Transparency is in high demand in tech policy: Advocates are calling for more information to help fight discrimination and empower users to speak online, researchers are seeking access to data to better understand the online environment, and lawmakers are demanding answers from tech companies at high-profile hearings. Whether people are concerned about online services restricting too much, too little, or not the right speech, everyone seems to agree that more transparency would improve the status quo. But what do we mean by transparency? What kinds of information do people actually want, and what problems will it help us solve?

The fifth annual Future of Speech Online event on December 14-16, 2021, will tackle these questions as we explore this year’s theme of “Making Transparency Meaningful.”