Brent C. Harris is an American attorney who worked on the National Commission on the BP ''Deepwater Horizon'' Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, and later served as Director of Global Affairs for

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

, where he was instrumental in developing Facebook's Oversight Board.

Early life, education, and career

Born in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

, Harris received a B.A. and M.A. from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 2004,Stanford Alumni Association, ''

Stanford Magazine Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

'', Vol. 36 (2007), p. 121. after which he worked for the

Hewlett Foundation The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, commonly known as the Hewlett Foundation, is a private foundation, established by Hewlett-Packard cofounder William Redington Hewlett and his wife Flora Lamson Hewlett in 1966. The Hewlett Foundation aw ...

for two years. He received a J.D. from

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...

in 2009, where he was editor of

Stanford Law Review The ''Stanford Law Review'' (SLR) is a legal journal produced independently by Stanford Law School students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as its first president. The review produces six ...

. While at Stanford, he performed pro bono legal work to assist with the establishment of "the first

farmers market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

East Palo Alto East Palo Alto (abbreviated E.P.A.) is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of East Palo Alto was 30,034. It is situated on the San Francisco Peninsula, roughly halfway between the cities of ...

", which had previously lacked options for residents to buy fresh produce. In 2011, Harris was one of four staff counsels to the National Commission on the BP ''Deepwater Horizon'' Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. After his work with the commission was done, Harris served as a consultant for nonprofit organizations, and became known as "an expert in international regulation".

Director of Global Affairs at Facebook

Between late 2017 and early 2018, Facebook hired Harris to become the company's Director of Global Affairs. ''Wired'' noted that " nce

arris In architecture, an arris is the sharp edge formed by the intersection of two surfaces, such as the corner of a masonry unit; the edge of a timber in timber framing; the junction between two planes of plaster or any intersection of divergent a ...

had worked on adjudicating the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, he was well-placed to deal with the gushers of offensive content on Facebook's platform". In March 2018, shortly after Harris had joined the company, the harvesting of Facebook data by Cambridge Analytica was reported, and Harris began focusing on the establishment of Facebook's Oversight Board. In its early stages, it was described as follows: One observer of the process noted that Harris led the drafting of the charter and bylaws, which initially "included a lot of dry, careful legal language". Harris engaged in various activities in support of the establishment of the Oversight Board, including writing articles,Daniel Joyce, ''Informed Publics, Media and International Law'' (2020), p. 112-13. and headlining the public consultation on the initiative in cities around the world, including in his hometown of Norman.Kate Klonick
The Facebook Oversight Board: Creating an Independent Institution to Adjudicate Online Free Expression
129 YALE. L. J. 2418 (2020). Following the initiation of operations of the body, Harris disputed characterizations of the Oversight Board as a means for Facebook to "duck responsibility for its toughest decisions". Harris was also noted as having said that Facebook "will implement the board's decisions 'unless they violate the law'". In an interview with

CNN Business CNN Business (formerly CNN Money) is a financial news and information website, operated by CNN. The website was originally formed as a joint venture between CNN.com and Time Warner's ''Fortune'' and ''Money'' magazines. Since the spin-off of Time ...

, Harris indicated that the company had left the timetable for handling of election-related cases with the Board, stating, " don't, from the Facebook side, want to add undue pressure to them", and that it was "really a question for them as to when are they ready".

References

External links

*Brent Harris
A Coolant That Threatens to Heat Up the Climate
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' (July 22, 2016) {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Brent C. Date of birth missing (living people) People from Norman, Oklahoma Stanford University alumni Stanford Law School alumni Facebook employees Year of birth missing (living people) Living people