News

In June, the European Commission announced that AliExpress agreed to a number of binding commitments to address concerns raised in proceedings under the Digital Services Act (DSA). This analysis for Tech Policy Press breaks down the AliExpress commitments and why they matter, with a focus on how commitments for recommender system transparency, access to public data for researchers, and monitoring can lead to meaningful accountability.

In a new report, Eric Rescorla and Alissa Cooper analyze how Google’s browser, Chrome, could operate successfully as an independent entity if the court presiding over Google Search orders its divestiture.

A new report released today by the Knight-Georgetown Institute (KGI) offers an engineering assessment of what it would take to separate Chrome from Google – and succeed.

In June 2025, KGI welcomed Eric Rescorla as Senior Research Fellow with a focus on the intersection of Internet technologies with policy, working across our projects on platform governance and competition.

New initiative brings nine experts with federal government experience to work with the FAS and Tech & Society’s Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation, the Knight-Georgetown Institute, and the Institute for Technology Law & Policy

The Digital Services Act sets out broad new legal requirements to make recommender systems more transparent and accountable, including for their role in systemic risks. To fulfill that promise, implementation must go beyond basic disclosures and defaults; it must shape how these systems are designed and assessed over time.

When the U.S. Department of Justice originally brought – and then won – its case against Google, arguing that the tech behemoth monopolized the search engine market, the focus was on, well … search. Back then, in 2020, the government’s antitrust complaint against Google had few mentions of artificial intelligence or AI chatbots. But nearly five years later, as the remedy phase of the trial enters its second week of testimony, the focus has shifted to AI, underscoring just how quickly this emerging technology has expanded.

A federal court ruling found that Google violated antitrust laws in two online advertising markets. California Attorney General Rob Bonta might have a winning strategy against Big Tech after Google’s big antitrust loss in court. This case was brought against the search giant in 2023 longside the U.S. Justice Department and 16 other state attorneys general, and is a notable win for Bonta’s office after a string of recent court losses to tech industry groups suing California on First Amendment grounds.

In March 2025, KGI welcomed Julie Anne Miranda-Brobeck as Communications Director. Julie Anne leads on KGI’s communications strategy, branding, and media relations.

As lawsuits mount and legislation aimed at mitigating social media harms proliferates, the battle over how algorithmic recommender systems should be designed is heating up. A new report “Better Feeds: Algorithms That Put People First” proposes guidelines to help mitigate algorithmic harms, which, if adopted, could meaningfully improve the online experiences of youth and adult users alike.

Lack of competition in social media has allowed dominant platforms to design algorithms to maximize for user engagement without concern for user experience, which may produce feelings of negativity and partisanship among users. There exist alternative algorithmic designs that optimize for both engagement and user experience, and regulation may be necessary to promote these different approaches.

KGI released a major new report providing detailed guidance for policymakers and technology companies on improving the design of the algorithmic recommendation systems that shape billions of users’ online experiences. The report, Better Feeds: Algorithms That Put People First, was authored by a distinguished group of researchers, technologists, and policy leaders.