Marked As Urgent: Tech Policy in 2025
January is barely over and 2025 has given us so much already: the US’s ‘will they or won’t they’ attitude toward a TikTok ban; the UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, and Mark Zuckerberg’s full-blown pullback on content moderation.
There’s still plenty more for 2025 to give us in tech policy — how will platform governance evolve? How will political shifts drive global conversations around tech? What moral panics will shape new regulations?
Mark Scott, Ben Whitelaw, and Georgia Iacovou are teaming up on this tech policy meetup in London to explore those questions and more. Join us for the lightning talks (+ Q&A!), followed by drinks and networking:
By Mark Scott, writer of Digital Politics
How are countries approaching questions around artificial intelligence, content moderation and industrial strategies towards the likes of semiconductors and quantum computing? What is the new geopolitical reality for tech in 2025? There’s new leadership in Brussels and Washington, and London is still finding its feet under the new Labour government.
By Ben Whitelaw, founder and writer at Everything in Moderation
What happens when platforms slash Trust & Safety teams, moderators unionise, and AI takes centre stage? A look at the pitfalls, promises and power struggles inherent in enforcing online policy with, and without, humans-in-the-loop
By Georgia Iacovou, writer of Horrific/Terrific
An exploration of the rising tensions between individual content creators, the monopolies that platform them, and the litigation against adult content, and apps such as TikTok. There are intense moral panics — mostly about child safety and national security — that are getting tangled up in these discussions. Time to untangle them a bit!
TIMINGS:
18:30 – 19:00: Doors open; grab a drink, chat, find a seat
19:00 – 19:45: Intros, followed by lightning talks
19:45 – 20:30: Q&A
20:30 - 22:00: Networking — drinks and conversation to continue until close