Portrait of Jillian C. York, in front of a wall of Berlin graffiti

Jillian C. York

Director for International Freedom of Expression

Jillian C. York is EFF's Director for International Freedom of Expression and is based in Berlin, Germany. Her work examines state and corporate censorship and its impact on culture and human rights, with a focus on historically marginalized communities. At EFF, she leads the platform censorship working group, and also works on European policy, the impact of sanctions on the use of technology, and occasionally, digital security. Jillian is the author of Silicon Values: The Future of Free Speech Under Surveillance Capitalism (Verso, 2021) and has written for Vice, Buzzfeed, the Guardian, and the New York Times, among others. She teaches at the College of Europe Natolin in Warsaw. She is also a regular speaker at global events.

Prior to joining EFF, Jillian worked at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, where she coordinated the work of the OpenNet Initiative and contributed to other projects including Herdict and research into DDoS attacks. She has also worked in fundraising and grant writing, as an EFL teacher, and as a travel writer.

Jillian is a fellow at the Centre for Internet & Human Rights in Berlin and a founding member of the Deep Lab collective. She currently serves on the IFEX Council, the Open Tech Fund Advisory Council, and on the advisory board of SMEX.

Jillian holds a BA in Sociology from Binghamton University, where—like a surprisingly large number of individuals in her field—she also studied theatre. Prior to the pandemic, she could often be found flying the friendly skies, but today, is more likely to be found on Zoom or Twitter.

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