February 2026 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Cfp New paths and future trajectories in digital (dis)connection studies
by Ana Jorge 09 Feb '26

09 Feb '26

New paths and future trajectories in digital (dis)connection studies: unpacking the post-digital Date: Monday, 7th of September 2026, 09:00 to 17:00 Venue: Masaryk University, Brno. Deadline for Abstracts: April 1st, 2026 The full call is available as a PDF at: https://ecrea2026brno.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/6.-CFA_ECREA26_Preconfe… *Rationale* The fifth pre-conference on digital disconnection is an important opportunity for scholars at all career stages to reflect on how the individual and societal significance of digital disconnection is changing; what new discourses on disconnection are emerging in the public debate, and how the grounds of digital disconnection studies are shifting. The prescriptive approach adopted by several countries, through smartphone bans in schools and age restrictions on social media use, is reshaping research in this field, especially on how younger people experience and make sense of a form of forced disconnection. The pre-conference has three main objectives: 1. To encourage empirical and theoretical discussions among scholars on how varying contexts, situations, actors, and agencies shape emerging pathways of digital disconnection in response to socio-cultural changes that increasingly challenge the normalization of digitalization as a dominant paradigm. 2. To foster networking to facilitate contact and career development for scholars from different cultural, geographical, and disciplinary backgrounds, ensuring ongoing continuity in nurturing exchanges of perspectives among researchers. 3. To promote partnerships and collaborations that compare and interweave knowledge, perspectives, methods, and future trajectories on disconnection studies. The emergence of new crises and systemic challenges has unsettled the long-standing assumptions that have positioned ubiquitous digital connectivity as a default lifestyle and an organizing discourse. The backlashes of digitalization have led individuals to rethink their relationship with the online pervasiveness, reassessing the importance of personal well-being, social justice, and equity over the efficiency-driven logics often associated with limitless connectivity. There is growing recognition that digitalization’s logics and affordances have fostered ambivalent experiences with social ties, societal issues, inequalities, and contexts marked by cultural differences and conflicts. In this scenario, digital disconnection has emerged both as a form of resistance and as a cultural response to the pressures exerted by digitalization - creating, paradoxically, new consumeristic demands, as labels like “digital wellbeing” and “digital detox” become increasingly commoditized. Through diverse practices, tools, and strategies, individuals exercise agency by negotiating a balance between connection and disconnection, conflicting emotions, and renewed expectations toward digitally mediated life. However, questions of power, responsibility, and limits of individual agency remain on how to cultivate more ethical and sustainable relationships with technology. Starting from these premises, the pre-conference invites participants to reflect on: a) how different socio-cultural, political, and economic contexts shape the agency of users and social groups, incentivizing or constraining disconnection experiences and habits; b) the prominent role of institutional and socio-technical actors (such as generative AI platforms and algorithmic systems) in countering or fostering the decisions, motivations, and practices related to digital platforms and their affordances disengagement; c) critical perspectives on how the grounds of disconnection studies are shifting due to institutional, market-oriented, and political interferences that are reframing disconnection discourses and further popularizing and commodifying disconnection practices and experiences. We welcome abstracts emphasizing the following dimensions, while noting that contributions are not limited to these themes: • Theoretical advances, methodological and empirical challenges in digital disconnection studies. • Cross-cultural, cross-platform, and historical perspectives on disconnection. • Social, cultural, environmental, and professional motivations and consequences of disconnection practices, especially for understudied social groups. • Contextual, economic, organizational, political, and institutional interferences on digital disconnection studies and practices. • Emotional, affective, and psychological implications of disconnection experiences. • Social and collective dimensions of digital disconnection. • Critical perspectives on the role that public and private actors have on promoting/countering digital disconnection and on how this shifts the grounds of digital disconnection studies. • Intersectional approaches to digital disconnection practices (e.g., ethnicity, gender, class, age, neurodivergence…). *ABSTRACT SUBMISSION*The conference is based on non-anonymous abstracts of no more than 350 words. Submit abstracts to https://forms.gle/kRKQ1fBR125s59kH8 by April 1st, 2026. Contact person: francesca.ieracitano(a)uniroma1.it Abstracts will undergo a review process by the organising committee. Decisions on acceptance will be communicated by April 23rd, 2026. *Organizing committee members:* Marie Colombe Afota (University of Montreal) Piermarco Aroldi, Barbara Scifo (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan) Alex Beattie (Victoria University of Wellington) Arianna Bussoletti, Francesca Comunello, Francesca Ieracitano (Sapienza University of Rome) Ana Jorge (Lusófona University) Monica Marra (INAF- Italian National Institute of Astrophysics) Mora Matassi (Universidad de San Andrés) Minh Hao Nguyen (University of Amsterdam) Francesca Pasquali (University of Bergamo) Sara Van Bruyssel, Mariek Vanden Abeele (Ghent University) *The pre-conference is endorsed by the following ECREA sections and TWGs:*-Digital Culture and Communication; -Audience and Reception Studies; -Gender, Sexuality, and Communication section; -TWG on Aging and Communication Studies -TWG on Media & Intimacy. *Fees*: No fee is requested for participants

