CDT

8:47 pm on August 27, 2026 · 2026 (252), anonymity (1), CDT (14), free expression (6)

WEBINAR 23-24 SEP 16:00 UTC – Future of Speech Online 2026: The Death of Online Anonymity?

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A black-and-white background of overlapping horizontal bands is overlaid with a large blue, purple, pink, and green halftone speech bubble. White text at upper left identifies the “2026 Future of Speech Online Conference,” while the large italic title “The Death of Online Anonymity?” runs down the left side. The dates “September 23–24, 2026” appear at bottom left, with the Center for Democracy & Technology and Stand Together Trust logos at bottom right.

A black-and-white background of overlapping horizontal bands is overlaid with a large blue, purple, pink, and green halftone speech bubble. White text at upper left identifies the “2026 Future of Speech Online Conference,” while the large italic title “The Death of Online Anonymity?” runs down the left side. The dates “September 23–24, 2026” appear at bottom left, with the Center for Democracy & Technology and Stand Together Trust logos at bottom right.
REGISTER | ADD TO CALENDAR | PERMALINK

On Wednesday – Thursday, 23–24 September 2026, at 12:00–14:30 EDT (16:00–18:30 UTC) each day, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), in partnership with Stand Together Trust, hosts its annual Future of Speech Online conference, ‘The Death of Online Anonymity?‘.

The United States has long supported a culture of anonymity that fosters both the free exchange of controversial ideas and the protection of privacy, and globally, anonymity and the technologies that facilitate it have been critical protections for dissidents, journalists, LGBTQ+ communities, and anyone living under authoritarian governments or intimate partner violence.

That right has always been a qualified one, limited to accommodate legitimate interests in countering criminal activity, harassment, doxxing, and abuse — but the balance is now under mounting pressure from age assurance and digital ID mandates, government demands to unmask disfavoured accounts, and AI systems that make re-identification trivial while driving demand for ‘proof of personhood’.

DAY 1 – WEDNESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2026

12:00–14:30 EDT (16:00–18:30 UTC)

12:00 – Welcome
Moderator: Kate Ruane – Director, Free Expression Project, CDT

12:10 – Keynote: Anonymity Online: Why Do We Need It? How Do We Protect It? What Are the Risks?
Alexandra Reeve Givens – CEO, CDT

13:00 – Age Verifying the Internet: The Wave of Age Verification and Assurance Requirements and Its Implications for the Anonymous Internet
Stan Adams – Lead Public Policy Specialist for North America, Wikimedia Foundation
Moderator: Aliya Bhatia – Senior Policy Analyst, Free Expression Project, CDT

13:45 – Generative AI and the Erosion of Anonymity
Tianshi Li – Assistant Professor, Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University
Neil Chilson – Head of AI Policy, Abundance Institute

DAY 2 – THURSDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 2026

12:00–14:30 EDT (16:00–18:30 UTC)

12:00 – Welcome
Speakers: To Be Announced.

12:05 – Government Demands to Undermine Anonymity
Speakers: To Be Announced

12:50 – Humanity and Anonymity
Renée DiResta – Associate Research Professor, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University
Moderator: Becca Branum – Deputy Director, Free Expression Project, CDT

13:35 – The Sword and the Shield of Anonymity: How to Maximize Protections Offered by Anonymity While Mitigating Harm
Ashkhen Kazaryan – Senior Legal Fellow, The Future of Free Speech, Vanderbilt University
Belle Torek – Senior Technology Safety Specialist, Safety Net Project, NNEDV
Moderator: Kate Ruane – Director, Free Expression Project, CDT

14:15 – Lightning Talks
Speakers: To Be Announced

#FOSO26 #OnlineAnonymity #FreeExpression #AgeVerification

1:31 pm on October 18, 2023 · CDT (14), encryption (49), Global Encryption (21), mozilla (8)

WEBCAST OCT 19 – Power to the People: The Encryption Summit

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isoc live

isoc liveOn Thursday October 19th, 2023, in the runup to Global Encryption Day (Oct 21), the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), Internet Society, Global Partners Digital, Mozilla, and the Internet Freedom Foundation, will all host ‘Power to the People: The Encryption Summit‘ – a series of virtual panels focused on issues surrounding encryption, privacy, security, and policy.

