Select Georgetown graduate students will work with leading tech advocates to help identify and develop strategies to mitigate social media harm.
The McCourt School’s Tech & Public Policy (TPP) program initially launched and continues to proudly support paid fellowships for emerging technology policy leaders. In September 2023, TPP welcomed three distinguished scholars to work with Frances Haugen, Facebook whistleblower and advocate for accountability and transparency in social media, and her organization Beyond the Screen, which is supported by Project Liberty’s Institute (formerly the McCourt Institute).
During the fall semester, James Doyle (CCT’24), Archit Mehta (CCT’25) and Ava Schafbuch (CCT’25) will work closely with Haugen and the Beyond the Screen team to help advance the Duty of Care project, aimed at identifying and developing strategies to mitigate social media harm. This term, their focus is on identifying and cataloguing national security harms associated with social media. All three graduate students are earning master’s degrees in communication, culture & technology, studying the impact of technology on society, and society on technology.
“The Fellows are getting invaluable hands-on experience, not only in building evidence for policy, but in designing policy strategy, performing political outreach and crafting messaging,” said Michelle De Mooy, director of TPP. “This work is part of an important generational shift towards platform accountability, and it’s exciting to see these students on the front lines of it.”
Read more about this semester’s fellows on MSPP’s website.