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AI systems for the public interest
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EDITORIAL: Introduction to the special issue on AI systems for the public interest
Theresa Züger, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
Hadi Asghari, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
AI systems have been promised to reduce CO2 emissions, monitor biodiversity, support accessibility, or help analyse human rights violations. They are often seen as a crucial part of the solutions needed in our times ranging from addressing the climate crisis, public health, to improvement of social services, or urban planning. We find the reference to artificial intelligence (AI) in many documents and debates of the policy realm, assigning it a strong potential to contribute to all these domains. AI for the public interest, and its close relatives, AI for (common or social) good, have become a common theme not only for tech companies, but also for political actors in the EU, including for instance international NGO networks. However, most often the definition of the public interest in the best case is limited to references to AI ethics. Yet, the practical meaning of what a good use of AI and a purpose “for good” entails in its development and implementation is unclear. What is often missing is an understanding that spells out in practice what it means for the process of development and deployment of AI systems to serve the public interest, let alone a holistic view on the conditions for AI to best serve the collective well-being.
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Contesting the public interest in AI governance
Tegan Cohen, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Nicolas P. Suzor, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
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Balancing public interest, fundamental rights, and innovation: The EU’s governance model for non-high-risk AI systems
Michael Gille, Hamburg University of Applied Science
Marina Tropmann-Frick, Hamburg University of Applied Science
Thorben Schomacker, Hamburg University of Applied Science
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Restricting access to AI decision-making in the public interest: The justificatory role of proportionality and its balancing factors
Margaret Warthon, University of Groningen
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Navigating data governance risks: Facial recognition in law enforcement under EU legislation
Gizem Gültekin-Várkonyi, University of Szeged
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Public value in the making of automated and datafied welfare futures
Doris Allhutter, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Anila Alushi, University of Leipzig
Rafaela Cavalcanti de Alcântara, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Maris Männiste, Södertörn University
Christian Pentzold, University of Leipzig
Sebastian Sosnowski, Polish Academy of Sciences
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Balancing efficiency and public interest: The impact of AI automation on social benefit provision in Brazil
Maria Alejandra Nicolás, Federal University of Latin American Integration
Rafael Cardoso Sampaio, Federal University of Paraná
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Misguided: AI regulation needs a shift in focus
Agathe Balayn, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)
Seda Gürses, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)
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On the (im)possibility of sustainable artificial intelligence
Rainer Rehak, Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society
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Interview with Katharina Meyer: On the tension between public interest and profit maximisation in public interest tech
Theresa Züger, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
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Interview with Friederike Rohde: The environmental impact of AI as a public interest concern
Theresa Züger, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
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Interview with Ulrike Klinger and Philipp Hacker: Why the public interest gets lost in the AI gold rush
Theresa Züger, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
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Locating and theorising platform power
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EDITORIAL: Introduction to the special issue on Locating and theorising platform power
David Nieborg, University of Toronto
Thomas Poell, University of Amsterdam
Robyn Caplan, Duke University
José van Dijck, Utrecht University
Against the backdrop of ongoing public and political debates about the power and regulation of large platform conglomerates, this special issue calls for more critical, conceptual, and empirical studies on platform power. While a lot of valuable research has already been done, we see a tendency in both public and scholarly debates on leading platform companies to develop one-sided, monolithic understandings of this power. Instead, we want to argue for a relational perspective, which focuses on the relations of dependence that grow around specific platforms. Therefore, contributions locate and theorise platform power. Through specific case studies on particular types of platforms the contributions home in on the various modalities of power. The papers address three broader themes that speak to the different facets of platform power: (1) analysing platform infrastructures and markets; (2) platform governance; (3) the negotiation of platform power and its alternatives.
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The platform behind the curtain: Obfuscated brokerage on retail trading platforms
Andreas Gregersen, University of Copenhagen
Jacob Ørmen, University of Copenhagen
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Monitoring infrastructural power: Methodological challenges in studying mobile infrastructures for datafication
Stine Lomborg, University of Copenhagen
Kristian Sick, University of Copenhagen
Sofie Flensburg, University of Copenhagen
Signe Sophus Lai, University of Copenhagen
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Platform power in AI: The evolution of cloud infrastructures in the political economy of artificial intelligence
Dieuwertje Luitse, University of Amsterdam
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Observing “tuned” advertising on digital platforms
Nicholas Carah, University of Queensland
Lauren Hayden, University of Queensland
Maria-Gemma Brown, University of Queensland
Daniel Angus, Queensland University of Technology
Aimee Brownbill, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education
Kiah Hawker, University of Queensland
Xue Ying Tan, Queensland University of Technology
Amy Dobson, Curtin University
Brady Robards, Monash University
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Protocol power: Matter, IoT interoperability, and a critique of industry self-regulation
Colin Crawford, Concordia University
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Platform lobbying: Policy influence strategies and the EU's Digital Services Act
Robert Gorwa, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
Grzegorz Lechowski, Freie Universität Berlin
Daniel Schneiß, Kiel University
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Copyright callouts and the promise of creator-driven platform governance
Blake Hallinan, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
CJ Reynolds, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Omer Rothenstein, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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The contingencies of platform power and risk management in the gig economy
Niels van Doorn, University of Amsterdam
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Platforms´ regulatory disruptiveness and local regulatory outcomes in Europe
Eliska Drapalova, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
Kai Wegrich, Hertie School
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How platform power undermines diversity-oriented innovation
Paula Helm, University of Amsterdam
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Future-proofing the city: A human rights-based approach to governing algorithmic, biometric and smart city technologies
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EDITORIAL: Future-proofing the city: A human rights-based approach to governing algorithmic, biometric and smart city technologies
Alina Wernick, University of Helsinki
Anna Artyushina, York University
While the GDPR and other EU laws seek to mitigate a range of potential harms associated with smart cities, the compliance with and enforceability of these regulations remain an issue. In addition, these proposed regulations do not sufficiently address the collective harms associated with the deployment of biometric technologies and artificial intelligence. Another relevant question is whether the initiatives put forward to secure fundamental human rights in the digital realm account for the issues brought on by the deployment of technologies in city spaces. In this special issue, we employ the smart city notion as a point of connection for interdisciplinary research on the human rights implications of the algorithmic, biometric and smart city technologies and the policy responses to them. The articles included in the special issue analyse the latest European regulations as well as soft law, and the policy frameworks that are currently at work in the regions where the GDPR does not apply.
