Adam Thierer
George Mason Univerity Mercatus Center
Adam Thierer is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University where he works with the Technology Policy Program. Thierer covers technology, media, Internet, and free speech policy issues with a particular focus in online child safety and digital privacy policy issues.
Thierer has spent almost two decades in the public policy research community. He previously served as the President of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, the Director of Telecommunications Studies at the Cato Institute, a Senior Fellow at The Heritage Foundation as a Fellow in Economic Policy, and a researcher at the Adam Smith Institute in London.
Thierer is the author or editor of seven books on diverse topics such as media regulation and child safety issues, mass media regulation, Internet governance and jurisdiction, intellectual property, regulation of network industries, and the role of federalism within high-technology markets. He earned his B.A. in journalism and political science at Indiana University, and received his M.A. in international business management and trade theory at the University of Maryland.
Thierer has served on several distinguished online safety task forces, including Harvard Law School's Internet Safety Technical Task Force, a "Blue Ribbon Working Group" on child safety organized by Common Sense Media, the iKeepSafe Coalition, and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's "Online Safety and Technology Working Group." He is also an advisor to the American Legislative Exchange Council's Telecom & IT Task Force. In 2008, Thierer received the Family Online Safety Institute's "Award for Outstanding Achievement."
Thierer blogs at The The Technology Liberation Front.
Appearances
- State of the Net Conference 2012, January 17, 2012
- State of the Net Conference 2011, January 18, 2011
- State of the Net 2008 Conference January 30, 2008
- Social Networking and Chat Sites: Teen-Free Zones? September 21, 2006
- State of the Net 2006 Conference February 8, 2006
- Internet Taxation July 27, 2001
- The Broadband Internet July 12, 2001
Biography last updated January 10, 2012


