Chris Murray to Join Cybersecurity for Democracy as Senior Policy Fellow, Focusing on Advancing Tech Accountability

We are excited to announce the next addition to the team! Chris Murray will join us as Senior Fellow, bringing 25 years of policy experience and expertise on emerging technology and media issues. Chris has been a trusted partner of our lab for years, and we’ve worked with him to translate our research into concrete recommendations for regulators and policymakers. Over the last two years, we’ve focused heavily on researching what we believe to be some of the most significant questions of technology policy. That’s all well and good, but we need to get that data into the hands of people shaping public policy, and help them understand what the research means.

This year, Chris will focus on the following key policy priorities:

• Building support for federal policy that ensures transparency and accountability for online platforms. There are a number of proposals to increase the transparency of social media platforms to the public. Our research into social media algorithmic feeds and mechanisms for transparency have important implications for nearly all of these, and Chris will help leverage that research to ensure that enacted policies will actually be effective.
• Protecting researchers’ ability to investigate platform behavior and publish their findings without fear of reprisal or litigation. Chris is a longtime advocate for researchers and transparency. This work has become even more urgent in the current frosty climate for researchers. We will continue to be a voice for the importance of independent research, as we’ve been for years. Chris will help us continue to deliver this message and push back against those who seek to vilify researchers when our work turns up inconvenient truths.
• Helping us and others to create original research regarding the effects of engagement algorithms on health questions such as eating disorders and depression. Chris is also a visiting Fellow at Harvard / STRIPED (Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders), where he is working to find cross-domain research and funding partners; we look forward to potential collaboration with this public policy incubator lab.
• Organizing forums for social media researchers (not just us) to share cutting-edge research with policymakers. We frequently collaborate with folks from other institutions on research projects and investigations. With Chris on board, this year we’re going further. We’ll be organizing opportunities for our collaborators and colleagues to share research with those crafting policies aimed at greater accountability and transparency.

Chris has a track record of tackling difficult issues and building broad support for tech policies that protect the public interest. We are looking forward to having his additional capacity, because none of this is going to be easy!