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Substantively smart cities – Participation, fundamental rights and temporality
Philipp Hacker, European University Viadrina Frankfurt
Jürgen Neyer, European University Viadrina Frankfurt
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Preventing long-term risks to human rights in smart cities: A critical review of responsibilities for private AI developers
Lottie Lane, University of Groningen
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Do European smart city developers dream of GDPR-free countries? The pull of global megaprojects in the face of EU smart city compliance and localisation costs
Alina Wernick, University of Helsinki
Emeline Banzuzi, University of Helsinki
Alexander Mörelius-Wulff, University of Helsinki
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Your face is not new to me – Regulating the surveillance power of facial recognition technologies
Giuseppe Mobilio, University of Florence
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The grey-zones of public-private surveillance: Policy tendencies of facial recognition for public security in Brazilian cities
André Ramiro, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
Luã Cruz, State University of Campinas (Unicamp)
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Older people and the smart city – Developing inclusive practices to protect and serve a vulnerable population
Aaro Tupasela, University of Helsinki
Juanita Devis Clavijo, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions
Marjut Salokannel, University of Helsinki
Christoph Fink, University of Helsinki
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Slow-governance in smart cities: An empirical study of smart intersection implementation in four US college towns
Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Brett Frischmann, Villanova University
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Smart cities and cumulative effects on fundamental rights
Athena Christofi, KU Leuven
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The gender of the platform economy
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EDITORIAL: The gender of the platform economy
Mayo Fuster Morell, Open University of Catalonia
The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the expansion of the platform economy (PE), which promotes working from distributed places mediated by digital platforms, and is disrupting work and life organisation. To date, PE effects on gender equality are largely unexplored, while in parallel gender equality achievements are recoiling, and gender-based violence has intensified. This special issue aims at contributing to cover this gap, and address the state of the art of the research on the interplay between platform economy and gender. The introduction to the special issue provides an overview of the topic and of the special issue contributions.
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“Doing gender” by sharing: examining the gender gap in the European sharing economy
Thomas Eichhorn, German Youth Institute
Christian Hoffmann, Leipzig University
Katharina Heger, Freie Universität Berlin
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Platform as new “daddy”: China’s gendered wanghong economy and patriarchal platforms behind
Xiaofei Han, Carleton University
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Don’t blame the internet: it has little to do with gender inequality in crowd work
Branka Andjelkovic, CENTAR, Public Policy Research Center
Tanja Jakobi, CENTAR, Public Policy Research Center
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Addressing gendered affordances of the platform economy: the case of UpWork
Elisabetta Stringhi, University of Milan
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Hidden inequalities: the gendered labour of women on micro-tasking platforms
Paola Tubaro, Université Paris-Saclay
Marion Coville, University of Poitiers
Clément Le Ludec, Institut Polytechnique de Paris
Antonio A. Casilli , Institut Polytechnique de Paris
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Visibility layers: a framework for systematising the gender gap in Wikipedia content
Pablo Beytía, Humboldt University of Berlin
Claudia Wagner, RWTH Aachen University
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Assessing gender inequality in digital labour platforms in Europe
Paula Rodríguez-Modroño, Pablo de Olavide University
Annarosa Pesole, European Commission
Purificación López-Igual , Pablo de Olavide University
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Governing invisibility in the platform economy: excavating the logics of platform care
Vicky Kluzik, Goethe University
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Governable spaces: a feminist agenda for platform policy
Nathan Schneider, University of Colorado Boulder
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Feminist policy and platform economy: insights, methods and challenges
Sonia Ruiz García , Independent researcher
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Platform capitalism’s social contract
Niels van Doorn, University of Amsterdam
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Feminist data protection
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EDITORIAL: Feminist data protection: an introduction
Jens T. Theilen, Helmut-Schmidt-University
Andreas Baur, University of Tübingen
Felix Bieker, Office of the Data Protection Commissioner Schleswig-Holstein
Regina Ammicht Quinn, University of Tübingen
Marit Hansen, Office of the Data Protection Commissioner Schleswig-Holstein
Gloria González Fuster, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
‘Feminist data protection’ is not an established term or field of study: data protection discourse is dominated by doctrinal legal and economic positions, and feminist perspectives are few and far between. This editorial introduction summarises a number of recent interventions in the broader fields of data sciences and surveillance studies, then turns to data protection itself and considers how it might be understood, critiqued and possibly reimagined in feminist terms. Finally, the authors return to ‘feminist data protection’ and the different directions in which it might be further developed—as a feminist approach to data protection, as the protection of feminist data, and as a feminist way of protecting data—and provide an overview of the papers included in the present special issue.
