Mikah Sellers is a marketing executive with 10+ years experience at the intersection of marketing and technology. He currently serves as the Vice President of Marketing for Levick Strategic Communications, a leading public relations firm headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Prior to joining LEVICK he held a variety of marketing, leadership and consulting roles at ePartners and Doceus, where he worked on high-profile projects for Fortune 1000 and nonprofit clients including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Maggie Moos International, Schlotzskys, the Chamber of Commerce, and Magazine Publishers of America, to name a few. Mikah also serves as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches in the Master of Professional Studies in the Technology Management program.

Mikah earned an M.B.A. and an M.A. in Communication Arts with a focus in advertising and public relations both with distinction at the New York Institute of Technology. Sellers also earned an M.S. in Internet Marketing at Full Sail University. He has also completed graduate coursework at Gonzaga University in organizational leadership, conflict resolution and human relations.

CiviliNation: You’re the Vice President of Marketing at LEVICK, a public relations firm located in Washington D.C. and New York City. Based on your experience, has technology increased the number and severity of reputational attacks against companies and organizations?

Mikah Sellers: Technology has made it far easier to attack someone with relative anonymity, and to inflict massive damage in a very short period of time. In the past, if you were the victim of an act of libel or slander it was pretty easy to track down the source and ultimately clear your name. Today a tweet goes global in seconds, blog posts are reposted, shared, liked, favorited in minutes. Content spreads virally so fast that it is virtually impossible to completely contain it even if you’re an expert in digital and social media. 

CiviliNation: What is your response to people who claim that online reputational and privacy attacks against adults are rare and not something that most people need to worry about?

Mikah Sellers: They are living in a fantasy land. The relative anonymity that the Internet provides makes it easy for someone that is jealous, angry, or infatuated to create havoc in your life in a matter of moments. Repairing that damage could take years and cost a small fortune. 

CiviliNation: Do you believe that social networking and other websites have any social or ethical responsibilities to help stem privacy violations and online attacks?

Mikah Sellers: No. Facebook has recently been a part of a number of controversies surrounding cyber-bullying and reputational attacks. Social networks need to craft terms of use agreements based on common sense and values that protect 99.99% of their users, not the .01% of cyber-predators that rely on first amendment arguments to protect their ill-advised actions.

CiviliNation: Why do you think there is a frequent lack of understanding by law enforcement and the legal system about the depth and breadth of the problem of online attacks and cyber bullying against adults?

Mikah Sellers: The simple fact of the matter is that the law has not yet caught up with societal or technological changes. There is a real urgent need for the highest courts to review our laws and reflect on these new forms of media.

CiviliNation: What role do you believe the law should play in helping reduce online attacks and privacy violations?

Mikah Sellers: If there was less ambiguity around the laws governing online behavior and stricter enforcement of existing (or future) laws people would think twice about their actions. I also feel that our current system of laws does not account for cross-border issues; many reputational attacks have an international component to them in terms of prosecution. Once it is determined that something took place offshore prosecution becomes increasingly more complex if not impossible.

CiviliNation: What three recommendations would you give companies and people to help protect themselves online?

Mikah Sellers: First and foremost, set up some form of monitoring even if it’s just Google Alerts. If you’re attacked online respond after careful thought and consideration – never in the heat of the moment when you’re angry – always enlist a sounding board to make sure your response is measured. Put strategy before tactics – carefully plot out your strategy and supporting tactics and recruit third-party allies in advance. Be prepared before you launch any counter-offensive. Don’t fall into the trap of acting like your attacker. Calm, cool and collected wins the day.

Arthur Bushkin is a writer, philanthropist and social activist whose principal cause is “harnessing the power of technology for social good.” He founded the Stargazer Foundation, which operated between 1999 and 2012, and provided free technology support to nonprofit organizations.

In the 1960s, he was present at the creation of what became the Internet, working with and consulting to the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in the Defense Department. In the 1970s, he was the Director of U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s Privacy Initiative, where he was instrumental in passage of the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978 and served as the principal U.S. Delegate to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) on Information, Computer & Communications Policy. In the 1990s, he was President of Bell Atlantic Video Services (now Verizon) and pioneered the creation of video-on-demand and other aspects of the Web.

