Digital Trade: Power, Rules, and the Future We Want
We are in a critical window. The WTO’s long-running e-commerce moratorium (which prevents customs duties on electronic transmissions) was extended onl...
Shaping a future where digital power is balanced, and independent technology has a positive impact on our lives and the worlds we live in.
Purpose
In a world shaped by accelerating technological change and growing uncertainty, CommonEdge operates at the overlaps of technology, information and media, human rights, and culture. We exist to design and deploy bold, forward-looking strategies that challenge concentrated digital power and its harms - working to ensure that digital systems and structures benefit people and the planet, rather than exploit them. Our purpose is to bring balance, imagination, and integrity to our shared digital futures.
Sri Lanka's Digital ID Gamble: Building Trust in the Age of Digital Public Infrastructure
Digitising the economy is the right ambition, coming at the right time. Anyone who has stood in a queue for a basic service knows how much there is to...
Disrupting Sri Lanka’s Legal Practice: A conversation with Paralegal founder Elijah Hoole
Going to courts is a tedious option for many Sri Lankans. With a backlog of over one million cases, delays and challenges are rampant at every step in...
AI and Mental Health Care: Attempts at ethical innovation being forced to compete with entertainment chatbots
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is creating new realities for diverse industries, from IT to media to education and health. Chatbots – both specialised a...
Privacy or development: A trade-off in the modern world
“If something has the capacity to surveil and control, it will surveil and control,” says Renata Avila, the Chief Executive Officer of the Open Knowle...
Real World Impacts Of Online Hate Speech On Marginalised Communities Across South Asia
Webinar Summary The ‘Speaking Back: Countering Hate Speech Through Regional Research and Solidarity’ webinar, organised by the Digital Accountability ...
Putting People First in Sri Lanka's Digital Public Infrastructure Push
As Sri Lanka accelerates its efforts to build a digital economy, a quiet transformation is underway—one that could reshape how the state identifies, m...
The Free Speech Xperiment
In January 2025, the European Union demanded to see internal documentation about X’s “recommender system”, which makes content suggestions to users. T...