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Data and Afrofuturism: an emancipated subject?
Aisha P.L. Kadiri, École normale supérieure
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What we do with data: a performative critique of data 'collection'
Garfield Benjamin, Solent University
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Naming something collective does not make it so: algorithmic discrimination and access to justice
Jenni Hakkarainen, University of Helsinki
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Prescripted living: gender stereotypes and data-based surveillance in the UK welfare state
Laura Carter, University of Essex
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Artificial intelligence and consent: a feminist anti-colonial critique
Joana Varon , Coding Rights
Paz Peña, Independent Researcher
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Bias does not equal bias: a socio-technical typology of bias in data-based algorithmic systems
Paola Lopez, University of Vienna
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Whiteness in and through data protection: an intersectional approach to anti-violence apps and #MeToo bots
Renee Shelby, Northwestern University
Jenna Imad Harb, Australian National University
Kathryn Henne, Australian National University
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Bleeding data: the case of fertility and menstruation tracking apps
Anastasia Siapka, KU Leuven
Elisabetta Biasin, KU Leuven
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Programming the machine: gender, race, sexuality, AI, and the construction of credibility and deceit at the border
Lucy Hall, University of Amsterdam
William Clapton, University of New South Wales
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Extended DNA analyses: surveillance technology at the intersection of racism and sexism
Isabelle Bartram, University of Freiburg
Tino Plümecke, University of Freiburg
Andrea zur Nieden, University of Freiburg
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Governing “European values” inside data flows
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EDITORIAL: Governing “European values” inside data flows: interdisciplinary perspectives
Kristina Irion, University of Amsterdam
Mira Burri, University of Lucerne
Ans Kolk, University of Amsterdam
Stefania Milan, University of Amsterdam
This editorial introduces ten research articles, which form part of this special issue, exploring the governance of “European values” inside data flows. Protecting fundamental human rights and critical public interests that undergird European societies in a global digital ecosystem poses complex challenges, especially because the United States and China are leading in novel technologies. We envision a research agenda calling upon different disciplines to further identify and understand European values that can adequately perform under conditions of transnational data flows.
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Safeguarding European values with digital sovereignty: an analysis of statements and policies
Huw Roberts, University of Oxford
Josh Cowls, University of Oxford
Federico Casolari, University of Bologna
Jessica Morley, University of Oxford
Mariarosaria Taddeo, University of Oxford
Luciano Floridi, University of Bologna
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Mitigating the risk of US surveillance for public sector services in the cloud
Jockum Hildén, University of Helsinki
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Extraterritorial application of the GDPR: promoting European values or power?
Oskar J. Gstrein, University of Groningen
Andrej Zwitter, University of Groningen
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Governing the shadow of hierarchy: enhanced self-regulation in European data protection codes and certifications
Rotem Medzini, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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Personal data ordering in context: the interaction of meso-level data governance regimes with macro frameworks
Balázs Bodó, University of Amsterdam
Kristina Irion, University of Amsterdam
Heleen Janssen, University of Amsterdam
Alexandra Giannopoulou, University of Amsterdam
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Embedding European values in data governance: a case for public data commons
Jan J. Zygmuntowski, Kozminski University
Laura Zoboli, University of Warsaw
Paul F. Nemitz, College of Europe
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Policy strategies for value-based technology standards
Amelia Andersdotter, Council of European National Top-Level Domain Registries (CENTR)
Lukasz Olejnik, European Data Protection Supervisor
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Value Sensitive Design and power in socio-technical ecosystems
Mattis Jacobs, Universität Hamburg
Christian Kurtz, Universität Hamburg
Judith Simon, Universität Hamburg
Tilo Böhmann, Universität Hamburg
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Beyond the individual: governing AI’s societal harm
Nathalie A. Smuha, KU Leuven
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What rights matter? Examining the place of social rights in the EU’s artificial intelligence policy debate
Jędrzej Niklas, Cardiff University
Lina Dencik, Cardiff University
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Glossary of decentralised technosocial systems
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EDITORIAL: Introducing the glossary of decentralised technosocial systems
Valeria Ferrari, University of Amsterdam
Interdisciplinary glossary on peer-to-peer, user-centric and privacy-enhancing decentralised technologies
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Reputation
Primavera De Filippi, National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS)
Ori Shimony, dOrg
Antonio Tenorio-Fornés, Complutense University of Madrid
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Digital scarcity
Jaya Klara Brekke, Durham University
Aron Fischer, Colony
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Smart contracts
Primavera De Filippi, National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS)
Chris Wray, Legal Graph Company Limited
Giovanni Sileno, University of Amsterdam
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Self-sovereign identity
Alexandra Giannopoulou, University of Amsterdam
Fennie Wang, Dionysus Labs
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Mining
Wassim Zuhair Alsindi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Laura Lotti, Independent
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Blockchain-based technologies
María-Cruz Valiente, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Florian Tschorsch, Technical University Berlin
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Cryptoeconomics
Jaya Klara Brekke, Durham University
