Ellen Goodman
Distinguished Professor of Law
Ellen P. Goodman specializes in information policy law: free speech, media policy, privacy, data ethics, advertising, and digital platform power. She is co-director and co-founder of the Rutgers Institute for Information Policy & Law and contributes to The Guardian and Slate. Her research on algorithmic ethics in government has led to foundation consultations and grants on increasing public access to data. Professor Goodman received a Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Grant to produce newsgathering law tools for digital journalists and Ford Foundation grants for work on public media policy.
![a woman with glasses smiling](/sites/default/files/styles/3x4_one_third_full_default_1x/public/2024-06/Ellen%20P.%20Goodman.jpg?h=a592fdb4&itok=s2OfSDqm)
Biography
Professor Goodman specializes in information policy law. Her research interests include smart cities, algorithmic governance, freedom of expression, platform policies, communications architectures, media and advertising law, and transparency policy. She is Co-Director and co-founder of the Rutgers Institute for Information Policy & Law (RIIPL). She blogs at riipl.rutgers.edu and at medium.com, and has written for the The Guardian, Protego Press, Democracy, and Slate.
Professor Goodman is currently on leave to serve as Senior Advisor for Algorithmic Justice at NTIA, U.S. Department of Commerce. She has served as a Senior Fellow at the Digital Innovation & Democracy Institute at the German Marshall Fund and has received grants from the Knight Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation for various projects involving new models of platform regulation and transparency, digital public media and democracy, and algorithmic system justice. She has also advised a number of cities on responsible tech deployment. She served as Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the FCC and a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania's Carey Law School, Annenberg School of Communication, and the Wharton School, as well as the London School of Economics.
Prior to joining the Rutgers faculty in 2003, Professor Goodman was a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Covington & Burling LLP and served as Of Counsel with the firm until 2009. Professor Goodman clerked for Judge Norma L. Shapiro on the U.S. Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, after graduating from Harvard Law School and Harvard College. She has three children.
Publications
Academic Articles, Reports, and Chapters
- The effect of traffic light veracity labels on perceptions of political advertising source and message credibility on social media, Journal of Information Technology & Politics (2023) (with Tom Dobber, Sanne Kruikemeier, Fabio Votta, & Natali Helberger)
- Exploring Police Perspectives on Algorithmic Transparency: A Qualitative Analysis of Police Interviews in the UK, EAAMO ’23: Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Equity and Access in Algorithms, Mechanisms, and Optimization 2023, Article 25, 1–19 (with Miri Zilka, Carolyn Ashurst, Luke Chambers, Pamela Ugwudike, & Marion Oswald)
- Algorithmic Auditing: Chasing Accountability, 39 Santa Clara High Tech. L. J. 289 (2023) (with Julia Trehu)
- The Impact of Twitter Labels on Misinformation Spread and User Engagement: Lessons from Trump’s Election Tweets, WWW '22: Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2022, 2541–2551 (with Orestis Papakyriakopoulos)
- AI Audit Washing and Accountability, GMF (2022) (with Julia Trehu)
- Information Fidelity and Friction, 21 Nev. L. Rev. 623 (2021)
- Creating a Covid-19 Commission on Public Health Misinformation (with Blair Levin), Day One Project (2021)
- A "Full Stack" Approach to Public Media in the US (with Sanjay Jolly), GMF (2021)
- The Stakes of User Interface Design for Democracy (with Karen Kornbluh), GMF (2021)
- Safeguarding Democracy Against Disinformation: Digital Innovation and Democracy Initiative Roadmap (with Karen Kornbluh), German Marshall Fund (2020)
- Digital Information Fidelity and Friction, Knight-Columbia First Amendment paper (2020)
- Smart City Ethics: How “Smart” Challenges Democratic Governance, in Oxford Handbook of the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (Ed. by Markus D. Dubber et al.) (Oxford University Press 2020)
- Report of the Media Subcommittee for the Study of Digital Platforms, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State The University of Chicago Booth School of Business (July 2019) (co-author)
- Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and the Future of Online Speech (with Ryan Whittington), German Marshall Fund (Aug. 2019)
- Urbanism Under Google: Lessons from Sidewalk Toronto, 88 Fordham L. Rev. 457 (2019) (with Julia Powles)
- The First Amendment Opportunism of Digital Platforms, German Marshall Fund (2019)
- Defining Equity in Algorithmic Change, Regulatory Review (2019)
- Algorithmic Transparency for Smart Cities, 20 Yale J. of Law & Tech. 103 (2018) (with Robert Brauneis)
- Four Ages of Public Media, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2017)
- Zero Rating and Equity at the Network’s Other Edge 15 Colo. Tech. L. J. 63 (2016)
