Penn Calendar Penn A-Z School of Arts and Sciences University of Pennsylvania

EMERGENT TECHNOLOGY - Rethinking Big Tech: Toward a More Democratic Internet

Thursday, October 20, 2022 - 4:30pm to 6:00pm

Perry World House, 3803 Locust Walk
Read an essay by TARLETON GILLESPIE here.
Read an essay by RACHEL KUO here.
View the video of the event here.

A panel discussion with TARLETON GILLESPIE (Microsoft Research) and RACHEL KUO (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), moderated by JESSA LINGEL (Annenberg School).

THE CURRENT ARCHITECTURE OF THE INTERNET reflects a tension between, on the one hand, an unprecedented level of content creation and amplification by decentralized users and, on the other, overall governance by a small number of profit-making platforms via algorithms and content moderators operating largely out of public view. Our panelists grapple with this problematic architecture from both ends – from the hidden levers of social media platforms, to the possibilities (and perils) of harnessing the chaotic energies of user communities – in order to envision what a more transparent, equal, and democratic internet might look like.