Wassim Zuhair Alsindi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Blockchain governance
Aron Fischer, Colony
María-Cruz Valiente, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
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Trust in blockchain-based systems
Moritz Becker, Weizenbaum-Institute for the Networked Society
Balázs Bodó, University of Amsterdam
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Decentralized Autonomous Organization
Samer Hassan, Harvard University
Primavera De Filippi, National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS)
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Decentralisation in the blockchain space
Balázs Bodó, University of Amsterdam
Jaya Klara Brekke, Durham University
Jaap-Henk Hoepman, Radboud University
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Cryptocurrency
Ingolf G. A. Pernice, Weizenbaum Institute
Brett Scott, Independent
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Trust in the system
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EDITORIAL: From trust in the system to trust in the content
Péter Mezei, University of Szeged
Andreea Verteș-Olteanu, West University of Timișoara
The internet is the digital reincarnation of a Greek agora or a Roman forum. It works as a “place” for public and private life. As such, it requires reliable, trustful rules to govern the daily routine of its visitors/users. The governance of the internet has gone through a significant (if not tectonic) change since its standardisation. This is clearly reflected by the changes in the concept of trust as well. Historically, trust reflected the concerns of internet users regarding the intrusion of governments into the neutral functioning of this “place”. As of now, concerns regarding trust are equally present at the macro and micro level. Trust in platforms and in the content made available through the internet is at the centre of disputes nowadays. This editorial intends to provide for a selected introduction of the macro- and micro-level aspects of trust in the system and trust in the content, including content moderation, copyright law, fake news, game-making, hateful materials, leaking, social media and VPNs.
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Expanding the debate about content moderation: scholarly research agendas for the coming policy debates
Tarleton Gillespie, Microsoft Research
Patricia Aufderheide, American University
Elinor Carmi, City University, London
Ysabel Gerrard, University of Sheffield
Robert Gorwa, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
Ariadna Matamoros-Fernández, Queensland University of Technology
Sarah T. Roberts, University of California, Los Angeles
Aram Sinnreich, American University
Sarah Myers West, New York University
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VPNs as boundary objects of the internet: (mis)trust in the translation(s)
Luke Heemsbergen, Deakin University
Adam Molnar, University of Waterloo
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Combating misinformation online: re-imagining social media for policy-making
Eleni A. Kyza, Cyprus University of Technology
Christiana Varda, Cyprus University of Technology
Dionysis Panos, Cyprus University of Technology
Melina Karageorgiou, Cyprus University of Technology
Nadejda Komendantova, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
Serena Coppolino Perfumi, Stockholm University
Syed Iftikhar Husain Shah, International Hellenic University
Akram Sadat Hosseini, University of Stuttgart
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Platformisation in game development
Aleena Chia, Simon Fraser University
Brendan Keogh, Queensland University of Technology
Dale Leorke, Tampere University
Benjamin Nicoll, Queensland University of Technology
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Reddit quarantined: can changing platform affordances reduce hateful material online?
Simon Copland, Australian National University
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Trusted commons: why ‘old’ social media matter
--- Maxigas, University of Amsterdam
Guillaume Latzko-Toth, Laval University
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Geopolitics, jurisdiction and surveillance
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EDITORIAL: Geopolitics, jurisdiction and surveillance
Monique Mann, Deakin University
Angela Daly, University of Strathclyde
The rise of digital information communication technology has major implications for how states wield coercive power beyond their territorial borders through the extraterritorial geographies of data flows. In examining the geopolitics of data, transnational surveillance, and jurisdiction, this collection makes a significant contribution to the field of global internet governance. It shows how the internet is a forum for geopolitical struggle with states weaponising jurisdiction and exerting power beyond their own borders directly, and via infrastructures owned and operated by transnational technology companies. These dynamics challenge existing conceptual and theoretical categories of contemporary law across the fields of international relations, criminology, and digital media, and raise urgent questions about if and how individual rights can be protected in an era of ubiquitous transnational surveillance conducted by private companies and governments alike.
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Mapping power and jurisdiction on the internet through the lens of government-led surveillance
Oskar J. Gstrein, University of Groningen
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Regulatory arbitrage and transnational surveillance: Australia’s extraterritorial assistance to access encrypted communications
Monique Mann, Victoria University of Wellington
Angela Daly, University of Dundee
Adam Molnar, University of Waterloo
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Internationalising state power through the internet: Google, Huawei and geopolitical struggle
Madison Cartwright, University of Sydney
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Public and private just wars: Distributed cyber deterrence based on Vitoria and Grotius
Johannes Thumfart, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
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Transnational collective actions for cross-border data protection violations
Federica Casarosa, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna
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The legal geographies of extradition and sovereign power
Sally Kennedy, Deakin University
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Anchoring the need to revise cross-border access to e-evidence
Sergi Vazquez Maymir, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
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Digital inclusion and data literacy
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EDITORIAL: What do digital inclusion and data literacy mean today?
