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United States 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.
Founding director of the program that works to promote freedom of expression and privacy on the internet by creating global standards and incentives for companies to respect and protect users’ rights. RDR’s Corporate Accountability Index ranks the world’s most powerful internet, mobile, and telecommunications companies on relevant commitments and policies, based on international human rights standards.
Author of "Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom" (Basic Books, 2012). This book has become a foundational text for her work at Ranking Digital Rights.
Co-founder of the citizen media network Global Voices, an international community of bloggers and citizen journalists who report on diverse global issues.
Serves on the board of directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide.
Founding member of the Global Network Initiative, a multi-stakeholder group of companies, civil society organizations, investors, and academics working to protect and advance freedom of expression and privacy in the ICT sector.
Rebecca MacKinnon was a senior research fellow (2012-2013) and Bernard L. Schwartz senior fellow (2010-2012) at New America, a non-partisan think tank dedicated to renewing American politics, prosperity, and purpose.
Vice President, Global Advocacy at the Wikimedia Foundation, leading the Foundation's efforts to promote and defend a legal and regulatory environment conducive to free knowledge.
Rebecca MacKinnon was born on September 16, 1969, in Berkeley, California. Her early life included extensive international experience, living in Delhi, India, Hong Kong, and Beijing, China, due to her parents’ academic research careers. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1991 with a B.A. in Government. Following her graduation, she was a Fulbright scholar in Taiwan and worked as a Newsweek stringer. Her diverse upbringing and early professional experiences laid the groundwork for her later focus on international communication and digital rights.
MacKinnon’s career began in journalism, joining CNN in 1992. She ascended through the ranks, becoming a Producer/Correspondent by 1997 and subsequently the Beijing Bureau Chief from 1998 to 2001. Her leadership continued as the Tokyo Bureau Chief from 2001 to 2003. During her tenure at CNN, she conducted interviews with several prominent world leaders, including Junichiro Koizumi, the Dalai Lama, Pervez Musharraf, and Mohammad Khatami. After leaving CNN in 2004, MacKinnon shifted her focus to internet freedom and digital rights, holding fellowships at various esteemed institutions such as Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on the Press and Public Policy, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, the Open Society Foundation, and Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy.
In 2007, MacKinnon co-founded the citizen media network Global Voices, demonstrating her commitment to fostering open expression. She also served on the board of directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists and was a founding member of the Global Network Initiative. A significant milestone in her career was founding the Ranking Digital Rights (RDR) program at New America, an initiative dedicated to evaluating internet, mobile, and telecommunications companies on their adherence to human rights standards for free expression and privacy. Her book, “Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom” (Basic Books, 2012), further solidified her authority in the field and earned her the Goldsmith Book Prize. In September 2021, she joined the Wikimedia Foundation as its inaugural Vice President of Global Advocacy, continuing her work in digital rights.
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