The Stanford Cyber Policy Center, a joint initiative of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Stanford Law School, is Stanford University's research center for the interdisciplinary study of issues at the nexus of technology, governance and public policy focused on digital technologies impacting democracy, security, and geopolitics globally.
Our Programs
The Cyber Policy Center is home to six programs, all focused on issues at the nexus of technology, governance, law and public policy.
The mission of the Global Digital Policy Incubator is to inspire policy and governance innovations that reinforce democratic values, universal human rights, and the rule of law in the digital realm. We serve as a collaboration hub for the development of norms, guidelines, and laws that enhance freedom, security, and trust in the global digital ecosystem. The bottom line question that guides this initiative: How do we help governments and private sector technology companies establish governance norms, policies, and processes that allow citizens and society to reap the upside benefits of technology, while protecting against the downside risks?
The Stanford Internet Observatory is a cross-disciplinary program of research, teaching and policy engagement for the study of abuse in current information technologies, with a focus on social media. Under the program direction of computer security expert Alex Stamos, the Observatory was created to learn about the abuse of the internet in real time, to develop a novel curriculum on trust and safety that is a first in computer science, and to translate our research discoveries into training and policy innovations for the public good.
The Program on Democracy and the Internet envisions digital technologies supporting rather than subverting democracy by maximizing the benefits and minimizing the threats through changes in policy, technology, and social and ethical technological norms. Through knowledge creation and education, and by leveraging the convening power of Stanford University, PDI creates and shares original empirical research around how digital technologies are impacting democracy to inform and educate decision-makers in the field, including the next generation of technologists, business leaders, and policymakers.
A new program launched in 2023, the Program on Governance of Emerging Technologies was formed to shape the technical, ethical, and governance infrastructure of emerging technologies and the next-generation internet.
The Program on Platform Regulation, headed by Daphne Keller, focuses on current or emerging law governing Internet platforms, with an emphasis on laws’ consequences for the rights and interests of Internet users and the public.
The Stanford Social Media Lab works on understanding psychological and interpersonal processes in social media. The team specializes in using computational linguistics and behavioral experiments to understand how the words we use can reveal psychological and social dynamics, such as deception and trust, emotional dynamics, and relationships.
The Journal of Online Trust and Safety published peer-reviewed research on privacy, deepfakes, crowd-sourced fact checking, and what influences online searches.
Marietje Schaake’s résumé is full of notable roles: Dutch politician who served for a decade in the European Parliament, international policy director at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center, adviser to several nonprofits and governments. Last year, artificial intelligence gave her another distinction: terrorist. The problem? It isn’t true. (From the New York Times)
On July 28, 2023, Stanford University and the Stanford Internet Observatory filed an amicus brief in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the Missouri v. Biden appellants.
Led by former Prime Minister of New Zealand Rt. Hon. Dame Jacinda Ardern, a delegation from the Christchurch Call joined Stanford scholars to discuss how to address the challenges posed by emerging technologies.
New report finds an increasingly decentralized social media landscape offers users more choice, but poses technical challenges for addressing child exploitation and other online abuse.
This annual competition provides an opportunity for emerging scholars to share new ideas on urgent global policy challenges, producing outstanding essays that make their original research more accessible to policymakers, practitioners, and the general public.
Recent developments suggest possible links between some ransomware groups and the Russian government. We investigate this relationship by creating a dataset of ransomware victims and analyzing leaked communications from a major ransomware group.
The Stanford Internet Observatory and Thorn find rapid advances in generative machine learning make it possible to create realistic imagery that is facilitating child sexual exploitation.
The report from the Task Force for a Trustworthy Web maps systems-level dynamics and gaps that impact the trustworthiness and usefulness of online spaces
Tickets on sale for the Stanford Internet Observatory’s Trust and Safety Research to be held September 28-29, 2023. Lock in early bird prices by registering before August 1.
A Stanford Internet Observatory investigation identified large networks of accounts, purportedly operated by minors, selling self-generated illicit sexual content. Platforms have updated safety measures based on the findings, but more work is needed.
A new volume, Digital Technologies in Emerging Countries, edited by Francis Fukuyama and Marietje Schaake gathers comparative data on digital technology issues affecting ECs that will inform government policy, the platforms, and civil society around the world.
The European Commission has sought input via a call for comments, as they evaluate access to data from very large online platforms and very large search engines by researchers, a key measure of the Digital Services Act.
In response to the U.S. surgeon general’s advisory about social media’s impacts on youth and adolescents, Stanford scholar Jeff Hancock reflects on what parents, policymakers, and educators can do to help children create healthy habits online. Published in Stanford News.