Elinor Carmi, University of Liverpool
Simeon J. Yates, University of Liverpool
As more of our everyday lives become digital, it has become crucial to include everyone in the digital society. This special issue is examining the different layers of digital inclusion and data literacy by drawing on research, policy, and practice developments around literacies in various regions and contexts. It highlights the politics around them so as to propose policies that are needed to include more people in datafied societies, and what types of literacies they should learn. This issue includes three commentaries by experts in the field and five peer-reviewed academic papers that go towards tackling digital inclusion. This means to find solutions to the fact that many people are left behind technological advancements, and that these create what is commonly called - the digital divide.
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Apps, appointments, panic and people
Alice Mathers, Good Things Foundation
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Want to open the budget now? Ask me how! Budget data literacy in Israel - a case study
Mary Loitsker, Public Knowledge Workshop
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Digital inclusion and well-being
Douglas White, Carnegie UK Trust
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Data citizenship: rethinking data literacy in the age of disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation
Elinor Carmi, City University, London
Simeon J. Yates, University of Liverpool
Eleanor Lockley, Sheffield Hallam University
Alicja Pawluczuk, United Nations University
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Co-developing digital inclusion policy and programming with Indigenous partners: interventions from Canada
Rob McMahon, University of Alberta
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What is critical big data literacy and how can it be implemented?
Ina Sander, Cardiff University
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A situated approach to digital exclusion based on life courses
Laura Faure, Fondation Travail-Université
Patricia Vendramin, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)
Dana Schurmans, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)
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Digital youth inclusion and the big data divide: examining the Scottish perspective
Alicja Pawluczuk, United Nations University
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Science fiction and information law
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EDITORIAL: Four tales of sci-fi and information law
Natali Helberger, University of Amsterdam
Joost Poort, University of Amsterdam
Mykola Makhortykh, University of Bern
Feel like living in a dystopia? Take a deep breath, get a strong coffee, and let us challenge your ideas of where reality ends, and sci-fi begins…
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The emergent property market
Jonathan Crowcroft, University of Cambridge
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Generation NeoTouch: how digital touch is impacting the way we are intimate
Christine Würth, (Freelance)
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The storyteller
James Danielsen, Rhodes University
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A new beginning
Arnoud Engelfriet, ICTRecht
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Data-driven elections
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EDITORIAL: Data-driven elections: implications and challenges for democratic societies
Colin J. Bennett, University of Victoria
David Lyon, Queen's University
There is a pervasive assumption that elections can be won and lost on the basis of which candidate or party has the better data on the preferences and behaviour of the electorate. But there are myths and realities about data-driven elections. It is time to assess the actual implications of data-driven elections in the light of the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal, and to reconsider the broader terms of the international debate. Political micro-targeting, and the voter analytics upon which it is based, are essentially forms of surveillance. We know a lot about how surveillance harms democratic values. We know a lot less, however, about how surveillance spreads as a result of democratic practices – by the agents and organisations that encourage us to vote (or not vote). The articles in this collection, developed out of a workshop hosted by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia in April 2019, address the most central issues about data-driven elections, and particularly the impact of US social media platforms on local political institutions and cultures. The balance between rights to privacy, and the rights of political actors to communicate with the electorate, is struck in different ways in different jurisdictions depending on a complex interplay of various legal, political, and cultural factors. Collectively, the articles in this collection signal the necessary questions for academics and regulators in the years ahead.
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The digital commercialisation of US politics — 2020 and beyond
Jeff Chester, Center for Digital Democracy
Kathryn C. Montgomery, American University
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Data campaigning: between empirics and assumptions
Jessica Baldwin-Philippi, Fordham University
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WhatsApp and political instability in Brazil: targeted messages and political radicalisation
Rafael Evangelista, State University of Campinas (Unicamp)
Fernanda Bruno, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
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Unpacking the “European approach” to tackling challenges of disinformation and political manipulation
Iva Nenadić, University of Zagreb
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The regulation of online political micro-targeting in Europe
Tom Dobber, University of Amsterdam
Ronan Ó Fathaigh, University of Amsterdam
Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius, Radboud University
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Voter preferences, voter manipulation, voter analytics: policy options for less surveillance and more autonomy
Jacquelyn Burkell, THe University of Western Ontario
Priscilla M. Regan, George Mason University
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Platform transience: changes in Facebook’s policies, procedures, and affordances in global electoral politics
Bridget Barrett, University of North Carolina
Daniel Kreiss, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Cranks, clickbait and cons: on the acceptable use of political engagement platforms
Fenwick McKelvey, Concordia University
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Disinformation optimised: gaming search engine algorithms to amplify junk news
Samantha Bradshaw, Oxford Internet Institute
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On the edge of glory (…or catastrophe): regulation, transparency and party democracy in data-driven campaigning in Québec
Eric Montigny, Université Laval
Philippe Dubois, Université du Québec
Thierry Giasson, Université Laval
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Data-driven political campaigns in practice: understanding and regulating diverse data-driven campaigns
Katharine Dommett, University of Sheffield
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Big data and democracy: a regulator’s perspective
Michael P. McEvoy, Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia
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Towards a holistic perspective on personal data and the data-driven election paradigm
Varoon Bashyakarla, Tactical Tech
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Defining concepts of the digital society
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EDITORIAL: Defining concepts of the digital society
Christian Katzenbach, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
Thomas Christian Bächle, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
At a time when branding new, occasionally innovative but often only catchy terms has become a familiar activity of researchers, companies and policymakers alike, it is necessary to reflect on which of these concepts is actually worthwhile, provides analytic value and in effect describes something new. This new special section Defining concepts of the digital society seeks to foster a platform that discusses and validates these overarching frameworks and theories. Based on the latest research, yet broad in scope, the contributions offer effective tools to analyse the digital society. Their authors offer concise articles that portray and critically discuss individual concepts such as algorithmic governance, datafication, platformisation, privacy with an interdisciplinary mindset. Each article contextualises their respective origin and academic traditions, analyses their contemporary usage in different research approaches and discusses their social, political, cultural, ethical or economic relevance and impact as well as their analytical value. The special section is a continuing project that will expand the collection of concepts in 2020 and beyond. We sincerely hope that it will grow into a valuable forum for making sense of the digital transformation and a pertinent resource for researchers, teachers, students and practitioners.