He has both a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and taught computer science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Wellesley College.

CiviliNation: You have the rare distinction of being able to say you were present at the creation of what became the Internet. Tell us about that.

Arthur Bushkin: During the summer of 1967, I was the third person in the 3-person office of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in the Department of Defense. Then, for the next two years, I was a consultant. At that time, ARPA funded almost all of the research nationally in what was to become the ARPAnet, which then became the basis for the Internet. Besides helping to facilitate the creation of the ARPAnet itself, my primary responsibilities centered on helping to develop policies related to the use of the new, interconnected technologies. The best known example at that time was the development of national policies relating to the privacy and security of information, whether personal, corporate, or national security.

I was involved in many aspects of the Internet throughout my career, and in 1992 I was hired to become the President of the newly created Bell Atlantic (now Verizon) Video Services division. We had developed a server-based service that we called Video-on-Demand (after what we thought would be the lead application). We were the leader in this new service, and we were also developing various shopping and learning applications, besides movies, as well. The Worldwide Web had not yet become a term of art, primarily because the software that was to become the browser had not yet been standardized. In addition, the legal and regulatory structures were not yet in place for integration of what was to become the Web (e.g., cooperation between wireless and wireline carriers). Of course, nowadays, various distinctions are no longer relevant, and everything is just called the Internet, despite that the Web, for example, is technically a layer on top of the Internet.

“Chart the history and growth of information technology and you’ll find Arthur Bushkin at pivotal moments, starting with the birth of the Internet.” – MIT Technology Review

CiviliNation: At the time, did you anticipate how life-changing this technology would become?

Arthur Bushkin: I do not believe that anyone, regardless of the time period, was able to anticipate how life-changing this technology would become. This was true for the 1960s, the 1990s, and the current day. Yes, some people, whether technologists, business people, or entrepreneurs, foresaw some aspects of the possible future, but at no time in my 50-year career did I ever meet anyone who accurately foresaw the enormity of the impact.

CiviliNation: In the 1970s, you led President Carter’s Privacy Initiative and were the principal U.S. representative at the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development on information, computer, and communications policy. What were the main areas of concern back then and how do they differ from the main issues surrounding technology use today?

Arthur Bushkin: By the second half of the 1970s, issues related to the privacy and security of information dominated the public policy discussions of the impact of the networked technology. Of course, they still do, but now we have broader discussions of economic impact, education, democracy and freedom, and so on. Back then, the assumption was that government policy needed to address these issues, and that a solution was possible domestically and that differing national policies could be harmonized internationally. Now, there are many more interrelated issues, technologies, and actors, and simple solutions are simply not possible.

CiviliNation: You’re quite outspoken in your belief that the discourse between our political leaders needs to become more civil. Why are you so passionate about this?

Arthur Bushkin: I believe strongly that all public discourse needs to be more civil, not just between political leaders, but also among the general population. And, add to civility, the need for discourse to be informed. Now that everyone has the ability to publish an opinion on anything that does not make simple solutions more possible; it makes them less possible. And when our political leaders repeat simple slogans, responsible public policy is not possible.

CiviliNation: Do you believe that social networking and other websites have any social or ethical responsibilities to help stem privacy violations and online attacks?

Arthur Bushkin: As a general statement, whether desirable or not, there is a practical limit to the ability of any Web site or communications carrier to monitor its users. Yes, there are undoubtedly egregious behaviors that can be blocked or deleted when detected, and yes, organizations need to adhere to responsible policies, whether self-imposed or government-mandated. However, the users or citizens of any community must accept that they, too, have a responsibility to behave civilly and to identify the inappropriate behavior of others.

CiviliNation: What are three recommendations you can give people for making the Web a more positive and embracing environment for everyone?

Arthur Bushkin: First, be positive and tolerant yourself. Second, be informed and discerning on the issues and the behaviors of others. Third, expect the same of others, whether public officials or your connections on social media. We’re all in this together, and we all are part of the solution.