PROGRAM
11:30-12:20 UTC | 07:30 – 08:20 EDT – Hosted by: Internet Freedom Foundation
Panel: Encryption and Free Expression in South Asia

12:30-13:50 UTC | 08:30 – 09:50 EDT – Hosted by: Internet Society
Panel: Life in a World of Scanning

14:00-14:50 UTC | 10:00 – 10:50 EDT – Hosted by: Mozilla
Panel: Ciphered Frontiers: Encryption’s Implications Beyond Personal Messaging

15:00-15:50 UTC | 11:00 – 11:50 EDT Hosted by: Center for Democracy and Technology
Panel: Content Moderation in Encrypted Environments

16:00 – 16:50 UTC |12:00 – 12:50 EDT – Hosted by: Global Partners Digital
Panel: Encryption for All: Safeguarding Communications in Vulnerable Populations

LIVESTREAM https://livestream.com/internetsociety/encryptionsummit

PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM https://bit.ly/3ZZcdZi

TWITTER #GED2023 #GlobalEncryptionDay @mozilla @CenDemTech @globalpartnersd @internetfreedom @InternetSociety

MASTODON  #GlobalEncryptionDay

SIMULCASTS
https://twitter.com/ISOC_Live
https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive
https://www.facebook.com/liveisoc/

ARCHIVE
https://archive.org/details/encryptionsummit

8:24 pm on February 21, 2023 · CDT (14), Global Encryption (21), online safety (29), uk (16)

WEBCAST FEB 23 – Centring Children’s Rights in the Debate about Encryption in the UK Online Safety Bill

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isoc live

isoc liveOn Thursday February 23rd 2023 at 08:00-09:00 EST (13:00-14:00 UTC) the Global Encryption Coalition presents a webinar ‘Centring Children’s Rights in the Debate about Encryption In the UK Online Safety Bill‘.

In the contentious debate about protecting children and protecting the privacy and security of communications through encryption, the rights of children are too often neglected. A new, groundbreaking report puts the rights of children at the center of this debate. It suggests a path forward for policy makers who are grappling with these issues in legislative proposals, including the Online Safety Bill pending in Parliament in the UK. In this webinar experts on children’s rights and privacy will explain this new approach and analyze the Online Safety Bill through the lens of children’s rights.

SPEAKERS
Diana Gheorghiu, Legal and Policy Officer, Child Rights International Network
Caroline Wilson Palow, Legal Director and General Counsel, Privacy International
Jen Persson, Director and Founder, Defend Digital Me
Jun Pang, Policy and Campaigns Officer, Liberty

MODERATOR
Greg Nojeim, Steering Committee, Global Encryption Coalition

LIVESTREAM http://livestream.com/internetsociety/gec-children

PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM https://bit.ly/3SmRXwQ

REAL TIME TEXT https://bit.ly/3YXwJIH

TWITTER #GlobalEncryption  #OnlineSafetyBill @GlobalEncrypt @GlobalPartnersD @cendemtech @InternetSociety @CRINwire @privacyint @defenddigitalme @libertyhq

MASTODON  #GlobalEncryption

SIMULCASTS
https://www.pscp.tv/ISOC_Live/
https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive
https://www.facebook.com/InternetSociety/live (AI captions)
https://www.facebook.com/isocny/live (AI captions)

ARCHIVE
https://archive.org/details/gec-children

7:44 pm on March 15, 2022 · CDT (14), como (7), e2ee (1), encryption (49), ryan polk (1), stanford (12)

WEBCAST APR 1: Content Moderation in an End-to-End Encrypted World

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livestream

livestreamOn Friday April 1 2022, at 1pm-2pm EDT (17:00-18:00 UTC) the Internet Society Washington DC Chapter, in partnership with the Center for Democracy and Technology and Stanford Internet Observatory hosts a discussion ‘Content Moderation in an End-to-End Encrypted World’. In recent years the focus of the encryption debate has shifted to social media platforms and messaging services’ content moderation policies and practices. While not always explicitly targeting end-to-end encryption (E2EE), proposals to regulate social media companies, including the proposed EARN IT Act bill in the U.S., MeitY’s Intermediary Guidelines in India, and the proposed Online Safety Bill in the U.K. could have serious implications for E2EE services. As this policy debate continues, companies have proposed methods to moderate content on E2EE platforms that raise privacy concerns, such as those that utilize machine learning and client-side scanning. This event will feature presentations on critical research in this area, highlight global efforts to defend encryption against movements to undermine it, and include an open discussion.