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ACEPS|UJ|11 February| 16:00-17:30 SAST| Prof Étienne Brown
by Benton, Paige 09 Feb '26

09 Feb '26

Dear Colleagues, The African Institute for Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (https://www.uj.ac.za/aceps) at the University of Johannesburg invites you to our first talk in our 2026 line-up: Safeguarding Democracy in the Age of AI – Workshop Speaker Series. Speaker: Prof Étienne Brown is a faculty member at the Centre for Law, Technology and Society and an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Ottawa. Title: Speaking (Through) Algorithms: Free Speech and Artificial Intelligence See: Abstract and Bio <https://www.uj.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/2026-02-11-aceps-speaking-t…> When: 11 February 16:00-17:30 SAST Where: online at: https://zoom.us/j/91990847612 Enquiries: Paige Benton pbenton(a)uj.a.cza<mailto:pbenton@uj.a.cza> We look forward to you joining us. Kindest regards, Paige Benton

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Symposium: Branding AI, Munich: March 2, 2026
by Laura Niebling 09 Feb '26

09 Feb '26

Dear AoIR colleagues, we would like to cordially invite you to join us in Munich or online (if you want to join the stream, just send me a short informal mail!): Symposium: Don’t Trust the Hype?! Branding AI from the Past to the Present Location: Deutsches Museum Time: Monday, 2 March 2026, 17:00-19:00 (and online!) Artificial Intelligence is currently surrounded by a narrative of unprecedented revolution—but how much of AI is its hype? And is this ‘hype’ truly a new phenomenon? What can we learn from the way AI has been branded before? The two-hour symposium, hosted at the Deutsches Museum on 02.03.2026, 5-7pm, investigates the historical and current cultural mechanisms behind the branding of AI and the idea of technological hypes and trends. By tracing the trajectory of AI marketing and public perception from its early mythical stages to the current era of Large Language Models, the event questions the cyclical nature of technological promise and disillusionment. Bringing together experts from the history of computing, digital art, and cultural anthropology, the panel will explore how Artificial Intelligence has been packaged as a brand to serve political, economic, and social agendas—but most importantly to sell itself and automated computing. Are we experiencing yet another ‘AI summer,’ or have we entered a fundamentally new era of technological imaginaries? The room for this event at the Deutsches Museum will be announced shortly. Please register via: https://anny.co/de-formal/book/hype-wo8pemrqyz?step=period - or if you want to join our online stream, just send an email to laura.niebling [@] ur.de <http://ur.de/>. Panelists Thomas Haigh Chair of History, U Wisconsin-Milwaukee, author of the forthcoming „The Brand That Wouldn’t Die: A History of Artificial Intelligence“ Tamiko Thiel Product designer of the CM-1/CM-2 AI supercomputers and acclaimed pioneering media artist in VR/AR Manuel Trummer Chair of Empirical Cultural Studies and European Ethnology at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, renowned scholar working on the cultural theory of popular culture and Hypes Talk is hosted by: Thomas Nyckel (Regensburg U) Organizers: Laura Niebling (Regensburg U), Dinah Pfau (Deutsches Museum), Rudolf Seising (Deutsches Museum), Tamar Novick (TUM). Looking forward to hearing from you and seeing some of you there! Kind regards, Laura Dr. Laura Niebling DIMAS Managing Director University of Regensburg Bajuwarenstraße 4 93059 Regensburg laura.niebling(a)ur.de <mailto:laura.niebling@ur.de> *** UR ScienceBlog: Die Niere im Comic <https://blog.uni-regensburg.de/die-niere-im-comic>(2026, T. Wagensohn) Handbuch Digitale Medien und Methoden <https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-3-658-36629-2> (Springer, 2025; w. F. Raczkowski & S. Stollfuß) „Because you look like our favorite type of book boyfriend“ <https://mediastudies.hypotheses.org/7008> (Open Media Studies Blog 2025) Consent Capital <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/14614448251375107> (New Media & Society 2025, 1-18) Escape from the Glass Prison <https://dspace-backend.ub.uni-siegen.de/server/api/core/bitstreams/a716236c…> (Navigationen 25/1 2025, 117-127)

