In addition to regulatory counseling, our lawyers have extensive experience advising on the safety and privacy dimensions of policy and product development. We have deep technical, policy, and in-house knowledge on risk mitigation in content moderation, as well as safety by design and responsible innovation. Our counsel to online service providers includes all aspects of their child safety, privacy, and anti-child exploitation programs. We also help providers create, implement, and maintain comprehensive content moderation programs, including strategies for addressing misinformation, hate speech, terrorism, spam, harassment, and other forms of abuse.

When clients face law enforcement requests, our attorneys bring to bear their deep experience in regulatory investigations and litigation in challenging markets. We also counsel clients on their obligations and disputes arising under online safety laws around the world, including the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and Terrorist Content Regulation, Germany’s Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG), Singapore’s Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), Australia’s Online Safety Act, and California’s Platform Accountability and Transparency Act and other social media transparency laws (e.g., AB 587), among many others.

Advising on a broad range of human rights concerns, we assist clients on transactional, risk management, due diligence, litigation, and compliance matters that affect environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. We understand the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and their application in diverse sectors, including technology, communications, healthcare, digital media, entertainment, and gaming.

Our formidable bench of lawyers in this practice possesses decades of experience counseling on safety, platform regulation, and human rights, including in prior roles with leading online intermediaries, civil society organizations, governments, and the United Nations.

Key Areas of Focus

Areas of Counsel

Regulatory Counseling. Drawing on knowledge of the global requirements for online intermediaries, our lawyers advise on requirements for social media platforms, online marketplaces, search engines, file-sharing companies, hosting providers, and gaming companies. We partner with companies doing business around the world to develop tailored compliance strategies informed by business priorities, liability risks, human rights, and operational constraints. Our counsel includes identifying gaps in compliance and industry best practices and partner with clients to design and implement enhanced policies, processes, products, and risk governance programs. We also assist clients with assessments of prospective platform regulation and advise clients on parliamentary testimony relating to digital safety matters.

Content Moderation, Trust & Safety. Representing online service providers, we help create, implement, and maintain comprehensive content moderation programs, including strategies for addressing misinformation, hate speech, extremism, spam, hacking, scraping, fraud, harassment, and other forms of abuse. Our experience includes drafting and revising terms and conditions, counseling on policy development informed by international law and regulatory risks, preparing internal guidelines and handbooks for identifying and addressing impermissible content, and helping clients fulfill their legal obligations with respect to certain types of unlawful content and conduct. We also advise clients on the most effective and efficient methods for enforcing their terms of service and protecting their users, including technological self-help measures, law enforcement referrals, and litigation.

Child Safety and Privacy. We counsel online service providers on all aspects of their child safety, privacy, and anti-child exploitation programs. Our lawyers routinely advise on how providers can use technological tools to detect and prevent child exploitation, the follow-on reports that providers are required to make to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), responding to follow-on inquiries and legal process from governmental officials and defense counsel in resulting prosecutions, litigating discovery or witness issues, and evaluating compliance obligations under emerging international regulatory regimes. In addition, we stay abreast of child safety design laws, such as California’s Age-Appropriate Design Code, and partner with local counsel to advise on implementing guidance such as the recent Fundamentals for a Child-Oriented Approach to Data Processing of the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC).

Human Rights Counseling and Risk Assessments. We advise clients on the international legal frameworks applicable to existing or new content policies and products, as well as government disputes. Our attorneys also counsel on human rights concerns, as developed by international and regional courts and bodies, including expression rights, nondiscrimination, incitement, due process, consumer protection, and self-determination. The team’s experience includes advising on other relevant international law frameworks, including on terrorism, armed conflict, human trafficking, violent extremism, weapons, drugs, privacy, misinformation, and public health. We also perform human rights impact assessments and due diligence for clients in connection with planned or existing products or policies.

Government and Law Enforcement Requests. Serving as the global strategic quarterback, we help numerous U.S. companies facing government and intergovernmental requests around the world. Informed by a deep understanding of relevant privacy laws and frameworks, including the U.S. Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act and related bilateral data sharing agreements, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the Second Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, we help clients navigate routine and complex requests for user information and content takedown. We also partner closely with clients to develop processes and policies that systematize consideration of such requests in a manner consistent with local and international privacy and expression standards, including the Global Networking Initiative (GNI) Principles and Implementation Guidelines.

Safety by Design Counseling. We counsel clients on safety by design and responsible innovation, as well as advising clients on how to reduce liability and reputational risks by making online spaces safer and identifying online threats before they occur. This work is based on our deep understanding of privacy, artificial intelligence (AI) ethics, user-centric design, and human rights counseling on, among other things, child safety, parental controls, bias testing, user reporting, visibility filtering, content moderation tools, and product policies.

Crisis Response Management. Our lawyers offer crisis management counseling relating to issues at the intersection of law, public policy, and public communications. Anticipating and guarding against legal risks facing our clients, in-house legal teams rely on us to work directly with their internal business units. Our lawyers possess significant experience in crisis communications and have advised C-suite executives, policymakers on Capitol Hill, and boards of directors. We also have strong relationships with reporters at many of the world’s top media publications and can help manage the narrative in crises that may cause deep reputational harm.