PANEL
Riana Pfefferkorn, Research Scholar, Stanford Internet Observatory
Mallory Knodel, Chief Technology Officer, Center for Democracy and Technology

MODERATOR
Ryan Polk, Director, Internet Policy, Internet Society

LIVESTREAM http://livestream.com/internetsociety/como-e2ee

PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM https://bit.ly/37ADMkL

REAL TIME TEXT (see ISOC.LIVE)

TWITTER #contentmoderation #E2EE @ISOCDC #CenDemTech @stanfordio @Riana_Crypto @MalloryKnodel @Ryan_ISOC #encryption #GlobalEncryption #cybersecurity #privacy

SIMULCASTS
https://www.twitter.com/ISOC_Live/
https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive
https://www.facebook.com/liveisoc/ (AI Captions)

ARCHIVE
https://archive.org/details/como-e2ee

 

4:33 am on June 10, 2020 · Böll (1), CDT (14), contact tracing (3), covid (16)

WEBCAST TODAY: COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps in the US, EU and Asia @CenDemTech @boell_us #contacttracing @GregNojeim @devlewis18 @digitalasiahub @F_Kaltheuner @mozilla @SabineMuscat

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livestream

livestreamOn Wednesday June 10 2020 at 9am-10am EDT (13:00-14:00 UTC) the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and the Center for Democracy & Technology will host a webinar ‘COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps in the U.S., EU and Asia‘. Speakers from all three regions will discuss the current debates on best practices to use technology to effectively contact trace while maintaining privacy. This is the inaugural webinar for the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung’s Tech and COVID-19 webinar series, and the third installment of CDT’s webinar series on Tech Policy Responses to COVID-19.

SPEAKERS
Greg Nojeim, Director, Freedom, Security and Technology Project, CDT
Dev Lewis, Fellow and Program Lead, Digital Asia Hub
Frederike Kaltheuner, Tech Policy Fellow, Mozilla Foundation

MODERATOR
Sabine Muscat, Program Director, Technology and Digital Policy, ,Heinrich Böll Foundation, Washington DC

LIVESTREAM http://livestream.com/internetsociety/cdt

PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM https://bit.ly/3f2wSD7

QUESTIONS email [email protected] | Twitter #cdtquestions 

TWITTER: @CenDemTech @boell_us #contacttracing
@GregNojeim @devlewis18 @digitalasiahub @F_Kaltheuner @mozilla @SabineMuscat

SIMULCASTS:
https://www.pscp.tv/ISOC_Live/
https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive

12:42 pm on October 25, 2019 · CDT (14), encryption (49), isoc-dc (75), lgbtq (3), oti (20)

WEBCAST TODAY: Encryption Briefing: Understanding Its Technical and Human Elements @InternetSociety @ISOC_NA @ISOCDC @CenDemTech @OTI @LGBTTech @pressfreedom #encryption #encryptionbriefing

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livestream

livestreamOn Friday October 25th 2019 at 12pm EDT (16:00 UTC) the Internet Society, in partnership with the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), LGBT Tech, and the Open Technology Institute (OTI) will host ‘Encryption Briefing: Understanding Its Technical and Human Elements‘ – an event to illuminate the day-to-day impact of encryption and how to make sure policies protect people, vulnerable communities, commerce and national security. Dangerous myths about encryption are being increasingly used to justify laws that erode the basic foundation of trust on the Internet. It’s time to get the facts straight. At this public event, which will be streamed live on the Internet Society Livestream Channel, you will learn the truth from both the human, and technical, viewpoints.

VIEW ON LIVESTREAM: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/encryptionbriefing

PROGRAM (EDT = UTC-4)

12:00-13:15 The Human Side of Encryption

13:15-14:30 The Technology of Encryption

TWITTER @InternetSociety #encryption https://priv.sh/FaEnuzH

#encryptionbriefing https://priv.sh/Na4Zfny

1:08 pm on February 6, 2019 · CDT (14), hacking (2), Internet Governance Lab (6), Snowden (7)

WEBCAST TODAY: Private Sector Efforts to Curtail Government Hacking of Civilian Targets @CGPC_OU @InternetGov @CDT

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Today, Wednesday February 6 2019 at 1:30pm ET (18:30 UTC), a panel co-organized by the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Internet Governance Lab at American University, and the Cyber Governance and Policy Center at the University of Oklahoma, will discuss private and multi-stakeholder efforts to curtail government hacking of civilian targets. Speakers: Laura DeNardis, Co-director, Internet Governance Lab, American University; Amie Stepanovich, U.S. Policy Manager & Global Policy Counsel, Access Now; Amanda Craig Deckard, Senior Cybersecurity Strategist, Microsoft; Eric Wenger, Director, Cybersecurity and Privacy Policy, Global Government Affairs, Cisco; Greg Nojeim, Director, Freedom, Security & Technology Project, Center for Democracy & Technology. Moderator: Mark Raymond, Director, Cyber Governance and Policy Center, University of Oklahoma.