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Call for Proposals - AusSTS 2026 "Antipodean Interruptions", 9-11 November 2026
by Thao Phan 08 Feb '26

08 Feb '26

*AusSTS 2026 Call for Proposals now live!* *9-11 November 2026Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of WellingtonDeadline for proposals: Friday 3 April, 2026* *Full details:* *https://aussts.org/aussts2026 * <https://aussts.org/aussts2026> The Call for Proposals for the AusSTS 2026 conference is now open! This year’s theme is ‘Antipodean Interruptions’. We invite submissions for presentations, written workshop papers, meet-ups, and Making and Doing sessions. Please submit proposals via this form <https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.goog…>. The CFP will be open until Friday 3 April (11:59pm NZST). *Antipodean Interruptions* The antipodean is both relational provocation and critical departure. Perpetually defined against metropolitan poles of theory-making and hegemony, here the antipodes are re-centred as a site for questioning dominant positionalities, cartographies, and categories. What critical resources can an STS from this sea of islands (Hau’ofa 1994) mobilise, and what interruptions might it make possible? An abiding concern in STS, interruptions materialise variously as infrastructural failures, lively disturbances, activist interventions, and noise within signal. Taken as an epistemic stance, interruption does not stand outside to critique or observe, nor does it seek to overthrow or abandon. Interruptions break the tide and flow, inserting other rhythms and movements, enabling new routes to be charted, and making audible what has been silenced. Following Teresia Teaiwa (2014), we invite contributors to critically appraise and recompose their intellectual genealogies, thinking about the thinking that is rooted, but by no means stuck, ‘here’. Bringing together the anti and the inter, AusSTS 2026 encourages voices and perspectives emerging from and in conversation with Australasia, Oceania, and neighbours, questioning how STS might enact its own antipodean interruptions. For more information about the conference and a fuller description of the theme please check out the AusSTS website <https://aussts.org/>. We will be announcing details of plenaries and field trips in coming weeks - stay tuned!

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News sites are locking out the Internet Archive to stop AI crawling. Is the ‘open web’ closing?
by Tai Neilson 08 Feb '26

08 Feb '26

Dear AoIR community, Apologies for cross‑posting, but I wanted to share a recent article of mine in The Conversation: News sites are locking out the Internet Archive to stop AI crawling. Is the ‘open web’ closing?<https://theconversation.com/news-sites-are-locking-out-the-internet-archive…> It addresses the further enclosure of the internet, commodification of publishers' archives as AI training data, and the resulting challenges for nonprofits and internet research. I hope you find it useful. Cheers, Tai Tai Neilson, PhD Senior Lecturer in Media Major Coordinator of Journalism and Nonfiction Writing MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY NSW 2109

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RIP Prof Dave Farber (Keio CCRC and the longrunning 'Interesting People' listserv)
by Richard Forno 08 Feb '26

