Anne Hobson is a Policy Manager for Reality Labs at Meta. Prior to that, she was a Program Manager at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and an Internet Law & Policy Foundry fellow with the Internet Education Foundation. Previously, Anne worked as a Technology Policy Fellow at the R Street Institute and as a Public Policy Associate at Facebook. Anne has a PhD in economics from George Mason University and is an alum of the Mercatus Center MA Fellowship at George Mason University. She focuses on policy issues associated with emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and cybersecurity. Anne has conducted research in Cuba on how individuals act entrepreneurially to overcome barriers to exchange of remittances, digital information, and digital devices. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Slate, and The Hill. She received her BA in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University. Contact: anne.hobson11 @ gmail

 Op-Eds and Blog Posts

Remotely Satisfied: The Virtual Future of Work is Closer than We Think (The Benchmark)

Biased AI Is More than a Technical Problem with Walter Stover (The Technology Liberation Front)

California Dreams about Cyber Insurance and Federal Lawmakers should Pay Attention with Ian Adams (The Hill)

Bitcoin’s Growing Civil Society with Pietro Moran (The Bridge)

Building in Accountability for Algorithmic Bias with Anna Parsons (The Technology Liberation Front)

Bringing Home the Virtual Bacon: Virtual Reality and the Future of Work (The Benchmark)

Amazon and the Diffuse Power of Consumers with Walter Stover (The Technology Liberation Front)

Community Resilience through Mesh Networking with Walter Stover (The Bridge)

Amazon, Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Market Manipulation with Walter Stover (The Technology Liberation Front)

The Subtle Economics of Private World of Warcraft Servers: Anarchy, Order, and Who Gets the Loot with Leo Plumer (techdirt)

Using Networks to Govern Network Problems with Yuliya Yatsyshina (techdirt)

The Limits of AI in Predicting Human Action with Walter Stover (The Technology Liberation Front)

Resilient Communities Need Resilient Communications with Walter Stover (The Hill)

Should the Government Require Companies to Meet Cybersecurity Standards for Critical Infrastructure? (The Wall Street Journal)

Learning to Improve Resiliency against Cyberattacks (The Hill)

How 'Internet of Things' Devices Can Help Victims of Domestic Abuse with Jennifer Huddleston (The Bridge)

Governing Virtual Reality Social Spaces (The Technology Liberation Front)

Data Privacy at a Price: The GDPR Just Isn't Worth It with Alice Calder (Plain Text)

All I Want for Christmas is Some Cyber Insurance (R Street Institute Blog)

Disaster Relief Offers Cybersecurity Lessons (RealClearPolicy)

Remediation Won’t Cut It — We Need Cyber Resilience (R Street Institute Blog)

What the Internet of Things Can Learn from Used Cars (RealClearFuture)

Regulators Should Think Twice Before Cracking Down on ‘Augmented Reality’ (The Hill)

The ‘Teddy Bear and Toaster Act’ is Device Regulation Done Wrong (techdirt)

The ‘Fixed AI’ Fallacy (R Street Institute Blog)

Local Laws Threaten the Global Future of Augmented Reality with Daniel Oglesby (The Hill)

Westworld Shouldn’t Frame Debate over Artificial Intelligence (The Hill)

Regulating ‘Internet of Things’ Requires a Better Definition from Lawmakers (The Hill)

Cybersecurity in the Internet of Things is a Game of Incentives (The Hill)

Self-driving Cars Will Make Organ Shortages Even Worse with Ian Adams (Slate)

Are Robot Scalpers Ripping You Off? Do We Need Government to Stop it? with Christopher Koopman (techdirt)

Domain Name not Resolved: Breaking Down the Debate over the ICANN Transition with Zach Graves (R Street Institute Blog)

Publications

Emergent Governance From Polycentric Order in Virtual Reality Social Spaces (Edited Volume: Law, Video Games, Virtual Realities, Routledge, 2023).

Beyond Relief: Understanding the Cuban Diaspora’s Remittance-Sending Behavior (Edited Volume: Living Better Together, Springer, 2023)

Entrepreneurship during a pandemic (European Journal of Law and Economics, August 2022)

Phantoms, Crashers, and Harassers: Emergent Governance of Social Spaces in Virtual Reality (CGO Working Paper 2021)

Polycentricity Amidst a Pandemic with Jessica Carges and Stefanie Haeffele (The Vienna Circle: Policy Brief)

Coming Back from COVID-19: Lessons in Entrepreneurship from Disaster Recovery Research co-authored with Stefanie Haeffele and Virgil Storr (COVID-19 Policy Brief)

A Call for Institutional Analysis: Practicing Polycentric Political Economy in Policy Research with Eileen Norcross (Symposium response to Public Governance and the Classical Liberal Perspective, December 2019)

The Need for Humility in Policymaking: Lessons from Regulatory Policy co-edited with Stefanie Haeffele (Edited Volume, Rowan & Littlefield, September 2019)

The Resilience Approach to Cybersecurity Policy in the Internet of Things Ecosystem (The Center for Growth and Opportunity, Utah State University, July 2019)

The Role of Entrepreneurs in Facilitating Remittances in Cuba with Stefanie Haeffele (book chapter in Lessons on Foreign Aid and Economic Development, September 2019)

