Activists and Film Studio Unite to Call for Good Internet Bills
Fight for the Future and Exposure Labs will release a video series and partner campaign to inform the public about tech harms and drive action in support of policies to reclaim the Internet for the people
The award-winning social impact film studio behind “The Social Dilemma,” Exposure Labs, and digital rights advocacy organization, Fight for the Future, have come together to launch the video series Creating Our Tech Futures and a supporting advocacy campaign at TakeBackOurInternet.org.
The videos and campaign focus on some of the greatest harms threatening the positive potential of the Internet, and advocate for “Good Internet Bills” – policies that protect privacy, prohibit censorship, stop discrimination, and encourage a free and open Internet – to reclaim the Internet and shift power back into the hands of everyday people.
The protagonists of the Creating Our Tech Futures videos are:
- Vinhcent Le, Sr. Legal Counsel of Tech Equity at Greenlining Institute, who explains what algorithms are, who they impact, and how the worst of them are replicating the sins of the past in invisible ways.
- Sneha Revanur, the 18-year old Founder/President of Encode Justice who offers her vision for why her generation is best equipped to combat the ills of algorithmic oppression, provides actionable solutions, and shares why she continues to fight for a seat at the table.
- Artist and designer Annika Hansteen-Izora, former Head of Design at Somewhere Good, who asks us to view algorithmic flaws as an opportunity to reimagine our online ecosystem as digital gardens that value care and eradicate hierarchy to create a better tech future.
The series explores the multifaceted issues surrounding tech bias, examines who is most affected by these biases, proposes necessary policy changes, and envisions a brighter, more inclusive future.
“We’re excited to partner with Fight for the Future to reach communities most impacted by these tech inequities,” said Kerri Pang, Creating Our Tech Futures video series Film Director. “By combining our team’s impact-led filmmaking with Fight for the Future’s advocacy prowess, we hope to empower audiences to take action about the most pressing issues in the tech world.”
“Technology and the internet have the power to transform our society, upend injustice, and hold powerful people and institutions accountable,” said Caitlin Seeley George, Campaigns and Managing Director at Fight for the Future. “While we know what policies are necessary to achieve that future, we often struggle to direct political will to enact these policies. That’s why content like the Creating Our Tech Futures series is so critical – it has the potential to reach a wide audience of people who, after learning about these issues, can take action and push lawmakers and other decision makers to support the policies we need for the future we all deserve. We have seen that when people engage in the political process, change is possible, which is why we are so happy to partner with Exposure Labs to add advocacy to this video series.”
The partnership between Exposure Labs and Fight for the Future builds on both groups track records of advocacy and impact. Exposure Labs has released acclaimed documentaries such as “The Social Dilemma”, “Chasing Coral” and “Chasing Ice”. Fight for the Future is best known as the group behind some of the largest online protests in human history, including organizing 24 million people and hundreds of websites to defeat the 2012 SOPA/PIPA bills; spearheading the campaigns that won the strongest net neutrality rules in the world; and stopping the use of facial recognition surveillance at at more than 40 of the country’s largest music festivals.
The series will be available for public viewing at TakeBackOurInternet.org, beginning Thursday, November 16, and a recording from the live premiere is available here.
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