08 Feb '26

Hi AoIRistas -- This just crossed my feeds today. I'm very sad to share that we lost an internet legend and critical technology thinker this weekend. https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/ietf/hyJBX_lXzJ8bXBpAyImNCXOW_no/ ----- Forwarded message from "Cherry, Hei Yui WONG" <cherry.heiyui(a)keio.jp> ----- > Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2026 11:06:40 +0900 > From: "Cherry, Hei Yui WONG" <cherry.heiyui(a)keio.jp> > Subject: Sad news: Dave Farber has passed away > > We are heartbroken to report that our colleague -- our mentor, friend, and > conscience -- David J. Farber passed away suddenly at his home in Roppongi, > Tokyo. He left us on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at the too-young age of 91. > > To his son Manny, he was simply ???Dad???, his bedrock whom he will miss > immeasurably. They spoke almost daily by video throughout his time in > Japan, and shared special times on numerous visits. He is survived by son > Manny Farber and daughter-in-law Mei Xu, daughter-in-law Carol Hagan and > grandsons Nate Farber and Sam Farber. He was preceded in death by his wife > Gloria (G.G.) and son Joe Farber. > > Dave???s career began with his education at Stevens Institute of Technology, > which he loved deeply and served as a Trustee. He joined the legendary Bell > Labs during its heyday, and worked at the Rand Corporation. Along the way, > among countless other activities, he served as Chief Technologist of the > U.S. Federal Communications Commission; became a proficient > (instrument-rated) pilot; and was an active board member of the Electronic > Frontier Foundation, a digital civil-liberties organization. > > His professional accomplishments and impact are almost endless, but often > captured by one moniker: ???grandfather of the Internet,??? acknowledging the > foundational contributions made by his many students at the University of > California, Irvine; the University of Delaware; the University of > Pennsylvania; and Carnegie Mellon University > > In 2018, at the age of 83, Dave moved to Japan to become Distinguished > Professor at Keio University and Co-Director of the Keio Cyber Civilization > Research Center (CCRC). He loved teaching, and taught his final class on > January 22, 2026. > > At CCRC, one of his most enjoyable activities was co-hosting the IP-Asia > online gathering, which has met every Monday for more than five years and > has addressed many aspects of the impact of technology on civilization. > Dave thrived in Japan in every way. > > We, the IP-Asia community, will gather for an online remembrance of Dave at > the usual time and place, 2100 JST on Monday, February 9, 2026. > > It???s impossible to summarize a life and career as rich and long as Dave???s > in our few words here. And each of us, even those who knew him for decades, > represent just one facet of his life. But because we are here at its end, > we have the sad duty of sharing this news. Further information and a more > formal obituary are forthcoming. > > With condolences to Manny and the rest of the family, > > Jiro Kokuryo > Cherry Wong > Kaori Suzuki > Rodney Van Meter > Dan Gillmor > > Manny can be reached at manny.farber(a)gmail.com <mailto:manny.farber@gmail.com>. ----- End forwarded message ----- RIP, Dave. All of us Interesting People have been touched in one way or other by your work, thoughts, and thoughtfulness over the many years, and will miss you. -- rick -- Richard F. Forno, Ph.D. Teaching Professor, CSEE Director, Graduate Cybersecurity Programs Associate Director, UMBC Cybersecurity Institute Affiliate Scholar, Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society

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International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026): Second Call for Research Papers (2nd Round)
by Announce 08 Feb '26

