News/Research

danah boyd Named EFF Barlow Recipient

25 Sep, 2019

danah boyd Named EFF Barlow Recipient

BCNM alum danah boyd was recognized as a 'Trailblazing Technology Scholar' at the Electronic Frontier Foundation's 2019 Pioneer Award Ceremony. Every year, the EFF accepts nominations from the public for leaders expanding freedom and innovation in information technology. This year, boyd was recognized alongside surveillance-combatting group Oakland Privacy and cyberpunk author William Gibson!

boyd gave an acceptance speech that reflected on how she "benefited from the generosity of men who tolerated and, in effect, enabled unethical, immoral, and criminal men"!

From danah's acceptance speech:

But before I begin, I would like to ask you to join me in a moment of silence out of respect to all of those who have been raped, trafficked, harassed, and abused. For those of you who have been there, take this moment to breathe. For those who haven’t, take a moment to reflect on how the work that you do has enabled the harm of others, even when you never meant to.

<silence>

The story of how I got to be standing here is rife with pain and I need to expose part of my story in order to make visible why we need to have a Great Reckoning in the tech industry. This award may be about me, but it’s also not. It should be about all of the women and other minorities who have been excluded from tech by people who thought they were helping.

about danah boyd

danah boyd has consistently been one of the world’s smartest researchers, thinkers, and writers about how technology impacts society, especially for teens and young people. Currently, boyd is focused on detecting and mitigating vulnerabilities in sociotechnical systems. To better understand these vulnerabilities, boyd has been examining the challenges surrounding the 2020 U.S. Census. In 2013, boyd created Data & Society, an independent nonprofit research institute that is committed to identifying thorny problems at the intersection of technology, culture, and community, and advances understanding of the implications of data technologies and automation. danah’s most recent books—“It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens” and “Participatory Culture in a Networked Age”—examine the intersection of everyday life and social media, and have helped families around the world navigate technologies like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. In addition to her work as a partner researcher at Data & Society, boyd is also Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and a Visiting Professor at New York University.

Read more about the ceremony on the EFF website here.

Read danah's acceptance speech here.