Enabling Independent Research Without Unleashing Ethics Disasters

Dr. Sarah Gilbert is a postdoctoral associate at Cornell University and Research Director of the Citizens and Technology Lab. Dr. J. Nathan Matias is a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and an Assistant Professor at the Cornell University Department of Communication, where he is founder of the Citizens and Technology Lab. Dr. Josephine (“Jo”) Lukito is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism and Media. Shuttterstock When Twitter cut off the National Weather Service storm warning system by revoking its API access, it was the clearest indication yet of a critical digital infrastructure in dramatic decline. By charging at least $42,000 a month for API access, Twitter is effectively pulling the plug on thousands of essential public-interest projects across government, journalism, civil society, and academia.  How can research conducted independently of tech companies persist in the face of attacks and negligence from Twitter and other tech firms? New constellations of researchers are scrambling to collect data, build shared infrastructures, and advocate for new transparency laws. If we’re not careful about privacy, ethics, and gatekeeping, the remedy might be worse than the problems we’re trying to solve. For the last six months, our team of researchers has interviewed dozens of journalists, civil society, and academics about the ethics and privacy risks of independent research. Groups such as the Coalition for Independent Technology Research (of which we are members) are organizing mutual aid, advocacy, and collective action…Enabling Independent Research Without Unleashing Ethics Disasters