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Cybersecurity & Standards, Tech Talk

Tech Talk: Talking Tech with Mallory Knodel and Niels ten Oever On Inclusive Language in Internet Standards

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CDT’s Tech Talk is a podcast where we dish on tech and Internet policy, while also explaining what these policies mean to our daily lives. You can find Tech Talk on Spotify, SoundCloud, iTunes, and Google Podcasts, as well as Stitcher and TuneIn.

Back in 2018, CDT’s own, Mallory Knodel, teamed up with CDT Non-Resident Fellow Niels ten Oever from the critical infrastructure lab at the University of Amsterdam to present a draft document at the internet standards governing body called the Internet Engineering Task Force, or IETF. This draft outlined a proposal that urged the community to officially reject the use of discriminatory and exclusive language in Internet Drafts and RFCs. As we persistently uncover and confront systemic racial inequality across society, it becomes equally vital to guarantee that the fundamental design comprising one of our most critical and democratic technologies – the internet – is devoid of any historically racist or prejudiced terms.

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