[Commlist] Call for applications: Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute on Technology & Policy at the Margins

APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN FOR THE ANNUAL OXFORD MEDIA POLICY SUMMER INSTITUTE

THIS YEAR'S THEME: TECHNOLOGY & POLICY AT THE MARGINS

Deadline: April 20, 2019
Early Decision Deadline: March 19, 2019

For the past twenty years, the Media Policy Summer Institute has brought 
together top early career scholars (including advanced PhD students, 
post-docs and lecturers), media lawyers and regulators, human rights 
activists, and policymakers from countries around the world to discuss 
the effects of technology, media, and policy from a global and 
multidisciplinary perspective. Participants take part in an intensive 
and interdisciplinary two-week program in Oxford that blends expert 
instruction with participatory activity, group work, and discussion. 
With 30 participants each year, hailing from more than 20 countries, the 
Media Policy Summer Institute has long offered participants unrivaled 
exposure to the diverse experiences of its global participants as well 
as a uniquely informed comparative view of their different media and 
digital environments. The Institute’s alumni are an exceptional and 
vibrant group who stay engaged and collaborate well past the end of the 
2-week Summer Institute through the active alumni network. Many go on to 
become leaders at top government agencies, corporations, non-profits, 
and academic institutions around the world.


  THIS YEAR'S THEME


This year, the Summer Institute will focus on the theme of*Technology & 
Policy at the Margins*.

The internet and other new technologies are rapidly and irreversibly 
changing global media environments presenting enormous challenges for 
building policies that both understand the scope of new technologies 
like artificial intelligence, biometrics, and social media, and can 
adequately protect the rights of the media and people using them. With 
the arrival of Europe’s new General Data Protection Regulation and 
social media giants like Facebook and Google being brought to testify 
before Congress in the Unites States, the last year has shown just how 
urgent it is to make sense of how our online media lives should and 
should not be governed.

While understanding this changing technology and media landscape is 
vital in any context, it raises particularly pressing issues for 
vulnerable populations living “at the margins”. Many, like refugees, 
Internally Displaced People, those living through conflict, under threat 
of attack, or under an internet shutdown often lack the ability to 
advocate for their digital rights or live under regimes that dismiss 
those rights in part or entirely. With this in mind, this year’s Summer 
Institute will focus on five key themes through which we will explore 
many of these challenges to policy and practice, with a particular focus 
on their effect on populations “at the margins” broadly understood. The 
five themes are:

1.Extreme speech online

2.Biometric technology in vulnerable populations

3.Innovative efforts to connect the unconnected

4.Algorithmic bias and inequality

5.Internet shutdowns

By choosing these themes, we aim to explore issues such as online 
censorship, social media content regulation, net neutrality, 
surveillance and security, the spread of disinformation online, and the 
relationship between technology and democratic participation - amongst 
others. Participants will leave with a thorough understanding of how 
these issues influence, and are influenced by, laws and regulations 
governing the media and communication technologies in diverse contexts 
and jurisdictions.


  HOW TO APPLY


Applications for the 2019 Media Policy Summer Institute are now open!

APPLY HERE 
<https://medialaw.wufoo.com/forms/oxford-media-policy-summer-institute-2019/>

The deadline for early decision acceptance: is March 19, 2019

The final deadline for all applications is April 20, 2019

Admission to this programme is highly competitive. On average, we have 
approximately 400 applicants for just 30 places. At the same time, we 
proactively work to ensure that those selected come from diverse 
backgrounds and experiences. To that end, we work with sponsoring 
partners to offer scholarships to a very select number of participants 
who would otherwise be unable to attend.

For more information on the application process, check out our 
website:http://pcmlp.socleg.ox.ac.uk/news/oxford-media-policy-summer-institute/where 
you can find more details and a list of the most Frequently Asked 
Questions about our application process. If you still have questions, 
get in touch with us at:(medialaw /at/ ox.ac.uk) <mailto:(medialaw /at/ ox.ac.uk)>or 
(mediapolicysummerinstitute /at/ csls.ox.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(mediapolicysummerinstitute /at/ csls.ox.ac.uk)> or reach out to us on 
Twitter at @OxfordMediaLaw.


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