Facing Race: A National Conference in St. Louis, MO — November 20-22, 2024

Seeta Gangadharan

Senior Research Fellow | Open Technology Initiative, New America Foundation

Seeta Peña Gangadharan is a Senior Research Fellow with the Field Team at the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute (OTI). Her research lies at the intersection of technology, civil society, and communication policy. She researches the nature of digital inequalities, data and discrimination, social dynamics of technology adoption, communication rights, and media justice. She also writes about the politics of communication policymaking, who’s heard, and who has power in debate and decision making.


Presentations from Facing Race 2014

Enemies of the State: Surveillance of Communities of Color

The NSA scandal came as a shock to many people because it revealed the lengths our government has gone to spy on U.S. residents and citizens. It also revealed how the government worked closely with telecom and tech companies to violate our civil liberties.  Our government has a long and shameful history of using surveillance to disrupt and discredit movements for racial justice lead by people off color. And government surveillance of communities of color continues to this day through law enforcement operations that racially profile people of color. During this session, we will discuss the current debate about reigning in the federal government spying operations and we will expose the history of surveillance in activist communities.

Speakers: Steven Renderos, Matt Cagle, Seeta Gangadharan, Hamid Khan