About Digital Medusa

Mission

Digital Medusa is a boutique advisory providing digital governance research and advocacy services. It is the brainchild of Farzaneh Badi[e]i.Digital Medusa’s mission is to provide objective and alternative digital governance narratives. Using evidence-based research and collective action, Digital Medusa will protect and improve digital technology governance, helping us all have a free and prosperous society.

Why Digital?

“Digital” is a broad and imprecise term, but it includes much more than just the Internet. We use the terms digital economy, digital divide, and digital trade:we can have a Digital Medusa too.

AND MEDUSA?

Medusa, in ancient Greek, means to guard or protect. Medusa was a character in Greek mythology, famous for having venomous snakes in place of hair. Some believe Medusa was ugly and her deadly gaze petrified anyone she looked at.

As yet, Digital Medusa does not have a plan to turn anyone in particular into stone.

The rationale behind the name is that of a French feminist philosopher, Hélène Cixous, who wrote an essay about the laugh of the Medusa and encouraged women to write more.

Digital Medusa’s mission is a freely-drawn interpretation of this paper. Cixous suggested we should provide a different narrative and not succumb to commonly held beliefs for too long. Digital Medusa will provide a novel and under-discussed narrative about digital governance.

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Farzaneh Badii (or Badiei) has worked on Internet and platform governance for over a decade as both an academic and as a research-advocate. She has undertaken research at Yale Law School, Georgia Institute of Technology and the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society in Berlin. Her focus is on governance issues related to Internet infrastructure and social media platforms.

Farzaneh holds a PhD in law from Hamburg University, Germany. She calls herself a governance practitioner working on social and legal issues related to the Internet infrastructure and platforms.

Like this: