Executive Q&A: Cristiano Lima-Strong on Why Tech Policy Reporting Matters More Than Ever

As the battle over how to regulate Big Tech plays out in courtrooms, legislatures, and the public square, one journalist is helping audiences make sense of it all. Cristiano Lima-Strong has spent years on the frontlines of tech policy reporting — from writing Politico’s Morning Tech to leading coverage at The Washington Post and now at Tech Policy Press, a nonprofit newsroom focused on the intersection of tech and democracy.

At a time when artificial intelligence, platform accountability, and data privacy are dominating headlines — but still often misunderstood — Lima-Strong is working to close the gap between dense policymaking and public understanding. His reporting has ranged from online harms to government surveillance, and he continues to spotlight the high-stakes debates that will shape how technology governs our lives in the years to come.

In this conversation, he reflects on what pulled him into the beat, the stories that have stuck with him, and how nonprofit journalism can play a vital role in making tech policy more accessible to everyone — not just lobbyists and insiders.

Cristiano Lima-Strong.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your journey into journalism and what first drew you to covering tech policy?

I happened upon tech policy as a happy accident. I was a breaking news reporter at Politico covering all manner of political news but knew I wanted to specialize and develop a beat. I landed a position writing Politico’s flagship tech policy newsletter, Morning Tech, which served as a great entry point into the topic and exposed me to the many different facets of this dynamic beat: competition, social media accountability, privacy and much more.

Q: Before joining Tech Policy Press, you spent time at The Washington Post. How did that experience shape the way you look at the intersection of technology and public policy?

Working at The Post was the privilege of a lifetime, and it taught me a lot about how to convey dense policy topics to a more broader audience. While tech policy is in many ways the story of how government leaders police the world’s biggest and most powerful companies, it still often takes a backseat in national discussions to more mainstream political issues, like health care, climate/energy and taxes. It was a great challenge to try to find ways to make stories about this deeply impactful policy area resonate with a general audience.

Q: Were there any particular stories or moments at The Washington Post that really stayed with you or shifted your perspective on tech regulation?

A few stories come to mind. One was about a father who has been fighting for years to get videos of his daughter’s murder removed from the internet. Reporting on that exposed me to both the helplessness that a lot of people feel in dealing with social media platforms and the immense challenge of expunging anything from the web.

Another was the story of how a powerful senator has slowed data privacy negotiations in Congress for years. It built on years of my reporting on the utter inaction around federal tech legislation. I’m also proud of investigative pieces into social media’s role in the January 6th, 2021 attack and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Q: Looking back, how has your reporting focus evolved over time, especially as technology has become so deeply embedded in our daily lives?

I started out covering tech policy on Capitol Hill for Politico, so I was very focused for a long time on federal legislation (or more precisely the lack thereof). Over time I have developed more expertise covering not only other institutions that most of the time play a bigger role in shaping what tech policy is actually happening, such as our nation’s antitrust enforcers, federal courts and state legislatures, but particular topic areas, such as online safety and data privacy.

Q: What inspired you to make the move to Tech Policy Press, and what felt different or urgent about this new platform?

There is a lot of great writing and reporting about tech policy around, but so much of it is kept behind premium paywalls that largely only lobbyists, interest groups and government insiders can afford.

I was excited about the idea of joining a newer nonprofit media organization that is trying to demystify the policy-making process to a general audience. I have always appreciated both the depth and accessibility of what Tech Policy Press brings to the conversation. It’s also fun to try to help grow something new after spending most of my career at large media outlets.

Q: For people who might not be familiar, how would you describe the mission of Tech Policy Press in your own words?

Tech Policy Press is a non-profit media organization looking to provoke debate about the role technology plays in our lives and in democracy, including by publishing thought-provoking opinion pieces, in-depth analyses and substantive policy reporting and news coverage.

Q: Why do you believe Tech Policy Press is especially important right now, given our political and social climate?

While there is plenty of tech policy coverage in the world, a lot of it is focused on the political process and less so on the really fascinating and substantive debates going on in this space. I think in part that is because so many of the publications producing it are designed to inform those who are already well-informed about those policy debates.

That creates a knowledge gap that lets many of the powerful forces in this area off the hook. I think it’s important to have non-profit publications like Tech Policy Press that are focused on serving the public.

Q: How does Tech Policy Press aim to cut through the noise and help people understand the complex ways tech policy is shaping our future?

I think we really want to double-down on providing in-depth analysis and news resources that help people make sense of the fast-moving developments in tech policy. We live in the weeds.

Q: In your view, what are the three most important tech policy issues today — and why do they rise to the top of your list?

Antitrust is one. The biggest and likely most impactful developments in this space for years to come will be the ongoing antitrust lawsuits against the likes of Google, Meta, Apple and Amazon that could reshape the internet and our interactions with our everyday gadgets.The raging debate over online speech, online harms, platform accountability, platform regulations – whatever you want to call it – is another.

It touches on everything from child safety to what role platforms may be playing in eroding trust in public institutions and democracy. It’s hard not to go with artificial intelligence for the last.

There are huge unresolved policy debates about how to deal with AI and copyright law, what to do about all the energy these tools consume, and how do we account for its risks, and the conversation is just heating up.

Q: How do you see the relationship between technology and democracy evolving in the coming years?

Every day, technology is playing a bigger and bigger role in democracy, and I don’t see any signs of that slowing. Tech companies keep getting bigger and wielding more unchecked political influence.

Government actors are increasingly bending technological tools to their will, and there’s a push to deploy AI more rapidly across government. Online platforms play a huge role in our daily lives and likely shape our thoughts and actions in many still underexplored ways. It’s a busy time to be exploring the intersection of tech and democracy.

Q: How can journalists and media outlets responsibly cover complex tech policy issues without oversimplifying or sensationalizing them?

If you talk to tech leaders, many will tell you that officials in Washington and other political capitals are hopelessly divided on what to do about tech. That’s a major oversimplification. There are countless alliances being forged daily around everything from competition to AI to child online safety. It’s important to understand the different forces driving those alliances and not overstate the divides that do exist.

You will also often hear that policymakers simply do not understand technology enough to act on anything. There’s likely truth to that in many instances. But as a lawmaker once told me, ‘you don’t need to be a doctor to set health care policy.’ A lot of these narratives give the impression that tech policy is completely intractable. I think it behooves journalists to interrogate why some may be breathing life into those ideas.

Q: Finally, on a personal note: what gives you hope as you continue reporting on these critical issues in such a fast-moving space?

While there are plenty of areas in tech policy where the political debate is incredibly polarized, chiefly the tug-of-war over “misinformation” and “censorship,” there is a tremendous amount of diversity of viewpoints in this space.

There are populist conservatives who support stringent antitrust enforcement but largely reject expanded regulatory powers. There are progressive liberals who are privacy hawks but fiercely resist restrictions on digital rights.

It's a good reminder that there was a time when we did not think of nearly every issue as two-sided, and it gives me hope that people of differing viewpoints can find agreement in unexpected places.