Corporate Responsibility in Digital Authoritarianism and Transnational Repression
Is this project an undergraduate, graduate, or faculty project?
Graduate
Project Type
individual
Campus
Worldwide
Authors' Class Standing
Joanna Shaffer, Graduate Student
Lead Presenter's Name
Joanna Shaffer
Lead Presenter's College
WW College of Arts and Sciences
Faculty Mentor Name
Iuliia Hoban
Abstract
This study examines the implications of corporate responsibility in digital authoritarianism and transnational repression as it relates to international law and U.S. security policy. Existing international legal frameworks fall short in addressing corporate malfeasance due to the complexity of multinational corporate structures, overemphasis on assigning adversarial state blame, and the current jurisdictional limitations which hinder prosecution of corporate actors. Prioritization of economic expansion and market dominance also veils unethical practices commonly employed by digital platforms to optimize algorithmic success. The paper explores documented cases of media censorship, data privacy violations, and the spread of misinformation on social media platforms through the lenses of international human rights law and state sovereignty. The study focuses on the case of the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal to identify commercial policies that enable digital oppression. The research also examines the effectiveness of current corporate accountability mechanisms through existing cybersecurity frameworks provided by binding and non-binding treaties and procedural enforcement from intergovernmental organizations. The study suggests potential reforms to strengthen corporate accountability and limit the spread of cyber suppression, including the exploration of legal avenues for holding corporate actors accountable for human rights violations and transnational repression. Corporate regulation is also leveraged as resource-savvy form of risk reduction for digital authoritarianism.
Did this research project receive funding support (Spark, SURF, Research Abroad, Student Internal Grants, Collaborative, Climbing, or Ignite Grants) from the Office of Undergraduate Research?
No
Corporate Responsibility in Digital Authoritarianism and Transnational Repression
This study examines the implications of corporate responsibility in digital authoritarianism and transnational repression as it relates to international law and U.S. security policy. Existing international legal frameworks fall short in addressing corporate malfeasance due to the complexity of multinational corporate structures, overemphasis on assigning adversarial state blame, and the current jurisdictional limitations which hinder prosecution of corporate actors. Prioritization of economic expansion and market dominance also veils unethical practices commonly employed by digital platforms to optimize algorithmic success. The paper explores documented cases of media censorship, data privacy violations, and the spread of misinformation on social media platforms through the lenses of international human rights law and state sovereignty. The study focuses on the case of the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal to identify commercial policies that enable digital oppression. The research also examines the effectiveness of current corporate accountability mechanisms through existing cybersecurity frameworks provided by binding and non-binding treaties and procedural enforcement from intergovernmental organizations. The study suggests potential reforms to strengthen corporate accountability and limit the spread of cyber suppression, including the exploration of legal avenues for holding corporate actors accountable for human rights violations and transnational repression. Corporate regulation is also leveraged as resource-savvy form of risk reduction for digital authoritarianism.