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Algorithmic governance
Christian Katzenbach, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
Lena Ulbricht, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
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Platformisation
Thomas Poell, University of Amsterdam
David Nieborg, University of Toronto
José van Dijck, Utrecht University
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Filter bubble
Axel Bruns, Queensland University of Technology
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Privacy
Tobias Matzner, University Paderborn
Carsten Ochs, Universität Kassel
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Datafication
Ulises A. Mejias, State University of New York at Oswego
Nick Couldry, London School of Economics & Political Science
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Transnational materialities
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EDITORIAL: The recursivity of internet governance research
José van Dijck, Utrecht University
Bernhard Rieder, University of Amsterdam
This special issue of Internet Policy Review is the second to bring together the best policy-oriented papers presented at the annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR). The conference in Montréal, in October 2018, was organised around the theme of "Transnational materialities". As explained in the editorial to this issue, the contributions map the larger debate on internet governance research in terms of perspectives rather than disciplines. The eleven papers in this issue span a wide range of topics, including normative perspectives on how platforms shape democracy, conceptual perspectives on how to think platform power, and social and legal views on data-driven governance.
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The platform governance triangle: conceptualising the informal regulation of online content
Robert Gorwa, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
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How US-made rules shape internet governance in China
Natasha Tusikov, York University
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Citizen or consumer? Contrasting Australia and Europe’s data protection policies
James Meese, University of Technology Sydney
Punit Jagasia, University of Technology Sydney
James Arvanitakis, Western Sydney University
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Technology, autonomy, and manipulation
Daniel Susser, Pennsylvania State University
Beate Roessler, University of Amsterdam
Helen Nissenbaum, Cornell Tech
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Making data colonialism liveable: how might data’s social order be regulated?
Nick Couldry, London School of Economics & Political Science
Ulises A. Mejias, State University of New York at Oswego
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Zombie contracts, dark patterns of design, and ‘documentisation’
Kristin B. Cornelius, University of California, Los Angeles
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The ‘golden view’: data-driven governance in the scoring society
Lina Dencik, Cardiff University
Joanna Redden, Cardiff University
Arne Hintz, Cardiff University
Harry Warne, Cardiff University
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Reframing platform power
José van Dijck, Utrecht University
David Nieborg, University of Toronto
Thomas Poell, University of Amsterdam
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A guideline for understanding and measuring algorithmic governance in everyday life
Michael Latzer, University of Zurich
Noemi Festic, University of Zurich
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Mediated democracy – Linking digital technology to political agency
Jeanette Hofmann, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
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The algorithmic dance: YouTube’s Adpocalypse and the gatekeeping of cultural content on digital platforms
Sangeet Kumar, Denison University
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Practicing rights and values in internet policy around the world
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EDITORIAL: Communication and internet policy: a critical rights-based history and future
Aphra Kerr, Maynooth University
Francesca Musiani, National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)
Julia Pohle, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
This special issue of Internet Policy Review brings together a hand-picked selection of articles presented in the Communication Policy and Technology (CPT) section at the annual conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) in Eugene, Oregon (USA), 2018. With different theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and geographical scope, the five papers in this issue address how ideal-type rights and values are translated into highly variable rules, regulations, policies and practices in different countries and regions around the world. Drawing from their respective case studies, the papers examine a number of consequences of this gap for internet users, as citizens and consumers. Building on these papers, the editorial discusses some recent evolutions of the internet policy field, and introduces the critical and ‘engaged scholarship’ approach that IAMCR and its CPT section have displayed over the years in their analyses of communication and internet policy.
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Data and digital rights: recent Australian developments
Gerard Goggin, University of Sydney
Ariadne Vromen, University of Sydney
Kimberlee Weatherall, University of Sydney
Fiona Martin, University of Sydney
Lucy Sunman, University of Sydney
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Operationalising communication rights: the case of a “digital welfare state”
Marko Ala-Fossi, Tampere University
Anette Alén-Savikko, University of Helsinki
Jockum Hildén, University of Helsinki
Minna Aslama Horowitz, University of Helsinki
Johanna Jääsaari, University of Helsinki
Kari Karppinen, University of Helsinki
Katja Lehtisaari, University of Helsinki
Hannu Nieminen, University of Helsinki
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Counter-terrorism in Ethiopia: manufacturing insecurity, monopolizing speech
Téwodros W. Workneh, Kent State University
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Empire and the megamachine: comparing two controversies over social media content
Steph Hill, University of Leicester
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Beyond ‘zero sum’: the case for context in regulating zero rating in the global South
Guy Thurston Hoskins, York University
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Networked publics
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EDITORIAL: Networked publics: multi-disciplinary perspectives on big policy issues
William H. Dutton, Michigan State University
This special issue of Internet Policy Review is the first to bring together the best policy-oriented papers presented at the annual conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR). This issue is anchored in the 2017 conference in Tartu, Estonia, which was organised around the theme of networked publics. The seven papers span issues concerning whether and how technology and policy are reshaping access to information, perspectives on privacy and security online, and social and legal perspectives on informed consent of internet users. As explained in the editorial to this issue, taken together, the contributions to this issue reflect the rise of new policy, regulatory and governance issues around the internet and social media, an ascendance of disciplinary perspectives in what is arguably an interdisciplinary field, and the value that theoretical perspectives from cultural studies, law and the social sciences can bring to internet policy research.