LIVESTREAM: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/govhacking/

INFO: https://internetgovernancelab.org/events/2019/2/6/panel-discussion-on-private-sector-efforts-to-curtail-government-hacking-of-civilian-targets

TWITTER: @InternetGov https://bit.ly/InternetGov
#govhacking https://bit.ly/govhacking

10:40 am on February 21, 2017 · borders (1), CDT (14), netfreedom (8)

@InternetSociety joins @CenDemTech and others in condemning Social Media snooping at U.S. Borders #netfreedom #NoPassForGov

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Internet SocietyToday the Internet Society joined with 50 other organizations to issue a joint statement expressing concerns about a proposal to require disclosure of social media account passwords as a condition of entry to the U.S.:

https://cdt.org/insight/no-to-dhs-social-media-password-requirement/

A companion statement  from our President and CEO Kathy Brown: https://www.internetsociety.org/blog/public-policy/2017/02/internet-society-speaks-out-against-proposed-password-disclosure has been shared on  @InternetSociety social media channels at:

There is also a supporting post explaining more about why social media accounts are of such a great  concern: https://www.internetsociety.org/blog/tech-matters/2017/02/danger-giving-social-media-passwords-so-many-other-services-are-connected

Any assistance with amplifying these messages on social channels would be greatly appreciated.

 

5:13 pm on February 24, 2016 · broadband (121), CDT (14), oti (20), privacy (69), public knowledge (8)

VIDEO: Preserving #Broadband Network #Privacy @publicknowledge @oti @cdt

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On February 17 2016, Public Knowledge and the Open Technology Institute at New America hosted a discussion panel Preserving Broadband Network Privacy in Washington DC. For decades, consumers have been protected by privacy rules at the FCC that protected them from the one company with access to all of their communications: their phone company. When the FCC reclassified broadband as a Title II common carrier service, it gave forbearance to these phone network privacy rules when it came to broadband. And yet, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has expressed interest in beginning work on creating appropriate privacy rules for broadband, the essential communications network of this century. Are such rules needed and what would the look like? What is special about broadband networks that the FCC needs to take action to ensure privacy over them? How does network privacy fit into the broader landscape of privacy policy? Panelists: Harold Feld, Public Knowledge; Sarah Morris, Open Technology Institute at New America; Erik Stallman, Center for Democracy & Technology; Mary Sisak, Alarm Industry Communications Committee. Moderator: Chris Lewis, Public Knowledge. Video is below.

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ImhZzDOkl80
PK: Protecting Privacy, Promoting Competition
OTI: The FCC’s Role in Protecting Online Privacy
CDT: Applying Communications Act Consumer Privacy Protections to Broadband

9:23 am on January 14, 2015 · CDT (14), governance (62), ncuc (11)

REMOTE PARTICIPATION: @NCUC Meeting with DC Internet #Governance people @CenDemTech today

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NCUC

NCUCToday Wednesday 14 January 2015, ancillary to the intersessional meeting of the Non-Contracted Parties House (NCPH) of the Generic Names Standing Organization (GNSO) at ICANN, the NonCommercial Users Constituency (NCUC) will hold an outreach meeting with Internet Governance interested people at the Center for Democracy and Technnology (CDT)in Washington DC. On the agenda, the IANA transition, accountability mechanisms in the context of globalization, human rights in internet governance, privacy and registry services, access to knowledge and intellectual property, freedom of expression and development, and ICANN in broader Internet governance, including NETmundial Initiative and the Internet Governance Forum. The meeting is by invitation only, but remote participation is possible via webex or phone bridge.

What: NCUC Civil Society Outreach Event
Where: CDT, Washington DC
When: Wednesday 14 January 2015 10am-Noon EST | 1500-1700 UTC
Webex: https://cdtmeetings.webex.com/cdtmeetings/j.php?MTID=m0abd02e67615e37bc2c948c3d722ec8d
Phone bridge: http://www.ncuc.org/ncuc-civil-society-outreach-event-in-washington-dc-january-14/
Twitter: @NCUC
Agenda:

1. Participant Introductions
2. Brief introduction of NCUC @ ICANN
3. 2-3 minute introductions of issues NCUC works on in ICANN, e.g.
• IANA and the transitioning of US authority (Matt Shears)
• Accountability mechanisms in the context of globalization (Matt Shears)
• Human rights generally (Bill Drake)
• Privacy and registry services (Stephanie Perrin)
• Access to knowledge and intellectual property (Kathy Kleiman)
• Freedom of expression (David Cake)
• Development (Rafik Dammak)
• ICANN in broader Internet governance, e.g. NETmundial Initiative, IGF (Bill Drake)
4. Inputs from local participants on how these and related issues are being addressed in Washington DC and beyond
5. Open integrative discussion