Cross-Border Data Requests: Evaluating Reforms to Improve Law Enforcement Access with Arthur Rizer (R Street Institute Policy Study, November 2017)

Aligning Cybersecurity Incentives in an Interconnected World (R Street Institute Policy Study, February 2017)

Reality Check: The Regulatory Landscape for Virtual and Augmented Reality (R Street Institute Policy Study, September 2016)

How the Internet, the Sharing Economy, and Reputational Feedback Mechanisms Solve the “Lemons Problem” with Adam Thierer, Christopher Koopman and Chris Kuiper (Published in Miami Law Review, May 2016)

Public Interest Comments

Mitigating Privacy Risks While Enabling Emerging Technologies (Comments Submitted to NIST October 24th, 2019)

Public Interest Comment on Consumer Protection, Ticket Bots, and the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act (Comment submitted to FTC December 5th, 2018)

Lifting Barriers to Entrepreneurship (Comment submitted to FTC August 16th, 2018)

The Internet of Things and Consumer Product Hazards (Comment submitted to CPSC June 16th, 2018)

Comments to NTIA on Botnets (submitted to NTIA July 30th, 2017)

Comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology on the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Version 1.1 (submitted to NIST April 10, 2017)

Comments to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration regarding the Internet of Things (submitted to NTIA on March 16th, 2017)

Presentations & Media

XRSI, Metaverse Safety Week, “Roundtable Intervention: Child Safety and Children’s Rights” (December, 2023)

Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France “Defining the Metaverse” (September 2023)

APAC XR Symposium, Singapore, “Governance in the Metaverse” (March 2023)

XRSI, Metaverse Safety Week, “Regulating the Metaverse: How to govern the virtual?“ (December 2022)

ITIF Panel, “Insights from Social Media for Safety in the Metaverse.” (July, 2022)

Metaverse Expo 2022, “Building Toward a Global Metaverse” (June, 2022)

Augmented World Expo, Santa Clara CA “How to Safely Navigate the Metaverse" (November, 2021)

SXSW, Austin TX “Harnessing the Holodeck: VR, Work & Society” (March, 2020; Note: event cancelled due to Coronavirus)

Fraser Institute, Canada “Social Virtual Reality, Governance, and the Future of Work” (January, 2020)

Cato Institute, Washington DC - Book Forum: The Need for Humility in Policymaking (December 2019)

SEA, Ft. Lauderdale FL - Overcoming Challenges to the Exchange of Digital Information in Cuba (November 2019)

The Future of Work Conference, Arlington, VA - Finding Meaning in the Metaverse: Virtual Reality and the Future of Work (October 2019)

FEECon, Atlanta GA - Panel on Technological Disruption (Audio, June 2019)

APEE, Nassau Bahamas - Governance and Free Association in Virtual Reality Social Spaces: Lessons from VRChat (April 2019)

IHS Seminar, Nassau Bahamas - Frontiers in Permissionless Innovation (April 2019)

Fraser Institute Seminar, Toronto Canada - Panic, Privacy and Policy: Is Comprehensive Data Protection Regulation a Good Idea? (February 2019)

SEA, Washington DC - The Resilience Approach to Cybersecurity in the Internet of Things Ecosystem (November 2018)

Lincoln Network’s Reboot Tech, San Francisco CA - Panel: Are We Headed for a U.S. GDPR? (Video, November 2018)

CASCI, University of Maryland, College Park, MD - The Resilience Approach to Cybersecurity Policy in the Internet of Things (Video, October 2018)

The American Consumer Institute, Washington DC - Panel: How Secure are Your IoT Devices? (September 2018)

Internet Governance Forum-USA, Washington DC - Panel: Taking a Holistic Approach to the Internet of Things (Video, July 2017)

Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s HACK Conference, Rockville MD - Achieving Cyber Resilience in the Internet of Things Ecosystem (May 2018)

APEE, Las Vegas NV - Bureaucracy and Post-Disaster Community Resilience (April 2018)

Fraser Institute Seminars, Montreal and Vancouver Canada - The Internet of Threats: The Role of Policymakers in Addressing Cybersecurity in the IoT (January and February 2018)

R Street Institute, Washington DC - Panel: What Can Washington D.C. Learn from Sci Fi? (June 2017)

KVOI-FM Radio - Mike Check Radio Show (May 2017)

SXSW Interactive, Austin, TX - Panel: VR Codes of Conduct in the Virtual Wild West (Audio, March 2017)

CTA Innovation Day, SXSW Interactive, Austin, TX - Panel: What Will AR/VR Revolutionize Next? (Video, March 2017)

EU Delegation to the US, SXSW Interactive - Austin, TX - Panel: Cybersecurity and the Internet of Things: Space for International Cooperation? (March 2017)

TechFreedom Tech Policy Podcast - Augmented Reality and Poképolicy (February 2017)

FOSI, Washington DC - Panel: New Frontiers: AI and Machine Learning, Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality (Photo, December 2016)

National Press Club, Washington DC - Panel: Tech and the Independent Workforce (November 2016)

R Street Institute, Washington DC - Panel on the IANA Transition and Internet Governance (October 2016)

R Street Institute, Washington DC - The ICANN Transition and the Future of Internet Governance (September 2016)