Information Society Project

Information Society Project
source
Name	Information Society Project
Type	Research center
Location	New Haven, Connecticut
Founded	1997
Parent organization	Yale Law School

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Information Society Project

The Information Society Project is a research center at Yale Law School focused on the interaction of law, technology, and rights. Founded in the late 1990s, the Project engages scholars, practitioners, and students from across Yale University, Harvard University, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and international partners to study digital policy, privacy, and access. Its activities intersect with legal developments such as the Communications Decency Act, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Patriot Act, and international instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the General Data Protection Regulation.

History

The Project was established amid debates sparked by the Clinton administration's technology policy and the passage of the Communications Decency Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Early collaborations linked scholars from Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, NYU School of Law, and Georgetown University Law Center with civil society groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, ACLU, and Center for Democracy & Technology. Over time the Project hosted initiatives responding to events such as the Snowden disclosures, litigation before the United States Supreme Court on surveillance and First Amendment issues, and international governance forums like the Internet Governance Forum and the World Summit on the Information Society.

The Project's stated mission emphasizes research, advocacy, and training at the intersection of Yale Law School scholarship and global policy debates. Goals include advancing accountability in areas influenced by the Federal Communications Commission, European Commission, and supranational bodies; protecting principles reflected in the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, and international human rights treaties; and promoting public-interest lawyering in contexts shaped by actors such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon (company), and Apple Inc..

Research streams address topics like surveillance, algorithmic accountability, intellectual property, and access to information. Programs have examined surveillance by agencies such as the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, automated decision-making used by firms like Palantir Technologies and IBM, and content moderation practices influenced by rulings from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and regulatory regimes like the European Court of Human Rights. The Project has run initiatives partnering with organizations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Access Now, and the Open Society Foundations to study issues arising in regions such as Kenya, India, Brazil, Nigeria, and the European Union.

Students from Yale College, Yale Law School, and affiliated graduate programs contribute through clinics, seminars, and fellowships. Clinical placements have included litigation before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, policy submissions to the Federal Trade Commission, and drafting amicus briefs for cases argued at the Supreme Court of the United States. The Project has hosted visiting fellows from institutions like Oxford University, University of Cambridge, National University of Singapore, and University of Cape Town, and collaborated with nonprofit actors including Electronic Frontier Foundation, ACLU, and Public Citizen on experiential training.

The Project has influenced regulatory and legislative debates, submitting comments to agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission, and engaging with lawmakers in the United States Congress and the European Parliament. Advocacy work has intersected with litigation involving companies like Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn Corporation, and YouTube, and policy initiatives linked to the Privacy Shield framework, cross-border data transfer disputes adjudicated by the Court of Justice of the European Union, and standards set by bodies such as the Internet Engineering Task Force.

Scholars affiliated with the Project publish in journals like the Yale Law Journal, Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, and policy outlets such as reports for the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and the Center for International Governance Innovation. The Project organizes conferences, workshops, and speaker series featuring participants from Google, Facebook, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the ACLU, the World Bank, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Events often address topics appearing in cases before the Supreme Court of the United States and regulatory debates in the European Commission.

Embedded within Yale Law School, the Project operates under the leadership of faculty directors and advisory boards including scholars from Harvard University, Princeton University, Columbia University, and New York University. Funding sources have included philanthropic support from the MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, grants from bodies such as the National Science Foundation and partnerships with NGOs like Access Now and Human Rights Watch. The Project also collaborates with academic centers such as the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and the Oxford Internet Institute.