Henry Farrell

Called Out: The Global Consequences of Apple’s Fight with the FBI

By now, the details of Apple’s fight with the FBI are well known: the FBI wants access to an iPhone belonging to the deceased terrorism suspect Syed Farook, who was involved in the San Bernardino, California, attack on December 2, 2015. Farook’s iPhone is encrypted, so the FBI wants Apple to issue a tailored software update that would allow it to bypass the encryption. Apple has responded by refusing to write special software that would eliminate its security protections.

For both sides, the stakes are high. Apple says that complying with the FBI’s orders would set a dangerous precedent,

Access the full article here.

Other Writing:

Interview

Interview with economist Tyler Cowen on Weaponized Interdependence, Big Tech, and Playing with Ideas

October 23, 2019 Big Tech Conversations with Tyler podcast featured
Whether it’s China’s influence over the NBA, the US ban of Huawei, or the EU courts asserting that countries can force Facebook to take down content globally, Henry Farrell has played a key role articulating how global economic networks can enable state coercion. Tyler and Henry discuss these issues and more, including what a big ...
Read Article
Academic ArticleAcademic Writing

AI as Governance

July 12, 2025 featured
Political scientists have had remarkably little to say about artificial intelligence (AI), perhaps because they are dissuaded by its technical complexity and by current debates about whether AI might emulate, outstrip, or replace individual human intelligence. They ought to consider AI in terms of its relationship with governance. Existing large-scale systems of governance such as ...
Read Article
Browse the Archives