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What kind of cyber security? Theorising cyber security and mapping approaches
Laura Fichtner, University of Hamburg
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Big crisis data: generality-singularity tensions
Karolin Eva Kappler, University of Hagen
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Standard form contracts and a smart contract future
Kristin B. Cornelius, University of California, Los Angeles
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Not just one, but many ‘Rights to be Forgotten’
Geert Van Calster, KU Leuven
Alejandro Gonzalez Arreaza, KU Leuven
Elsemiek Apers, Conseil International du Notariat Belge
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Algorithmic governance and the need for consumer empowerment in data-driven markets
Stefan Larsson, Lund University
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Political topic-communities and their framing practices in the Dutch Twittersphere
Maranke Wieringa, Utrecht University
Daniela van Geenen, University of Applied Sciences Utrecht
Mirko Tobias Schäfer, Utrecht University
Ludo Gorzeman, Utrecht University
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Cryptographic imaginaries and the networked public
Sarah Myers West, New York University
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Political micro-targeting
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EDITORIAL: Political micro-targeting: a Manchurian candidate or just a dark horse?
Balázs Bodó, University of Amsterdam
Natali Helberger, University of Amsterdam
Claes de Vreese, University of Amsterdam
Political micro-targeting (PMT) has become a popular topic both in academia and in the public discussions after the surprise results of the 2016 US presidential election, the UK vote on leaving the European Union, and a number of general elections in Europe in 2017. Yet, we still know little about whether PMT is a tool with such destructive potential that it requires close societal control, or if it’s “just” a new phenomenon with currently unknown capacities, but which can ultimately be incorporated into our political processes. In this article we identify the points where we think we need to further develop our analytical capacities around PMT. We argue that we need to decouple research from the US context, and through more non-US and comparative research we need to develop a better understanding of the macro, meso, and micro level factors that affect the adoption and success of PMTs across different countries. One of the most under-researched macro-level factors is law. We argue that PMT research must develop a better understanding of law, especially in Europe, where the regulatory frameworks around platforms, personal data, political and commercial speech do shape the use and effectiveness of PMT. We point out that the incorporation of such new factors calls for the sophistication of research designs, which currently rely too much on qualitative methods, and use too little of the data that exists on PMT. And finally, we call for distancing PMT research from the hype surrounding the new PMT capabilities, and the moral panics that quickly develop around its uses.
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The role of digital marketing in political campaigns
Jeff Chester, Center for Digital Democracy
Kathryn C. Montgomery, American University
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WhatsApp in Brazil: mobilising voters through door-to-door and personal messages
Mauricio Moura, The George Washington University
Melissa R. Michelson, Menlo College
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Two crates of beer and 40 pizzas: the adoption of innovative political behavioural targeting techniques
Tom Dobber, University of Amsterdam
Damian Trilling, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Natali Helberger, University of Amsterdam
Claes de Vreese, University of Amsterdam
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Restrictions on data-driven political micro-targeting in Germany
Simon Kruschinski, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
André Haller, University of Bamberg
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On democracy
Sophie in 't Veld, European Parliament
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Micro-targeting, the quantified persuasion
Daniel Kreiss, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Australian internet policy
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EDITORIAL: Australian internet policy
Angela Daly, Queensland University of Technology
Julian Thomas, RMIT University
This special issue focussing on internet policy in Australia provides a snapshot of developments on various topics (access, privacy, censorship) as a means of understanding better the state of play in Australia, and also how this compares to internet policy in other parts of the world, especially Europe and North America. Given changing geopolitics, the influence of internet policy in the rest of the Asia Pacific through vehicles such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) may become increasingly important in Australia in the coming years. This leaves Australia, and its internet policy, at a crossroads, which may reflect broader dynamics in internet policy internationally, and makes this an interesting time in which to explore what is happening in this particular country.
