Out of the Echo Chamber: Conversations on Trust, Media and Democracy All Gallup Webcasts

How does emergent order guide communities in times of disorder and misinformation? Neil Chilson, expert on technology policy at the Charles Koch Institute and former chief technologist with the Federal Trade Commission, joins the podcast to discuss emergent order and the role it plays in online societies. Hear insights from his upcoming book — to be published in December 2020 — on enabling emergent order in public policy and private life. Large global events are affecting people in various ways; Chilson reminds us that order does not always have to exist with someone at the helm.

The world’s relationship with the internet has changed in the face of the global pandemic. But how would the internet behave if humans suddenly vanished from Earth? How would robots, surveillance cameras and servers react? Professor Laura DeNardis of American University takes on these questions and more as she shares insights from her book, The Internet in Everything: Freedom and Security in a World With No Off Switch. Discover how the rising absorption of the internet into the wider span of consumer and industrial life means that the internet is no longer functioning solely as a tool for communication, but also as tool of control. Join DeNardis and host Jonathan Rothwell as they discuss these concerns as they relate to internet privacy, security and freedom.

Should we be skeptical of the content returned by search engines like Google? How are people in various communities represented, and how does big tech’s reliance on ad money distort the information they provide? Professor Safiya Umoja Noble, co-director of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, joins the podcast to shed light on search engine discrimination and examine insights from her book on racist and sexist algorithmic bias in commercial search engines, Algorithms of Oppression. We discuss her claim that search algorithms privilege the perspective of white males and her mission to reverse these practices and get her thoughts on new Gallup-Knight research on the public’s concerns over internet content.

How much of our news is computer-generated? Northwestern University Assistant Professor Nick Diakopoulos discusses his new book, “Automating the News: How Algorithms are Rewriting the Media,” and shares insights on how AI is shaping the future of news media. While technologies like bots and targeted templates are used in both editorial and business news realms, the amount of attention received because of these efforts is often manipulated by news organizations.

Kate Klonick of St. John’s Law School joins the podcast to discuss the quality of information found on social media, how to deal with inauthentic information online and how social media platforms govern user-posted content. Klonick also discusses technology’s anchoring role in fostering an informed and engaged society, as well as the areas where law and technology intersect.