Research summary
The liability of internet intermediaries for the conduct of their users has long been one of the internet’s most challenging policy issues. While governments once granted internet platforms legal immunity from liability, the risks associated with disinformation, cyberbullying, online defamation, privacy breaches, copyright infringement, democratic manipulation and other harms has fueled a rethinking of long-held policies. Dr. Michael Geist’s research program will develop solutions that address risks of harm, while also safeguarding freedom of expression, filling the current policy and data void with an ambitious program that includes theoretical and legal analysis, original field research, and the development of Canadian-specific policy reforms.