Tackling Online Safety, Bureaucracy Lessons from Zambia, and More

The Justice Department's Jan. 6 investigation, public sector bureaucrats in developing countries, and an approach to address online harms.

View in browser August 1, 2022 Using 'safety by design' to address online harms   Policymakers interested in holding social media companies accountable for user harms are increasingly embracing the principles of "safety by design," which aim to place accountability, user empowerment, and transparency at the heart of rules for online life. John Perrino argues that this approach offers a more proactive way to address online safety issues—even as these principles raise a new set of challenges.   Read more Bureaucratic commitment to local government service: Lessons from Zambia   All too often, research on bureaucracy is focused on high-income countries. To understand more about the unique circumstances facing public sector bureaucrats in developing countries, Danielle Resnick and Gilbert Siame conducted one-on-one surveys with more than 150 bureaucrats in Zambia.   Read more How to evaluate progress in the Justice Department's Jan. 6 investigation   Last week, news broke that the Justice Department is investigating the actions of Donald Trump in connection with the department's criminal probe into the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Quinta Jurecic, Natalie K. Orpett, Peter Strzok, and Benjamin Wittes outline prospective benchmarks for an evaluation of the investigation's future progress.   Read on Lawfare The conclusions and recommendations of any Brookings publication are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the Institution, its management, or its other scholars. The Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036 Unsubscribe Manage your newsletter subscriptions | Receive the Brookings Brief less often