Recent writing
I am in the process of building a new site, but in the mean time, here is some recent writing: In the digital age, who has a right to be…
Taylor Owen
The Big Tech Podcast
I’m excited to share a podcast I have been working on with David Skok, The Logic and CIGI called Big Tech. The goal is to have longform conversations about tech,…
Election integrity and platform governance updates
I haven’t been doing a good job of updating this site, and a full refresh is in development, but I wanted to pin some recent work at the top. Below…
Statement to the International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy and Democracy
Last week had the privilege of appearing before the International Grand Committee (representatives from 12 countries) alongside Maria Ressa, Shoshana Zuboff, Jim Balsille, Heidi Tworek, Jason Kint, Ben Scott and…
Oped on Christchurch Call, IGC and Digital Charter
Here is a recent oped in the Globe and Mail in advance of my appearance before the International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy and Democracy: Who will answer the…
End of year Globe and Mail oped
Some year end reflections and thoughts on the year to come for the Globe and Mail: Big Tech’s net loss: How governments can turn anger into action It has been…
Globe and Mail Oped: We can save democracy from destructive digital threats
I had the privilege of speaking to the Federal Cabinet retreat this week. Details from the event can be found here. I was there to address the challenges of misinformation…
Democracy Divided: Countering Disinformation and Hate in the Digital Public Sphere
Ed Greenspon and I have just published a report as a collaboration between the UBC School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and the Public Policy Forum, called Democracy Divided:…
Conversation on ‘Digital Deceit’
Last month I had the pleasure of interviewing Ben Scott about is great New America report “Digital Deceit: The Technologies Behind Precision Propaganda on the Internet” at a Brookfield Institute…
Behind the Screens: Who decides what I see online?
A short video that the awesome Taylor Gunn and Civix Canada made with me about social platforms, journalism and democracy, for use in Canadian classrooms, focused on grade nine students:
Globe and Mail oped: The era of Big Tech self-governance has come to an end
A piece in the Globe and Mail on the Zuckerberg hearings: The era of Big Tech self-governance has come to an end Twenty years ago, another young Silicon Valley tycoon…
Globe and Mail oped: The new rules for the internet
There has been lots of discussion lately about regulating social media but much less on what this might look like. Ben Scott (former tech policy for Obama & Clinton) and…
Ungoverned Space
I have an essay in CIGI’s new data governance series, called Ungoverned Space: How Surveillance Capitalism and AI Undermine Democracy. My key points are: The threat to democracy from misinformation…
Public Salon talk
I recently had the opportunity to give a talk at Sam Sullivan’s Public Salon in Vancouver. A great regular event hosted by the former mayor and current MLA. My talk…
How safe are Canada’s elections from fake news on Facebook?
Here is an interview I recently did on CBC’s The Current on the digital threat to the next Canadian election. My argument is that a focus on discrete threats (from…
How Internet Monopolies Threaten Democracy
I have been thinking a lot about the internet and what it means for journalism and democracy lately. I am currently writing a book the topic, so will have much…
Is Facebook a threat to democracy?
I have an oped in the Globe today in reaction to Facebook’s Canadian Election Integrity Initiative. In short, I think we are missing the structural problem: The system of surveillance…
Lecture on Fakenews and democracy
Technology and new media are facilitating a rapid shift in the ways in which we consume news. In the shift from print to digital, companies like Facebook – and the…
NPR Interview on Silicon Valley and journalism
I was recently on NPR’s new national show 1A discussing how Silicon Valley is shaping journalism. Part 1 is here, and part 2 (responding after the interview with Facebook’s Campbell…
Fake News and the Crisis of Information
Below is the video of a talk I gave recently at a Canada2020 conference in Ottawa, titled “Fake News and the Crisis of Information” followed by a panel I was…