Ben Wagner

Dr. Ben Wagner is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Privacy & Sustainable Computing Lab at Vienna University of Economics and Business. In 2014 he founded the Centre for the Internet and Human Rights (CIHR) at European University Viadrina and served as CIHR Director from 2014 to 2016. His research focuses on communications technology at the intersection between rights, ethics and governance.

Ben holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from European University Institute in Florence. He was previously worked at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, the University of Pennsylvania, Human Rights Watch and the European Council on Foreign Relations. His research has been published in Telecommunications Policy, JITP and the International Journal of Communications.

Latest posts by Ben Wagner

What it is and why it matters: Developing Internet Policy at the IGF 2011 in Nairobi

  11 October 2011

There are many reasons why the Internet Governance Forum that took place last week in Nairobi was completely impossible: A lack of interest from established players who have become weary of the forum and the format, a long stream of stakeholders who couldn't afford to fly to Africa and ongoing United Nations orchestrated debates on the future of the IGF. Even so, thousands of people traveled to the United Nations office in Nairobi to discuss the future of internet policy.

Is the Tunisian internet censorship regime shutting down?

  13 January 2011

Following persistent widespread protests in Tunisia in recent days and the impending general strike tomorrow, Tunisian President Ben Ali held a speech on the state television chanel Tunisie7 this evening with a long list of highly unusual concessions. Among other points he announced that he will not seek presidency for...

Study: Deep Packet Inspection and Internet Censorship

  25 June 2009

The academic debate on deep packet inspection (DPI) centres on methods of network management and copyright protection and is directly linked to a wider debate on freedom of speech on the Internet. The debate is deeply rooted in an Anglo-Saxon perspective of the Internet and is frequently depicted as a titanic struggle for the right to fundamentally free and unfettered access to the Internet. This debate is to a great extent defined by commercial interests. These interests whether of copyright owners, Internet service providers, application developers or consumers, are all essentially economic.