The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab has recently released Scaling Trust on the Web, a report detailing the harms of online spaces and offering trust and safety building recommendations. As new technologies emerge so do new concerns. Unfortunately, tools and regulations implemented to negate the harms and risks of operating in these new spaces have not kept up. One major issue, according to the report, is that “no consensus exists on what ‘good’ [technology standards] should look like in the digital world of today, let alone in the future.”

While the expansion of technological innovations have further complicated the arguments over necessary safeguard policies, they have also served as a possible aid in the fight for safe online spaces. For instance, current human content moderators, who are at risk for developing severe mental illnesses and hardships such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, could be assisted by new and emerging AI technologies. Other ways to combat the rapidly expanding social detriments and security breaches associated with online environments, include international policy collaboration, wide and accessible dissemination of key safety information, and investments in future research.

For more information, check out HSDL’s In Focus topics on Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Policy, Disinformation, Hate and Antisemitism, 5G and National Security, Cyber Crime and National Security, Online Extremism, and Ransomware.