08 Feb '26

*** Second Call for Research Papers (2nd Round) *** International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026) 29 September - 2 October 2026, 5* St. Raphael Resort and Marina Limassol, Cyprus https://conf.researchr.org/home/variability-2026 The International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026) invites high-quality contributions from researchers and practitioners in software engineering, systems engineering, and related disciplines focussing on a broad spectrum of methods, concepts, and tools for variability. VARIABILITY aims to be the premier forum for the exchange of ideas, experiences, and results in all aspects of software and systems variability management, reuse, software configuration, and customization. As software and systems become increasingly configurable, reusable, and adaptable, managing their variability across all lifecycle phases is more critical—and more challenging —than ever. VARIABILITY 2026 seeks to bring together the diverse communities that address these challenges from theoretical, technical, and practical perspectives. VARIABILITY results from a merge of three prominent conferences focussing on software and systems variability, configuration and reuse: SPLC (the International Systems and Software Product Line Conference, 29 successful editions), VaMoS (the International Working Conference on Variability Modelling of Software-Intensive Systems, 19 successful editions), and ICSR (the International Conference on Systems and Software Reuse, 22 successful editions). VARIABILITY is by design open as a conference. It welcomes new fields of variability- intensive research, such as artificial intelligence, hybrid software-hardware systems, etc. For this first edition of VARIABILITY, we strive to continue the success of the predecessor conferences ICSR, SPLC, and VaMoS by welcoming high-quality submissions for the research track in numerous closely related areas, such as systems and software product lines, systems and software reuse, configurable systems and software, product configuration, and systems and software variability. We will award the best research paper and the best artifact paper. Topics of Interest We invite contributions on variability management, reuse, and configuration across all phases of the software and systems lifecycle. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Requirements & Domain Engineering • Domain analysis and variability modeling • Decision modeling and support • Customization and personalization specification • Requirements variability and traceability Architecture & Design • Variability-aware software architectures • Architecture-centric product line engineering • Model-driven engineering (MDE) • Multi-product lines, program families, product lines of product lines, software ecosystems Implementation & Code Generation • Generative programming and code synthesis • Modularization techniques for reusable code • Programming languages and frameworks for variability • Open-source strategies for software reuse Testing, Verification & Quality Assurance • Testing and analysis of configurable systems • Safety and security in variable systems • Formal Methods for Software Product Lines • Non-functional properties: quality-aware analysis, quality-driven configuration • Reuse in testing, verification, and quality assurance Evolution, Maintenance & Operation • Refactoring and restructuring of configurable systems • Reverse engineering, variability mining, and refactoring • Runtime variability and dynamic (software) product lines • Maintenance strategies for large-scale reused systems • Variability in DevOps and CI/CD pipelines AI and Data-Driven Methods • Machine learning for variability management • AI-assisted product configuration • Data and repository mining from product lines and configuration histories • Recommendation systems for reuse and customization Publication of Proceedings Accepted papers will be published in the VARIABILITY 2026 proceedings by Springer in the LNCS series. Submission Guidelines Paper Types We invite the following types of submissions: • Full Papers (up to 18 pages excluding references): Research papers must present original, unpublished work with validated results through empirical evaluation, formal analysis, or implementation-based experiments. Submissions must clearly articulate the problem, its relevance, the proposed contribution, and validation results. • Short Papers (6 - 8 pages excluding references): Short papers present early-stage research, novel ideas, or conceptual proposals that are not yet fully developed or validated but offer promising directions. These papers should articulate the vision, motivation, and potential impact. Formatting Papers must use the Springer LNCS template according to: https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu… Springer provides author guidelines that should be consulted for further details: https://resource-preview-cms.springernature.com/springer-cms/rest/v1/conten… Submission Link Submissions should be made via Easy Chair, selecting the research track: https://easychair.org/conferences?conf=variability2026 Paper Originality, Double-Anonymous Policy, Reviewing All papers must be original and not under review elsewhere. Submissions will be double- anonymous and reviewed by at least three experts. Submissions will be evaluated based on their novelty, relevance, rigor, transparency, and presentation. Authors of submissions to the first deadline might be invited to submit a revision of their papers to the second deadline, which will be reviewed as a revision. Revisions Research-track papers can be submitted to the first or second cycle. In the first cycle, papers can receive the following decisions: accept, revision, or reject. Revision means that the reviewers believe that the paper has potential, but that its quality or contribution is not yet ready for publication. Such papers are offered lightweight shepherding by a community member, who is not necessarily a PC member or reviewer. Revised papers should be submitted to the second cycle together with a response letter, explaining how the reviewer comments were addressed. They are then reviewed by the same PC members. Papers rejected in the first cycle can be resubmitted in the second cycle, but need to contain an appendix “Changes to First-Cycle Submission” at the end of the PDF (after references, regardless of the page limit) that lists the major changes in bullet-point format. Best Paper Awards Springer will sponsor the awards for bet papers with an overall amount of €1000. Journal Special Issue Selected accepted papers will be invited to submit extended versions with at least 30% additional and original material, to be published in a special issue in a reputable Software Engineering journal (currently under negotiation). Important Dates (AoE) • Paper Submission Deadline (2nd Round): 2 April 2026 • Notification of Acceptance (2nd Round): 1 June 2026 • Camera-Ready Deadline: 15 July 2025 • Author Registration: 15 July 2025 Organisation General Chairs • George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus • Gilles Perrouin, FNRS & University of Namur, Belgium Research Track Chairs • Thorsten Berger, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany • Ina Schaefer, KIT, Germany Industry Track Chairs • Shaukat Ali, Simula Research Lab and Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway • Martin Becker, Fraunhofer IESE, Germany Journal First Track Chairs • Mathieu Acher, University Rennes, Inria, CNRS, IRISA, France • Xhevahire Tërnava, LTCI, Télécom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, France Doctoral Symposium Track Chairs • Rick Rabiser, LIT CPS, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria • Iris Reinhartz-Berger, University of Haifa, Israel Demos and Tools Track Chairs • Sandra Greiner, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark • Leopoldo Teixeira, Federal University of Pernambuco Projects Showcase Chairs • Daniel Struber, Chalmers, University of Gothenburg, Radbound University, Sweden • Dalila Tamzalit, Nantes Université, France Hall of Fame Chairs • Martin Becker, Fraunhofer IESE, Germany • Goetz Botterweck, Lero - The Irish Software Research Centre and University of Limerick, Ireland • Natsuko Noda, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan Workshops Chairs • Lidia Fuentes, Universidad de Malaga, Spain • Malte Lochau, University of Siegen, Germany Tutorials Chairs • Loek Cleophas, Eindhoven University of Technology and Stellenbosch University, The Netherlands • Mahsa Varshosaz, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark Proceedings Chair • Sophie Fortz, King's College London, UK Publicity Chairs • Wesley Assunção, North Carolina State University, USA • Kentaro Yoshimura, Hitachi Ltd, Japan Local Organiser and Finance Chair • George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus

