Carl Schonander

Carl Schonander is a global technology policy professional and former diplomat with the US State Department. He has held senior positions with the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), Global Digital Finance (GDF), and Tencent. Schonander is the author of Data Flow Promotion in International Agreements and National Law (August 2018). Carl has no financial interests or lobbying relations related to this piece. He left Tencent in 2024 and has sold all the RSUs the company paid him. He left the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) in 2021. SIIA had and still has Google and Facebook (Meta) as members, and they might have an interest in the topic of this commentary, but he does not now lobby for them on these issues. He has not lobbied on behalf of any company since July 2024 and is no longer a registered lobbyist.