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TechCongress: Bridging Technologists and Congressional Policy

Leisel Bogan

Leisel Bogan discusses TechCongress fellows embedding technical expertise into congressional committees to shape technology legislation.

Summary

Andrea Matwyshyn hosts TechCongress senior congressional fellow Leisel Bogan in the Ethics Village to examine how technical experts directly influence national legislation and digital policy on Capitol Hill [00:03, 00:09].

Bogan shares insights from her fellowship working inside congressional committees, focusing on cyber-enabled disinformation campaigns, troll farms, and deepfake proliferation [09:05, 18:22]. She explains the critical knowledge gap between lawmakers and technologists, illustrating how technical fellows help draft precise legislative language that avoids unintended consequences for security researchers [27:46, 36:31]. Bogan urges security researchers, engineers, and digital rights advocates to participate in civil service fellowships to bridge the gap between technical reality and federal lawmaking [45:37].

(AI summary — Gemini Flash)

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