FOREWORD

On October 29, 2021, the Western New England Law Review hosted its annual Symposium: Post Pandemic Digital World: Platforms, Algorithms, Cybersecurity, and Justice. This event aimed to begin a larger conversation about approaches to regulation of digital platforms, at a time when they are rapidly gaining significance, and the issues they create are becoming increasingly complex. Today, people are more dependent on technology to work and communicate with one another. Social media and financial platforms are at the center of these financial communications. While these platforms, on their face, are a brilliant way to connect the world, many of these platforms have become ground zero for breeding intolerance, misinformation, ignorance, violence, theft of personal information, and other criminal activity. Demand for self-regulation and government regulation from across the political spectrum has led to congressional hearings and debates on how to best address the spread of this activity. However, efforts to combat these issues have reached an impasse, leaving many platforms with only limited regulation. The Western New England Law Review would like to thank U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey for his contribution to our event. Senator Markey is leading the way in telecommunications technology policies, and he joined us to speak about these issues and one potential solution: the Algorithmic Justice and Online Platform Transparency Act