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RECORDING: Applying the DTSP Safe Framework to Hosting, Registries, and Registrars: From Compliance to Operational Maturity
by Joly MacFie 07 Feb '26

07 Feb '26

[image: ISOC LIVE] <https://isoc.live/>VIDEO <https://youtu.be/jF48PKvRSEQ> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/topdns11/topdns11.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150122559/> | SLIDES <https://archive.org/download/topdns11/topdns11_SLIDES.pdf> | ARCHIVE <https://archive.org/details/topdns11> | PERMALINK <https://isoc.live/20186> On 4 February 2026, eco’s topDNS Initiative <https://topdns.eco.de/>, in cooperation with the Digital Trust & Safety Partnership <https://dtspartnership.org/> (DTSP), hosted the first *topDNS Best Practice webinar* of 2026, ‘Applying the DTSP Safe Framework to Hosting, Registries, and Registrars: From Compliance to Operational Maturity <https://topdns.eco.de/topdns-best-practice-series-applying-the-dtsp-safe-fr…>‘. Speakers Farzaneh Badiei <https://www.linkedin.com/in/farzaneh-badiei-phd-768224b5/> and David Sullivan <https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmcgrawsullivan/> focused on how infrastructure providers can apply the DTSP Safe Framework (ISO/IEC 25389 <https://www.iso.org/standard/90106.html>) to strengthen trust and safety practices beyond baseline compliance. The discussion framed the topic in the context of expanding global online safety regulation – particularly the EU Digital Services Act <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Services_Act> (DSA) and its transparency reporting obligations – and the need for a shared, globally usable vocabulary and approach that reflects different infrastructure roles. SPEAKERS Farzaneh Badiei – Head of Outreach and Engagement, Digital Trust & Safety Partnership / Founder, Digital Medusa David Sullivan – Executive Director, Digital Trust & Safety Partnership HOSTS Lars Steffen – Director International, eco – Association of the Internet Industry Thomas Rickert – Director Names & Numbers, eco – Association of the Internet Industry - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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State of the Net 2026 - Full livestream schedule
by Joly MacFie 07 Feb '26

