Free Speech & Partisanship in the Commercial Square

Katie Harbath, Former Director of Public Policy for Facebook

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On January 18, 2024, we spoke with Katie Harbath, CEO of Anchor Change and former Director of Public Policy for Facebook to explore “Technology, Free Speech & Democracy in 2024.”

As technology platforms provide more and more of the “public square” for civic discourse and debate, their actions will be critical as voters weigh choices in 2024 election in the US and around the world. Now, with accelerated adoption of AI, technology will have an even greater role in averting electoral crises, and navigating intense debates over free speech, hate speech, censorship, fraud and protest. These challenges raise issues for all companies, as their employees and customers engage over such platforms and they confront difficult decisions on whether and how to engage responsibly in an environment of polarization and distrust.

In this module, we explore:

• What are conservatives and liberals most concerned about with social media and the election?
• Given your experience at Facebook, what polarities or tensions do you see underlying these concerns? What makes them difficult to address?
• What risks most concern you, especially as companies consider their advertising and engagement into 2024?

The Corporate Political Responsibility Taskforce (CPRT)’s Expert Dialogues are in-depth, recorded conversations with academic experts, stakeholder advocates and business practitioners to provide our members and other CPR champions with the expertise and context they need to develop principled, proactive CPR strategies. We invite those interested in a constructive, non-partisan, principles-based discussion.

Katie Harbath is chief executive of Anchor Change, and a former director of public policy for Facebook, where she managed the global elections strategy across the company, including advising on products and policy related to civic engagement and election integrity. She now serves as director of technology and democracy for the International Republican Institute, as a fellow with the Bipartisan Policy Center, and as Chair of the Board of the National Conference on Citizenship.

Keywords: #CorporatePoliticalResponsibility #CPRCivicInstitutions, #CPRPolarization, #CPRVotingElections, #CPADistrust