Living in a bubble: Lawmakers clash with technology
Today the R Street Institute’s Zach Graves moderated “When Lawmakers Clash with Technology,” a panel discussion exploring the consequences of a technology-illiterate Congress. I think most people would understand that Congress (with everyone else they have going on) might not be early adopters of technology, but learning that some do not yet use e-mail is disconcerting. When asked to make policy decisions regarding digital surveillance, national security and the U.S. Patriot Act, Congress does not have the knowledge necessary to legislate. Robyn Greene, Policy Counsel at New America’s Open Technology Institute, added that evidence of legislator incompetency is apparent. Just consider the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) legislation that would have allowed authorities to block entire Internet domains (among other things), or the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) that has had no effect on making the country less susceptible to terrorist attacks.