07 Feb '26

[image: ISOC LIVE] <https://isoc.live/20101> LIVESTREAM <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlg8We3ePxcNZEuAOtiJyuPrYX7xHUUw0> | PERMALINK <https://isoc.live/20101> | ADD TO CALENDAR <https://addcal.io/e/74j6rjxcjczp> On Monday February 9, 2026 from 9am-5:15pm EST (14:00-22:15 UTC) the Internet Education Foundation <https://www.neted.org/> presents the 2026 State of the Internet <https://www.stateofthenet.org/> (SOTN) conference in Washington DC. Annually attracting over 600 attendees, the State of the Net Conference provides unparalleled opportunities to network and engage on key policy issues. It is also the only Internet policy conference with over 50 percent of Congressional staff and government policymakers in attendance, making it the perfect setting to explore important, emerging trends. AGENDA https://sotn26.sched.com/ (All times EST = UTC-5) PLENARY + BREAKOUT 1 VIEW ON YOUTUBE https://youtu.be/WIrMZOdVAcw 9:15am – Welcome / Introductions 9:30am – Keynote with Arpan Sura Arpan Sura – Senior Counsel and Chief AI Officer, Federal Communications Commission 9:45am – Fireside Chat with Congresswoman April McClain Delaney The Honorable April McClain Delaney – Representative of Maryland’s 6th Congressional District, U.S. House of Representatives 10:15am – Keynote with Commissioner Anna Gomez The Honorable Anna Gomez – Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission 10:30am – 30 for 30: 30 Years of Broadband Competition, 30 Years of What’s Next Evan Swarztrauber – Senior Fellow, Foundation for American Innovation David Don – Senior Vice President, Public Policy, Comcast Blair Levin – Policy Analyst, New Street Research Christopher Lewis – President & CEO, Public Knowledge Moderator: Kelcee Griffis – Telecom Reporter, Bloomberg News 11:30am – The Future of AI Infrastructure: Affordably Securing Energy for Innovation Lindsey Baxter Griffith – Chief Executive Officer, Clean Tomorrow Steve DelBianco – President & CEO, NetChoice Tanya Das – Vice President of Strategy, Dataerai Marsden Hanna – Head of Energy and Sustainability Policy, Google Moderator: Rebecca Kern – Senior Correspondent, The Capitol Forum 12:30pm – Lunch 1:30pm – Keynote with Cory Gardner The Honorable Cory Gardner – President & CEO, NCTA 1:45pm – Keynote with Commissioner Olivia Trusty The Honorable Olivia Trusty – Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission 2:00pm – Fireside Chat with Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling The Honorable Keith Sonderling – Deputy Secretary of Labor, Department of Labor Steve DelBianco – President & CEO, NetChoice 2:30pm – Verifying the Future: The Paxton Decision, Age Assurance, and the Next Phase of Online Safety Ariel Fox Johnson – Senior Advisor, Common Sense Media Sarah Scheffler – Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University Jessica Melugin – Director, Competitive Enterprise Institute Jon Schweppe – Senior Advisor, American Principles Project Moderator: Ashley Gold – Senior Tech Policy Reporter, Axios 3:30pm – Coffee Break 3:45pm – Fireside Chat with Assistant Secretary Arielle Roth The Honorable Arielle Roth – Administrator, National Information and Telecommunications Administration Moderator: Daniel Lyons – Professor, Boston College Law School 4:15pm – Fireside Chat with Senator Scott Wiener Senator Scott Wiener – Senator for Senate District 11, California State Senate Makena Kelly – Senior Writer, WIRED 4:45pm – Wrap Up *BREAKOUT 2* VIEW ON YOUTUBE https://youtu.be/tN2cbtawlEk 10:30am – Hitting Refresh on Cybersecurity to Address Emerging Technologies Camille Stewart Gloster – CEO and Founder, CAS Strategies, LLC James Lewis – Distinguished Fellow, Center for European Policy Analysis Michael Daniel – President & CEO, Cyber Threat Alliance Rob Knake – CEO, TPO Group