[CONFERENCE] “Digital Empires”: A discussion with Professor Anu Bradford

The Chair is happy to share a recording of a discussion with Professor Anu Bradford as she presents her latest publication, “Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology.” The event, open to the Sciences Po community and beyond, will unfold an analysis on policy and technology trends in the ever-evolving global digital landscape.

The event, hosted by the Chair Digital, Governance and Sovereignty and Sciences Po School of Public Affairs, was held on Thursday November 16th on Zoom. 

Following her provocative theorization of a “Brussels Effect”, in this new publication Professor Bradford examines three competing regulatory approaches: the American market-driven model, the Chinese state-driven model, and the European rights-driven regulatory model. All three regimes are racing to regulate tech companies, with each advancing a competing vision for the digital economy while attempting to expand its sphere of influence in the digital world. Prof. Bradford discusses how governments and tech companies navigate the inevitable conflicts that arise when these regulatory approaches collide in the international domain. Which digital empire will prevail in the contest for global influence remains an open question, yet their contrasting strategies are increasingly clear.

Digital societies are at an inflection point. In the midst of these unfolding regulatory battles, governments, tech companies, and digital citizens are making important choices that will shape the future ethos of the digital society. “Digital Empires” lays bare the choices we face as societies and individuals, explains the forces that shape those choices, and illuminates the immense stakes involved for everyone who uses digital technologies.

MEET THE SPEAKERS

Professor Anu Bradford – Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organization at Columbia Law School. Author of “The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World” (Oxford University Press 2020) and “Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology” (Oxford University Press 2023).

Professor Kate Klonick [Moderator] – Associate Professor at St. John’s Law School. Fellow at Brookings Institution and Yale Law School Information Society Project. Visiting Professor at Sciences Po Law School. Member of the Scientific Committee at Sciences Po Chair Digital, Governance and Sovereignty. 

Giulia Geneletti [Discussant] – Master student in European Affairs, Digital and New Technology Policy Stream, at Sciences Po. Research Assistant at Sciences Po Chair Digital, Governance and Sovereignty. 

Gustavo Fonseca Ribeiro [Discussant] – Master student in Public Policy, policy stream Digital and New Technology Policy Stream, at Sciences Po. UNESCO Intern Consultant with the Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence Team, within the Sector for Communication and Information. 

Laura Zurdo [Discussant] – Master student in Public Policy, Digital and New Technology Policy Stream, at Sciences Po.

About the author

Anu Bradford is the Henry L. Moses Professor of Law and International Organization at Columbia Law School. She is also a director for the European Legal Studies Center and Chazen Senior Scholar at Columbia Business School. Her research and teaching focus on European Union law, international trade law, and comparative and international antitrust law. Before joining the Law School faculty in 2012, she was an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Law School. 

Bradford earned her S.J.D. degree in 2007 and LL.M. degree in 2002 from Harvard Law School, and also holds a law degree from the University of Helsinki. After completing her LL.M. studies as a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard Law School, Bradford practiced antitrust law and EU law at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Brussels before returning to Harvard for her doctoral studies. She has also served as an adviser on economic policy in the Parliament of Finland and as an expert assistant to a member of the European Parliament. 

Bradford is the author of “The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World” (OUP 2020), which was named one of the Best Books of 2020 by Foreign Affairs. Her most recent book “Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology” was published by the Oxford University Press in September 2023.

Bradford grew up in Finland, and lives today in New York with her husband and three children.