The Winners of Tariff Diplomacy: U.S. Tech Companies

By Burcu Kilic. Adapted from a version originally published in the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights’ "Trump’s First 100 Days in Office" report and published in our newsletter. For more insights and essays from IX contributors, make sure to subscribe.

Tech Companies Push to Reframe

Who Are the Winners of Tariff Diplomacy?

This week, Burcu Kilic, tech policy expert and senior fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation, describes how U.S. tech companies are framing international regulatory efforts as threats to American innovation, and using tariffs as a strategic tool to advance their policy priorities in global trade negotiations.

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Leading by Example: Civil Society Use of AI

This week, in our main story, IX's Ramma Shahid Cheema, feminist media and advocacy expert, discusses how civil society organizations are increasingly turning to AI tools to boost their efficiency in policy, advocacy, and communications, while also confronting the ethical challenges that come with their use.

But first.

Building an Open Prosocial Web

What if online platforms were designed to strengthen our social fabric? This week, in our main story, Audrey Tang—Taiwan’s Cyber Ambassador-at-Large, first Digital Minister, and a pioneer of civic tech—and IX’s Audrey Hingle explore how federated platforms can prioritize social cohesion.

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It was the best of intentions, it was the worst of implementations

This week in our main story, Heather Burns explores the unfolding drama of two distinct Technical Capability Notices (TCNs) from the UK government.

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Can the Feds get my data? | ¿Puede el gobierno federal acceder a mis datos?

Since Trump began his second term, organizations, activists, and individuals

How Not To Regulate the Middle Mile

In our main story, Konstantinos Komaitis writes that Italy is quietly laying the groundwork to regulate CDNs like telecom companies, a move that threatens the open internet and could open the door to network fees across Europe.

But first...

We’ve got a few exciting updates to share from

Shaping AI: How data redefines the obligations and responsibilities to our future

Mallory Knodel examines how artificial intelligence is reshaping governance, arguing that while AI promises efficiency, it often deepens societal inequalities.

AI, Power and Governance

This week, in our main story, Internet Exchange's Mallory Knodel examines how artificial intelligence is reshaping governance, arguing that while AI promises efficiency, it often deepens societal inequalities. She explores the risks of AI reinforcing the power of the privileged, while diminishing civil liberties for others, and calls

Old Protocol, New Problems: Robots.txt

This week, in our main story: we examine how robots.txt, a decades-old web protocol, has become central to discussions about consent, copyright, and web scraping to power new generative AI tools.

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We Must Back the Tools that Beat Censorship

A few weeks ago, the Trump administration moved

Spyware Is Getting Smarter, But So Are the Researchers Who Hunt It

In our main story today, Divyank Katira, Anunay Kulshrestha and Gurshabad Grover explore how researchers are developing smarter ways to detect and analyse spyware targeting civil society.

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The Real World: Sofia — Where Cryptographers Stop Being Polite and Start Getting Real

Our very own Mallory Knodel is taking

GSMA Embraces E2EE Standards

GSMA’s latest update to RCS adopts a clear, research-backed definition of end-to-end encryption, developed by Internet Exchange’s Mallory Knodel, Sofía Celi (Brave), Olaf Kolkman (Internet Society), and Gurshabad Grover. This update paves the way for secure, cross-platform messaging.

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IETF 119 and the

You Have Data Rights: So Why Are They So Hard To Exercise?

In our main article today, Public Interest Technologist and Senior Product Manager for Permission Slip at Consumer Reports, Sukhi Gulati-Gilbert, breaks down why data rights are so hard to use, how companies make opting out a nightmare, and what privacy tools can do to help consumers take back control.

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AI Has Entered the Encrypted Chat

In our main article today, Mallory and Cornell University PhD student Andrés Fábrega break down how AI bots are creeping into encrypted chats, and what that means for privacy. But first...

ICANN82

The Oscars may be over, but the red carpets are rolling out for ICANN82

Israel and Big Tech

In our main article today, Tech for Palestine explores how Big Tech enables Israel’s occupation—suppressing Palestinian voices, funding apartheid, and supplying military AI. The report details tech’s complicity and outlines steps to dismantle its support for genocide and occupation.

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Mallory at Mobile

Concrete Steps towards AI in the Public Interest from Abeba Birhane

Cognitive scientist Abeba Birhane reflects on the Paris AI Action Summit, and critiques the dominant narratives around “public interest AI.” In our main article today, she explores how powerful corporations, militarization, and technosolutionism can stall real progress, and lays out concrete steps to push technology toward the public