and technology cooperation with China. [...]
Lindsay Gorman Discusses How Cameras On Amazon Are Tied To China Military, Abuse on Newsy
Dahua and Hikvision are accused of being connected to China's military and human rights abuses. Amazon profits by selling their products online. Selling their products isn’t illegal, but it does raise ethical questions for tech analysts like Lindsa [...]