Can Middleware Save Social Media?
Joyce Hesselberth

Event

Can Middleware Save Social Media?

      

National Press Club and Online

In wrestling with the enormous power that social media platforms exert over the system of free expression, Congress has repeatedly debated legislation that would protect user privacy and give users more control over their experience online. Time after time these efforts have faltered—sometimes because the proposed interventions raised genuine free speech concerns. As a result, little has changed for the millions of individuals anxious about the collection and use of their personal information, and about who or what decides the kind and quality of information they see.

In seeking avenues to address these concerns without impinging on First Amendment rights, many free speech and technology advocates are looking to middleware, third-party software that operates between users and platforms. Middleware’s proponents say that this kind of software could permit users to enhance their ability to shape their online experience, including by curating their timelines and by exercising more control over what data they share. Skeptics say that middleware raises privacy concerns of its own and that more fundamental changes are needed to address the pathologies of the digital public sphere. Can middleware really deliver the improvements that its boosters envision? 

On March 27, 2026, the Knight Institute will host “Can Middleware Save Social Media?” a half-day convening focusing on these questions and the future of these go-between tools. This convening is a collaboration between the Knight Institute and the Institute’s Senior Policy Fellow Olivier Sylvain and will include discussions with academics, policymakers, and technologists. 

Registration is required to attend in-person or to watch the livestream. 

Schedule

  • National Press Club

    529 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20045

    Welcome

    • Jameel Jaffer, Knight Institute

    Panel 1: Introduction to Middleware

    Panelists

    • Daphne Keller, Stanford University

    • Richard Reisman, The Foundation for American Innovation

    Moderator

    • Ramya Krishnan, Knight Institute

    Break

    Keynote Conversation and Q&A

    Speakers

    • Olivier Sylvain, Knight Institute and Fordham University

    • Ethan Zuckerman, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

    Moderator

    • Nadine Farid Johnson, Knight Institute

    Panel 2: Considerations for Policymakers

    Panelists

    • Renée DiResta, Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy

    • Luke Hogg, The Foundation for American Innovation

    • Anna Lenhart, independent scholar, University of Maryland

    Moderator

    • Ryan Morgan, Knight Institute

    Closing Remarks

    • Nadine Farid Johnson, Knight Institute

Speakers

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