- Atomic Age of Data: Policies for the Internet of Things, Aspen Institute Report (2015)
- Anchor Institutions and Broadband Justice, 41 Fordham Urban L. J. 1665 (2014)
- Visual Gut Punch: Persuasion, Emotion, and the Constitutional Meaning of Graphic Disclosure, 99 CORNELL L. REV. 513 (2014)
- Modeling Policy for Public Media, 24 HARV. J. OF LAW & TECH. 112 (2010) (with Anne H. Chen)
- Digital Public Service Media Networks to Advance Broadband and Enrich Connected Communities, 9 J.TELECOM & HIGH TECH. L. 82 (2010) (with Anne H. Chen)
- Spectrum Auctions and the Public Interest, 7 J. TELECOM & HIGH TECH. L. 343(2009)
- No Time for Equal Time, 76 GEO. WASH. L. REV.897 (2008) (symposium issue)
- Free Speech and Media Policy: The First Amendment at War With Itself, 35 HOFSTRA L. REV. 1211 (2007) (symposium issue)
- Peer Promotions and False Advertising Law, 58 S. CAR. L. REV. 683 (2007) (symposium issue)
- Stealth Marketing and Editorial Integrity, 85 TEX. L. REV. 83 (2006)
- Spectrum Equity, 41 J. TELECOM. & HIGH TECH. L. 101(2005)
- Media Policy Out of the Box: Content Abundance, Attention Scarcity, and the Failures of Digital Markets, 19 BERKELEY TECH. L. J. 1389 (2004)
- Spectrum Rights in the Telecosm to Come, 41 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 269 (2004)
- Tender Justice: Judge Shapiro's Hard-Headed Humanity, 152 U. PA. L. REV. 25 (2003)
- Bargains in the Information Marketplace: The Use of Government Subsidies to Regulate New Media, 1 J. TELECOM. & HIGH TECH. L. 217 (2002)
- Digital Television and the Allure of Auctions: The Birth and Stillbirth of DTV Legislation, 49 FED. COMM. L.J. 517 (1997)
Popular Writing and Podcasting
- Three Steps to Help Treat America’s Debilitating Information Disorder (with Karen Kornbluh), Washington Post (1/21)
- San Diego, Street Smarts and Surveillance (with Kayvon Paul), Protego Press (11/20)
- How Did Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube Handle Misinformation During the Election? (with Karen Kornbluh), Slate (11/20)
- Social Media Platforms Need to Flatten the Curve of Dangerous Misinformation, (with Karen Kornbluh), Slate (8/20)
- Sidewalk Toronto Goes Sideways: Five Lessons for Digital Governance, Protego Press (6/20)
- Ignore Trump’s Twitter Tantrum Executive Order and Address Disinformation Instead (with Karen Kornbluh), Just Security (6/20)
- The Real Free Speech Problem on Social Media, (with Karen Kornbluh), Slate (6/20)
- Dueling Platform Policies and Free Speech Online, Constitution Center We The People Podcast (Nov. 2019)
- Facebook, Free Speech, and Political Advertising, WHYY Radio Times Podcast, (Nov. 2019)
- The More Outrageous the Lie, the Better it is for Facebook's Bottom Line, The Los Angeles Times (Nov. 2019) (with Karen Kornbluh)
- How Facebook Shot Themselves in the Foot in their Elizabeth Warren Spat, The Guardian (Oct. 2019) (with Karen Kornbluh)
- How to Regulate the Internet(with Karen Kornbluh), Project Syndicate (7/10/19)
- Bringing Truth to the Internet, Democracy Journal (Summer 2019, No. 53) (with Karen Kornbluh)
- Curb its enthusiasm: As Sidewalk Labs moves fast in Toronto, pay attention to the streets, The Globe and Mail (6/4/19)
- Reviving the Personal Attack Rule for Digital Platforms is Not a Good Idea, Protego Press (5/28/19)
- Facebook’s Moment for Thought Leadership Has Passed, Protego Press (4/2/19)
- The First Amendment Opportunism of Digital Platforms, German Marshall Fund (2/11/19)
- So Mark Zuckerberg Wants to Repent for Facebook's Sins? He Can Start Here, The Guardian (Oct. 2017)
- Facebook Should Consider Subsidizing and Promoting Local News, Slate (Dec. 2016)
- Facebook and Google: Most Powerful and Secretive Empires We've Ever Known, The Guardian (Sept. 2016) (with Julia Powles)
- Self-Driving Cars: Overlooking Data Privacy is a Crash Waiting to Happen, The Guardian (June 2016)
- Big Pharma, Tobacco, Tech., - How the First Amendment is Being Abused, The Guardian (Mar. 2016)
- India’s Ban on Facebook’s Free Service is an Overreaction, The Guardian (Feb. 2016)
Other Monographs
- Public Media Policy Reform and Digital Age Realities in Communications Law and Policy in the Digital Age: The Next Five Years (Randolph May ed.) (Carolina Academic 2012)
- Public Service Media Narratives in Handbook of Media Law and Policy: A Socio-Legal Exploration (Monroe E. Price & Stefaan G. Verhulst, ed.)(Routledge 2012)
- FCC, Information Needs of Communities (2011) (principal author of 50 page nonprofit media section)
- Spectrum Policy and the Public Interest in Television Goes Digital (Darcy Gerbarg ed., 2009)
- Public Service Media 2.0 in … And Communications for All: A Policy Agenda for a New Administration (Amit M. Schejter ed., 2009)
- Public Television and Pluralistic Ideals in The Future of Public Service Broadcasting (Tim Gardam & David Levy ed., 2008)
- Spectrum Sharing and Spectrum Efficiency in A Framework for a National Broadband Policy (Aspen Institute 2008)
- Proactive Media Policy in an Age of Content Abundance in Media Diversity and Localism: Meanings and Metrics (Philip M. Napoli ed., 2006)
Abstracts and electronic copies of some of Ellen Goodman's papers are available on her author page at the SSRN Electronic Library at:
http://ssrn.com/author=333377