Rohan Grover
Assistant Professor @ American University · Washington, DC
Hi, I'm Rohan! I am an Assistant Professor of AI and Media at American University’s School of Communication. My research explores the politics of technology policy, with a particular focus on the ethical and political dynamics of implementing data privacy law. My current book project draws on ethnographic research in the privacy tech industry to argue that the politics of technology policy are found not only in the letter of the law or its effects, but also in its sociotechnical infrastructure.
My research has been published in journals such as New Media & Society, Political Communication, the International Journal of Communication, Telecommunications Policy, the Journal of Information Policy, The Information Society, and at CHI. My work has been supported by the NSF-funded Law and Science Dissertation Grant, and recognized with the James R. Cleary Prize for Student Media Law & Policy Research as well as top paper awards from the International Communication Association. I have also received support from major funders across the fields of communication, computing, political science, and media studies.
I earned his PhD from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. Before academia, I was a product manager and data strategist at digital media and political advocacy organizations including HuffPost, MoveOn, Planned Parenthood, and Upworthy. I hold an MA in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. I am also affiliated with the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP) and the Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet).
Please feel free to get in touch!
August 7, 2025: I will present a paper characterizing "privacy work" as a sociotechnical achievement at the annual Media Sociology Symposium held online by the American Sociological Association CITAMS Section
September 3–6, 2025: I will present a paper on technical privacy standards and co-chair three panels on the politics of AI expertise at the annual meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) in Seattle
September 25–27, 2025: I will present a paper outlining a genealogy of the privacy tech industry at the annual conference of the Special Interest Group in Computing, Information, and Society (SIGCIS) online
August: I joined American University as Assistant Professor of AI and Media!
May: Defended my dissertation, Consent Theater: A Sociotechnical Analysis of Data Privacy Law in Action, and graduated with my PhD in Communication
April: Published a journal article, "When user consent fails: How platforms undermine data governance" in the International Journal of Communication
January: Published a journal article, "Data disaffection: Toward a relational and affective understanding of datafication" (co-authored with Josh Widera and Mike Ananny) in New Media & Society
October: Published a paper, "Unpacking expertise in the privacy tech industry", in the conference proceedings of the AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research -- which was recognized with a Special Mention for Best Student Paper at the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) conference in Sheffield, UK
September: My paper proposing legal protections for metadata was awarded 3rd place in the Student Paper Competition at the Research Conference on Communications, Information, and Internet Policy (TPRC)
August: Selected to design and teach a standalone course, an upper-level undergraduate seminar called Social and Economic Implications of Communication Technologies (COMM 345), at USC Annenberg
June: Published a journal article, "Platforms as templates: Emerging datafication dynamics in digital news outlets’ datawalls" (co-authored with Jeeyun (Sophia) Baik) in The Information Society
May: Published a paper, "Encoding privacy: Sociotechnical dynamics of data protection compliance work", in the peer-reviewed conference proceedings of CHI 2024: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
May: Published a journal article, "Beyond digital protection(ism): Comparing data governance frameworks in Asia" (co-authored with Kyooeun Jang and Li Wen Su) in the Journal of Information Policy
April: Awarded a Law and Society Dissertation Grant ($16,605) funded by the National Science Foundation (via Arizona State University, SBE #2016661)
April: Awarded the first-place James R. Cleary Prize for Student Media Law & Policy Research by the UNC Center for Media Law & Policy
January: Recognized as a "Rock Star Reviewer" by ICA's Communication Law & Policy Division
November: Awarded a Special Recognition for Outstanding Review by ACM CHI
November: Organized two panels (with Pratik Nyaupane) on emerging dynamics of digital citizenship at the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S) annual conference in Honolulu
August: Began working as a research assistant with the newly founded research center, AI for Media & Storytelling (AIMS), an initiative of the USC Center for Generative AI & Society led by Mike Ananny and Holly Willis
June: Published a journal article, "Contingent connectivity: Internet shutdowns and the infrastructural precarity of digital citizenship", in New Media & Society
May: Awarded the Top Student Paper Award from ICA's Communication Law & Policy Division!
May: Awarded the Top Student Paper Award from ICA's Philosophy, Theory, and Critique Division!
April: Awarded 2 research grants from USC Annenberg and from the Center on Science, Technology, and Public Life
April: Published a journal article, "Destabilizing race: Social movements as sites of political imagination" (co-authored with Rachel Kuo), in Political Communication
January: Delivered a research presentation, "The trouble with transparency(ies) in data protection compliance work", at the USC Center on Science, Technology and Public Life's Graduate Student Research Symposium
January: Participated in a hosted discussion of my research on transparency in data governance at the Media Law & Policy Scholars Conference (MLPSC)
October: Delivered a research presentation, "From paywalls to datawalls? Platformization and datafication in digital news", at the USC Annenberg Research Seminar
September: Published a journal article, "The geopolitics of digital rights activism: Evaluating civil society's role in the promises of multistakeholder internet governance", in Telecommunications Policy
August: Began working as an assistant editor with the International Journal of Communication, led by Mike Ananny and Holly Willis
July: Participated in a hosted discussion of my research on developers' experiences with data protection regulations at the UC Berkeley School of Information
July: Published a book review of The Promise of Access by Daniel Greene in Information, Communication & Society
May: Awarded 3 research grants from USC Annenberg, from the Center on Science, Technology, and Public Life, and (with Jeeyun (Sophia) Baik) from the AEJMC Newspaper and Online News Division
April: Participated in a workshop on Triangulating Race, Capital, and Technology at CHI 2022 with a travel grant from SIGCHI
January: Awarded a research grant from the AEJMC Law & Policy Division
October: Published a paper, "Internet governance for whom? Civil society, representation, and digital rights", in the conference proceedings of the AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research
August: Began the PhD program at USC Annenberg
August: Published a report, "Building healthy membership communities" (co-authored with Jennifer Kho), with the Membership Puzzle Project
July: Awarded a research grant from the APSA Political Organizations and Parties Section
May: Graduated with a Master of Arts in Media, Culture, and Communication from NYU
May: Awarded the Distinguished Thesis Award from the NYU Department of Media, Culture, and Communication!
May: Awarded a research grant from the Asian/Pacific/American Institute
March: Awarded a research grant (with Jennifer Kho) from the Membership Puzzle Project
February: Left my job as Senior Product Manager at HuffPost
August: Began the MA program at the NYU Department of Media, Culture, and Communication
May: Awarded a $20,000 merit scholarship, the Rosenberg Award, from NYU