Stop “Thinking Of” the Children. Start Listening to Them.
Authoritarian governments around the world are exploiting legitimate fears about the harms of Big Tech and surveillance capitalism to ram through policies that expand censorship and build surveillance into every device we own and every piece of software we use. “Child protection” is the frame being used to manufacture consent for these draconian policies. And there are good faith actors being duped into supporting authoritarian policies who genuinely want to address harm and protect kids. Activists have been effective in holding back the worst policies in many places, and technologists continue to build privacy-preserving tools that help vulnerable people protect themselves. But in the end, dangerous censorship and surveillance laws will keep coming back until we change hearts and minds and move the dominant narrative from “protecting” kids to listening to and empowering them. Young people have been at the forefront of every social movement throughout history that has led to positive social change. But that never seems to be part of conversations about the rights and safety of young people online. Come hear from Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, about how we can build a movement of young people, parents, educators, and human rights advocates to defang the “think of the children” narrative and build a future where young people have safety and rights.
Saturday 1500 Grand Ballroom