In May 2024, Northeastern University’s Internet Democracy Initiative (IDI) will host an Internet and Society conference at the Northeastern University London campus. Like the IDI, the conference will focus on the role of the internet in structuring democracy, society, and markets with emphasis on areas that have widespread information and social media implications. Conference sessions will feature academic, industry, and government experts engaging with one another across five thematic areas:

1. misinformation,
2. media narratives
3. cyber governance
4. AI governance and regulation
5. data access and ethics

The goal of the conference is to further collaborations that can bring about the types of changes that the IDI imagines. Across the sessions, speakers and participants will be asked to consider mechanisms to ensure that historically excluded voices are represented, amplified, and considered in data structures and decision-making processes. Read more here.

The conference programme will include the following sessions:

1. A welcome address from David Lazer (Northeastern University) and Brian Ball (Northeastern University London)
2. Keynote addresses from Helen Margetts (Oxford Internet Institute), Claes De Vreese (University of Amsterdam) and Rebekah Tromble (George Washington University)
3. Parallel symposium sessions featuring researchers from Northeastern’s Boston and London campuses on misinformation, network science, cyber governance and AI.
4. A lunchtime panel on policy issues.
5. A fireside chat featuring Dame Melanie Dawes (Chief Executive of Ofcom) and Tom Wheeler (ex chair of the FCC)
6. A plenary panel on industry perspectives, featuring Peter Stern (Meta) and Beth Goldberg (Google/Jigsaw)