Digital Policy Lab

ISD’s Digital Policy Lab brings together key policy-makers to address disinformation, hate speech, extremism and terrorism online

Seed funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, the Digital Policy Lab (DPL) is a new inter-governmental working group focused on charting the regulatory and policy path forward to prevent and counter disinformation, hate speech, extremism and terrorism online.

It is comprised of a core group of senior representatives of relevant ministries and regulators from key liberal democratic countries (starting with EU and Five Eyes countries). The DPL is intended to foster inter-governmental exchange, provide policy makers with access to sector-leading expertise and research, and build an international community of policy practice around key regulatory challenges in the digital policy space.

Two convenings of the DPL were held in November and December of 2020. Bringing officials from eleven countries and the EU together, these sessions worked to develop frameworks for transparency in digital regulation and to review specific proposed legislation such as the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and European Democracy Action Plan (EDAP), as well as country-level legislation such as the upcoming UK Online Harms bill.

These events were accompanied by a series of briefing papers focusing on specific areas of digital policy. These briefing papers are not public but can be shared upon request.

The work of the Digital Policy Lab replaces the Policy Planners Network on Countering Radicalisation and Extremism (PPN) which ISD ran from 2008 – 2019 and delivered 19 international events. The PPN worked to upgrade and coordinate the strategies of its 12 governmental members through sharing of information and best practice for designing and implementing policies in countering extremism. The PPN Network included representation from government agencies in the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Finland, Norway and Victoria State (Australia). The network also cooperated with the European Commission and the Counter-terrorism Coordinator (CTC) at the Council of the EU.

Policy Planners Network summit in Paris, France, 2018

Recent Digital Policy publications

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ISD’s Digital Policy team

Sasha Havlicek

Founding CEO

As founding CEO of this leading global counter-extremism ‘think and do’ tank, Sasha has spearheaded ISD’s pioneering research and data analysis, digital education, policy advisory, training, tech and communications programmes. With a background in conflict resolution and an expertise in extremism, digital information operations and electoral interference, she has advised a range of governments at the highest levels and has spearheaded partnerships with the UN, EU Commission and Global Counter-Terrorism Forum. She has also worked with the private and civil society sectors to innovate real-world solutions to the rising challenges of polarisation, extremism, hate and disinformation, including major programmes run in partnership with Google, FB and Microsoft. Sasha serves as an expert advisor to the UK Counter-Extremism Commission and the Mayor of London’s counter-extremism programme, and is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Sasha previously served as Senior Director at the EastWest Institute where she led conflict resolution programming. Sasha has testified before US Congress, the UK Parliament and is a regular commentator in the media (CNN, BBC, Channel 4 News and other networks).

Milo Comerford

Head of Policy & Research, Counter-Extremism

Milo Comerford is Head of Policy & Research, Counter-Extremism, leading ISD’s work developing innovative research approaches and policy responses to extremism. Milo regularly briefs senior decision makers around the world on extremism challenges, advising governments, tech companies and international agencies on building strategies for effective responses. Milo features regularly in international media, including CNN, BBC News, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Times, Sky News and Al Jazeera. Milo was previously Senior Analyst at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, where he led major research projects on Salafi-jihadi propaganda, international educational responses to extremism, and the transnational far right.

Chloe Colliver

Head of Digital Policy and Strategy

Follow @https://twitter.com/ChloeColliver2

Chloe is Head of Digital Policy and Strategy at ISD, leading a global team of analysts studying disinformation and extremism online. Chloe has led programmes of work detecting and responding to online manipulation targeting the German, European Parliamentary, UK, Swedish and US Elections. Based on this research, Chloe advises governments and technology companies on responses to online harms from state and non-state networks. In this advisory capacity, Chloe has worked on the development of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism with Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and Google, and has provided expert testimony to the UK Home Affairs Select Committee, the Swedish, New Zealand, Canadian, French and German governments, the International Grand Committee on Disinformation and the Global Counter Terrorism Forum on digital policy and tech regulation. Her work has appeared in CNN, the BBC, Sky News, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Wired and Bloomberg. Chloe is a Yale Mellon Fellow and sits on the Advisory Board for Accountable Tech.

Henry Tuck

Head of Policy & Research

Henry Tuck is Head of Policy & Research at ISD, responsible for the overall management of the Institute’s research programme, including oversight of all publications, research methods, and ethics across a variety of topics, from disinformation to the far-right and extremism online. Henry also leads ISD’s policy-focused work to counter online harms in collaboration with a range of key stakeholders, advising leading governments, international organisations and major private sector tech companies. Since starting at ISD in 2013, Henry has previously driven fundraising, strategy and the development of new projects and partnerships, led a series of ISD’s education and counter-narrative projects (including Extreme Dialogue and Be Internet Citizens), designed the Institute’s Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks, and conducted research on foreign fighters, deradicalisation and the far-right. He holds a Masters (with distinction) in International Conflict Studies from Kings College London, and a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Durham University.