Race to Regulate the Internet: Should States or Federal Government Set the Rules

NOTE: Please RSVP in MEETUP and also here

Join Mason’s Center for Assurance Research and Engineering (CARE), the Financial Technology & Cybersecurity Center (Center), Mason’s School of Business, and a group of experts to discuss potential transformative changes in how the Internet operates and who regulates it.

Thirty years after the Internet became an everyday part of life a battle has erupted over who has the right to set the rules for Internet activities. Should individual states be able to impose their standards on activities occurring in their locales, or should the Federal government set the rules for a nationwide medium? The program will address a series of state initiatives that raise major First Amendment, state police power and privacy issues:

• Florida and Texas laws intended to impose content-neutrality mandates on large social media platforms, which were the subject of oral argument before the Supreme Court in late February.
• Many states have, or may, enact laws intended to protect children from adverse effects of social media or access to adult websites through parental consent or age verification requirements.
• California in October 2023 set a course to empower its residents to generally prohibit data brokers from using data collected on them by making a single click on a delete button.

This battle is also playing out on a global basis as the U.K., E.U. and other international authorities seek to protect their citizens in a manner they consider appropriate.

Our faculty will be moderated by Internet experts:

Dr. Jean-Pierre Auffret, George Mason University’s Director, Research Partnerships, School of Business; Director, Center for Assurance Research and Engineering (CARE), College of Engineering & Computing

Thomas P. Vartanian, Executive Director of the Financial Technology & Cybersecurity Center, Author, The Unhackable Internet: How Rebuilding Cyberspace Can Create Real Security and Prevent Financial Collapse

Our experts include:

Michael Cheah – Advisor, The Internet Works

Robert Coles – Head of Security Strategy, D S Smith, Former Chief Information Security Officer – Merrill Lynch, National Grid, GlaxoSmithKline

Josh Divine – Missouri Solicitor General

Alysa Hutnik – Partner, Kelly Drye

Stephanie Joyce – Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President, Computer & Communications Industry Association

Julia Mahoney – John S. Bottle Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law

Michael McKell – Utah State Senator

John Morris – Principal, U.S. Internet Policy and Advocacy, Internet Society

Christopher Oswald – Executive Vice President, Head of Law, Ethics & Government Relations, Association of National Advertisers

Michael Signorelli – Partner, Venable LLP

Carl Szabo – Vice President & General Counsel, Net Choice

Hayley Tsukayama – Associate Director of Legislative Activism, Electronic Frontier Foundation

There is no charge to attend the program either in person or via webinar. Please feel free to share this invitation with your colleagues.
Mason’s College of Engineering and Computing hosts the Center for Assurance Research & Engineering Center (CARE). CARE’s multidisciplinary approach to cybersecurity encompasses the fields of technology, policy, business and leadership. Through partnerships with government and private industry, innovative research is translated into practices and policies used in real-world settings. Research includes security for distributed systems, mobile apps/devices, industrial control systems, and new technologies such as networked medical devices, as well as policies development for securing critical infrastructure and guidance for cybersecurity leadership/governance. For more information, please visit care.gmu.edu

The Financial Technology & Cybersecurity Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that brings together financial services professionals, regulators, trade association representatives, consumer group representatives, counsel and advisors to discuss, debate, and advocate in regard to financial technology and cybersecurity issues and their regulation. For more information about the Center and to sign up to hear about future events and projects visit fintsc.org