Rebecca MacKinnon

Rebecca MacKinnon is an author, researcher, and internet freedom advocate who has focused her career on promoting freedom of expression and privacy online, transitioning from a prominent journalism career to impactful advocacy roles. After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1991, and serving as a Fulbright scholar in Taiwan and a Newsweek stringer, Rebecca MacKinnon joined CNN in 1992. She quickly ascended the ranks, becoming a Producer/Correspondent by 1997 before taking on leadership roles as the Beijing Bureau Chief from 1998 to 2001 and subsequently the Tokyo Bureau Chief from 2001 to 2003. During her impactful tenure at CNN, MacKinnon conducted high-profile interviews with several prominent world leaders, including Junichiro Koizumi, the Dalai Lama, Pervez Musharraf, and Mohammad Khatami.

Following her distinguished career in journalism, MacKinnon shifted her focus to internet freedom and digital rights, holding prestigious fellowships at renowned institutions. She was a Fellow at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy in Spring 2004, and a Research Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society from Summer 2004 through December 2006. In 2007, she co-founded the citizen media network Global Voices, demonstrating her early commitment to fostering open expression, and joined the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong, serving until January 2009. MacKinnon also served as an Open Society Fellow from February 2009 to January 2010, a Visiting Fellow at Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy in February 2010, and a Bernard L.

Building on her extensive experience in digital rights advocacy, MacKinnon joined the Wikimedia Foundation in September 2021 as its inaugural Vice President of Global Advocacy, where she continues to champion freedom of expression and privacy online on a global scale.