Moderator: Shane Tews – President, Logan Circle Strategies 11:30am – Making BEAD a Success To Connect All Americans Nicol Turner Lee – Senior Fellow, Governance Studies and Director, Center for Technology Innovation, The Brookings Institution Lyndsay Moyer – Vice President, State Government Affairs, Comcast Paul Garnett – Founder and CEO, Vernonburg Group Joseph Wender – Executive Director, SHLB Coalition Moderator: Chris Teale – Managing Editor, Route Fifty 2:30pm – Sovereign AI and the New Internet Order: Governing Intelligence Across Borders Kellee Wicker – Vice President of the Center for Technology, Innovation, and Space, Meridian International Center Caitlin Clarke – Senior Director for Cybersecurity Services, Venable LLP Morgan Reed – President, ACT | The App Association Adrian Shahbaz – Vice President, Research and Analysis, Freedom House Moderator: Nancy Scola – Journalist BREAKOUT 3 VIEW ON YOUTUBE https://youtu.be/mE-CYvOr2as 10:30am – Chatting with Machines: Mental Health, AI Companions, and the New Psychology of Connection Amina Fazlullah – Head of Tech Policy Advocacy, Common Sense Media Amanda Lenhart – Senior Fellow, Joan Ganz Cooney Center Adam Thierer – Senior Fellow, R Street Institute Shae Gardner – Director of Policy and Research, LGBT Tech Moderator: Amrith Ramkumar – Reporter, The Wall Street Journal 11:30am – AI Liability: Who’s Responsible When Machines Act? Tod Cohen – Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips Helen Toner – Interim Executive Director, Center for Security and Emerging Technology Neil Chilson – Head of AI Policy, Abundance Institute Aaron Rieke – Senior Partner, Clarion AI Partners Moderator: Miranda Bogen – Director, AI Governance Lab, Center for Democracy & Technology 2:30pm – The New Frontiers of Speech Luke Hogg – Director of Policy and Outreach, Foundation for American Innovation Ashkhen Kazaryan – Senior Legal Fellow, Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University Corbin Barthold – Internet Policy Counsel and Director of Appellate Litigation, TechFreedom Joel Thayer – President, Digital Progress Institute LIGHTNING TALKSLightning Talks will be recorded and available soon <https://www.youtube.com/@sotndc>. -- - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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RECORDING - The Secret Life of Data: Navigating Hype and Uncertainty in the Age of Algorithmic Surveillanceh
by Joly MacFie 06 Feb '26

06 Feb '26

[Now in Algovision!] [image: ISOC LIVE] <https://isoc.live/>VIDEO <https://youtu.be/4LEPv6_JDYY> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/fsi-aram/fsi-aram.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150074383/> | SLIDES <https://archive.org/download/fsi-aram/fsi-aram_SLIDES.pdf> | ARCHIVE <https://archive.org/details/fsi-aram> | PERMALINK <https://isoc.live/20181> On November 11, 2025, Stanford’s Tech Impact and Policy Center <https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/> (TIP) organized a seminar ‘The Secret Life of Data: Navigating Hype and Uncertainty in the Age of Algorithmic Surveillance <https://fsi.stanford.edu/events/november-11-secret-life-data-navigating-hyp…> ‘. Aram Sinnreich <https://www.linkedin.com/in/aramsinnreich/>, co-author of “The Secret Life of Data <https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262048811/the-secret-life-of-data/>,” explored the unpredictable and often surprising ways in which data surveillance, AI, and algorithms impact our culture and society. PRESENTER Aram Sinnreich – Professor, Communication Studies, American University HOST/MODERATOR Jeff Hancock – Director, Stanford Tech Impact and Policy Center #DataScience #@StanfordTIP #datagovernance - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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