Search for posts, channels, users, hashtags & more

Under Secretary Rogers Hosts Digital NEXT Delegation with FTC Chairman Ferguson and Elon Musk

Under Secretary Rogers Hosts Digital NEXT Delegation with FTC Chairman Ferguson and Elon Musk and Announces New Tech Industry Partnership to Advance Digital Freedom

Last week, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers convened 47 foreign technology policymakers and government representatives from 30 countries in San Francisco, California, for Digital NEXT: Protecting Digital Liberties in the AI Era.

The delegation engaged in tailored dialogues with leading American technology companies to observe how the U.S. private sector is proactively addressing digital freedom challenges and offering compelling alternatives to burdensome regulatory models that infringe on privacy and freedom of expression. During a capstone fireside chat hosted by the Silicon Valley Office of Protocol that included conversations with Elon Musk, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson, and Tim Hwang of the Foundation for American Innovation, Under Secretary Rogers underscored the importance of protecting children online in ways that do not unduly restrict freedom of speech or stifle innovation.

Under Secretary Rogers also launched the Freedom Tech Excellence Program (FTEP), a new partnership between the Department and leading technology companies, civil society organizations, and think tanks to advance U.S. digital freedom objectives globally. Through FTEP, private sector organizations will send experts for limited-term assignments to infuse their expertise into the Department’s digital freedom work on critical issues including promoting online freedom of expression, privacy-enhancing technologies, responsible AI governance, and countering digital surveillance. FTEP gives participating organizations direct insight into how these policies impact their organizational interests and operations while helping the Department stay ahead of challenges that affect both American businesses and the rights of Americans online.

Under Secretary Rogers is pleased to announce FTEP’s inaugural partners: Palantir Technologies, Anduril Industries, Bitcoin Policy Institute, and Victims of Communism Foundation, and looks forward to welcoming additional organizations into the partnership.

For further information, please contact Partnerships@state.gov.

Grok Analysis

Analysis of the Goals

The core goal of this State Department initiative is to promote and internationalize a U.S.-aligned model of digital governance that prioritizes free expression, technological innovation, privacy-enhancing tools, and resistance to both authoritarian surveillance and heavy-handed regulation. It seeks to shape how foreign governments approach AI, online speech, privacy, and platform rules by showcasing American private-sector approaches as preferable alternatives.

Stated Objectives

The release is explicit: the Digital NEXT gathering and the new Freedom Tech Excellence Program (FTEP) aim to advance “U.S. digital freedom objectives globally.” Specific priorities listed include:

  • Promoting online freedom of expression
  • Advancing privacy-enhancing technologies
  • Supporting responsible AI governance
  • Countering digital surveillance

Under Secretary Rogers framed the U.S. private sector as offering “compelling alternatives to burdensome regulatory models that infringe on privacy and freedom of expression.” The fireside chat with Elon Musk, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, and Tim Hwang reinforced a particular balance: protect children online without unduly restricting speech or stifling innovation.

Strategic / Underlying Goals

This is classic public diplomacy and soft-power work in the technology domain. Several deeper aims are apparent:

  1. Export a lighter-touch, innovation-first regulatory philosophy The language directly contrasts U.S. approaches with “burdensome” regulation. This positions the American model against European-style comprehensive digital rulebooks (Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, AI Act) and against authoritarian systems that use technology for control. The goal is to persuade foreign policymakers that over-regulation harms privacy, speech, and competitiveness.
  2. Counter authoritarian digital models, especially surveillance states The emphasis on “countering digital surveillance” and the inclusion of the Victims of Communism Foundation as an inaugural FTEP partner signal a clear ideological component. The program is designed to build capacity and coalitions against state-driven digital control (most obviously the Chinese model of internet sovereignty, social credit-style systems, and export of surveillance technology).
  3. Deepen public-private integration on digital policy FTEP’s structure—private-sector experts taking limited-term assignments inside the State Department—creates two-way influence. Companies and organizations gain insight into how policy is made and how it affects them; the government gains technical expertise and industry perspective. This is an effort to keep U.S. digital diplomacy closely aligned with leading American technology firms and aligned civil-society groups.
  4. Build an international network of like-minded officials Hosting 47 policymakers from 30 countries for tailored dialogues with U.S. tech companies is coalition-building. The State Department is trying to create a cadre of foreign officials who have seen U.S. industry practices firsthand and are more inclined to favor American-style approaches over competing models.
  5. Shape the global conversation on AI and online safety By highlighting child protection alongside free speech and innovation (with Musk and the FTC Chairman present), the event stakes out a position in ongoing debates about platform responsibility, age verification, content moderation, and AI risks. The message is that safety measures need not come at the expense of open discourse or technological progress.

 

Signaling from the Partners

The inaugural FTEP partners are revealing:

  • Palantir and Anduril — firms closely associated with national security, data analytics, and defense technology. Their involvement underscores the national-security dimension of “digital freedom” (protecting against foreign surveillance and influence while advancing U.S. technological edge).
  • Bitcoin Policy Institute — brings a strong free-market, anti-centralization, privacy-oriented perspective on money and data.
  • Victims of Communism Foundation — explicitly frames the effort in anti-authoritarian and anti-communist terms.

Together they suggest the program is not neutral technocratic cooperation; it has a clear values orientation toward open societies, limited government control of digital space, and opposition to communist/authoritarian digital systems.

Broader Context

This fits within a larger U.S. effort to compete in the global contest over the rules of the digital domain. Rather than relying solely on formal multilateral institutions or pure regulation, the State Department is using public diplomacy, industry showcase events, and personnel exchanges to promote its preferred model.

The timing (mid-2026) and the specific participants (including Elon Musk and an FTC Chairman known for skepticism of expansive regulation) indicate continuity with an administration approach that favors speech protections, innovation, and pushback against both Big Tech overreach and government overreach—while still treating technology competition with adversaries as a strategic priority.

In short, the goal is to make the American vision of digital freedom—open expression, privacy through technology rather than prohibition, responsible but non-stifling AI rules, and resistance to surveillance states—more influential among foreign governments, and to institutionalize ongoing collaboration between the State Department and aligned technology and civil-society actors in pursuit of that vision.