John Carlin:

From CAFE, this is Cyber Space. I’m your host, John Carlin. Every other Friday, I’ll be exploring issues at the intersection of tech, law and policy with guests who’ve made an impact in the world of cybersecurity. My guest this week is Monika Bickert. She’s the Vice President of Global Policy Management at Facebook. She decides what’s hate, what’s not, what’s terror and what can be posted. Prior to joining the company in 2012, Bickert spent her career in the justice department serving as a federal prosecutor in D.C. and Chicago and serving abroad in Thailand. In her role at Facebook, she’s in charge of the policies that govern types of content that can be shared on the platform. She also leads the company’s efforts on counter-terrorism. Facebook of course is always making headlines. So I’m thrilled to have Monica Bickert join me on this program. Welcome Monica, it’s great to have you on. When you were at Harvard Law School, what did you envision yourself doing?

Monika Bickert:

I really wanted to be in criminal law. I wanted to be doing trials. I wasn’t sure which part I wanted. And so I actually was interested in being either a federal defender or a federal prosecutor and I applied to both and I ended up becoming a federal prosecutor straight out of my judicial clerkship.