Globalization has repeatedly challenged the authority of the territorial state. The internet is a tool that presents one such challenge. Many states have demonstrated they are capable of managing the internet through the use of “cyberborders:” policies that filter digital information available domestically. Most explanations for such policies focus on state repression of civil society (vertical relationships) and explain policies by regime type. In her research, Beth Simmons reorients intern policy research toward managing global interdependence across territorial borders (horizontal relationships) and develops three original measures of "cyberborders": platform content removal requests, intentional foreign website blocking, and data localization laws.

Speaker 

Beth A. Simmons is the Andrea Mitchell University Professor in Law, Political Science and Business Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She is a former Director of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs at the Department of Government. Her research interests include international relations, political economy, international law, and international human rights law compliance. She is best known for her research on international political economy during the interwar years, policy diffusion globally, and her work demonstrating the influence that international law has on human rights outcomes around the world. With Thomas Risse and Walter Carlsnaes, she edited the Handbook of international relations (SAGE, 2012).

Programme

Lecture with Q&A afterwards.

The event will additionally be streamed live on our YouTube channel.