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Join us on Tuesday, January 25 from 12 PM - 1 PM PT for “Inclusive Content Moderation Is Innovative Content Moderation” featuring Aerica Shimizu Banks, founder of Shiso in conversation with Julie Owono, executive director of the Content Policy and Society Lab. This weekly seminar series is jointly organized by the Cyber Policy Center’s Program on Democracy and the Internet and the Hewlett Foundation’s Cyber Initiative.

Content moderation policies are perhaps the most scrutinized aspects of online platform operations, and are implicated in the most urgent current and political events globally. And yet, companies struggle to meet the moment, in part because of historical ignorance of a foundational component to adaptive policies: inclusion and accessibility. In creating the Beyond The Statement: Tech Framework for Color Of Change, Aerica Shimizu Banks illuminated a pathway to consistent and nimble innovation through  the “Curb-Cut Effect” of inclusive practices and policies. This presentation will explore how she found, through developing this framework, that the more inclusive a policy, the more innovative possibilities become for content moderation.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Aerica Shimizu Banks is a tech policy expert and inclusion innovator. She is the founder of Shiso, a consultancy that applies an intersectional equity lens to business development, tech, and policy challenges. After experiencing the triumphs and trials of tech – building successful DEI programs at Google and then holding Pinterest accountable for its racism and sexism – she now creates systems and frameworks to elevate and restore equity in our institutions at her firm. Named to the 2021 Root 100, a 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur, and a 2017 Washingtonian Magazine Tech Titan, Aerica's career is a testament to the values she lives in her personal and professional life. In her personal capacity, she served on President Biden's innovation policy committee, helped pass the Silenced No More Act in California, and currently advises federal tech policy legislation. Professional highlights include founding Pinterest's DC office and leading federal affairs; leading diversity and equity initiatives on Google's legal team and serving as the Black small business liaison for the DC area; co-founding BEACON: The DC Women Founders Initiative; and serving as a political appointee in the Obama Administration. She holds an MSc in Environmental Policy from Oxford University and a BA in Environmental Studies and Public Affairs from Seattle University. 

Julie Owono is the Executive Director of the Content Policy & Society Lab (CPSL) and a fellow of the Program on Democracy and the Internet (PDI) at Stanford University. She is also the Executive Director of digital rights organization Internet Sans Frontières, one of the inaugural members of the Facebook Oversight Board, and an affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University. She holds a Master’s degree in International Law from la Sorbonne University in Paris, and practiced as a lawyer at the Paris Bar. With a fluency in five languages, a childhood spent in various countries, and an educational background at the Lyçée Français Alexandre Dumas in Moscow, Julie has a unique perspective to understand the challenges and opportunities of a global Internet. This background has shaped her belief that global and multi stakeholder collaborations can be instrumental in the emergence of rights-based content policies and regulations. Julie is a member of the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) created by France and Canada, as well as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on AI for Humanity, and of the WEF Council on the Connected World. She was also a member of UNESCO’s Ad Hoc Expert Group (AHEG), which drafted the first international text on Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Julie is a Member of the World Benchmarking Alliance’s Expert Committee on Digital Inclusion.