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The passage of Australia’s data retention regime: national security, human rights, and media scrutiny
Nicolas P. Suzor, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
Kylie Pappalardo, Queensland University of Technology
Natalie McIntosh, Queensland University of Technology
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Computer network operations and ‘rule-with-law’ in Australia
Adam Molnar, University of Waterloo
Christopher Parsons, University of Toronto
Erik Zouave, KU Leuven
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Internet accessibility and disability policy: lessons for digital inclusion and equality from Australia
Gerard Goggin, University of Sydney
Scott Hollier, Media Access Australia
Wayne Hawkins, Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN)
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Internet policy and Australia’s Northern Territory Intervention
Ellie Rennie, RMIT University
Jake Goldenfein, The University of Melbourne
Julian Thomas, RMIT University
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Towards responsive regulation of the Internet of Things: Australian perspectives
Megan Richardson, The University of Melbourne
Rachelle Bosua, The University of Melbourne
Karin Clark, The University of Melbourne
Jeb Webb, The University of Melbourne
Atif Ahmad, The University of Melbourne
Sean Maynard, The University of Melbourne
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Doing internet governance
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EDITORIAL: Doing internet governance: practices, controversies, infrastructures, and institutions
Dmitry Epstein, University of Illinois at Chicago
Christian Katzenbach, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG)
Francesca Musiani, Université Paris-Sorbonne
This special issue makes an argument for, and illustrates, the applicability of a science and technology studies (STS) informed approach to internet governance research. The conceptual framework put forward in this editorial and the articles composing this issue add to the mainstream internet governance scholarship by unpacking macro questions of politics and power. They do so through the analysis of the mundane and taken-for-granted practices and discourses that constitute the design, regulation, maintenance, and use of both technical and institutional arrangements of internet governance. Together, this body of work calls to rethink how we conceptualise both internet and governance.
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Disclosing and concealing: internet governance, information control and the management of visibility
Mikkel Flyverbom, Copenhagen Business School
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Beyond “Points of Control”: logics of digital governmentality
Romain Badouard, Université de Cergy-Pontoise
Clément Mabi, Université de Technologie de Compiègne
Guillaume Sire, Université Paris II (Panthéon-Assas)
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Instability and internet design
Sandra Braman, Texas A&M University
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The problem of future users: how constructing the DNS shaped internet governance
Steven Malcic, University of California Santa Barbara
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The myth of the decentralised internet
Ashwin J. Mathew, University of California, Berkeley
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The invisible politics of Bitcoin: governance crisis of a decentralised infrastructure
Primavera De Filippi, National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS)
Benjamin Loveluck, Télécom ParisTech
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Multistakeholder governance processes as production sites: enhanced cooperation "in the making"
Julia Pohle, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
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Internet governance as 'ideology in practice' – India's 'Free Basics' controversy
Anita Gurumurthy, IT for Change
Nandini Chami, IT for Change
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What we talk about when we talk about cybersecurity: security in internet governance debates
Josephine Wolff, Rochester Institute of Technology
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Governing the internet in the privacy arena
Carsten Ochs, Universität Kassel
Fabian Pittroff, Universität Kassel
Barbara Büttner, Universität Kassel
Jörn Lamla, Universität Kassel
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Regulating the sharing economy
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EDITORIAL: Regulating the sharing economy
Kristofer Erickson, University of Glasgow / CREATe
Inge Sørensen, University of Glasgow
In this introductory essay, we explore definitions of the ‘sharing economy’, a concept indicating both social (relational, communitarian) and economic (allocative, profit-seeking) aspects which appear to be in tension. We suggest combining the social and economic logics of the sharing economy to focus on the central features of network enabled, aggregated membership in a pool of offers and demands (for goods, services, creative expressions). This definition of the sharing economy distinguishes it from other related peer-to-peer and collaborative forms of production. Understanding the social and economic motivations for and implications of participating in the sharing economy is important to its regulation. Each of the papers in this special issue contributes to knowledge by linking the social and economic aspects of sharing economy practices to regulatory norms and mechanisms. We conclude this essay by suggesting future research to further clarify and render intelligible the sharing economy, not as a contradiction in terms but as an empirically observable realm of socio-economic activity.
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Taxis and crowd-taxis: sharing as a private activity and public concern
Merethe Dotterud Leiren, Center for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO)
Jørgen Aarhaug, Institute of Transport Economics
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Rebalancing interests and power structures on crowdworking platforms
Ayad Al-Ani, Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG)
Stefan Stumpp, Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG)
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Sharing without laws: an exploration of social practices and ad hoc labeling standards in online movie piracy
Roberto Tietzmann, Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS)
Liana Gross Furini, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS)
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Defining the relevant market in the sharing economy
Francesco Russo, University of Amsterdam
Maria Luisa Stasi, European University Institute
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Sharing killed the AVMSD star: the impossibility of European audiovisual media regulation in the era of the sharing economy
Indrek Ibrus, Tallinn University
Ulrike Rohn, Tallinn University
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Big data: big power shifts?
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EDITORIAL: Big data: big power shifts?
Lena Ulbricht, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
Maximilian von Grafenstein, Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG)
Facing general conceptions of the power effects of big data, this thematic edition is interested in studies that scrutinise big data and power in concrete fields of application. It brings together scholars from different disciplines who analyse the fields agriculture, education, border control and consumer policy. As will be made explicit in the following, each of the articles tells us something about firstly, what big data is and how it relates to power. They secondly also shed light on how we should shape “the big data society” and what research questions need to be answered to be able to do so.
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The ethics of big data in big agriculture
Isabelle M. Carbonell, University of California, Santa Cruz
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Regulating “big data education” in Europe: lessons learned from the US
Yoni Har Carmel, University of Haifa
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The borders, they are a-changin'! The emergence of socio-digital borders in the EU
Magdalena König, Maastricht University
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Beyond consent: improving data protection through consumer protection law
Michiel Rhoen, Leiden University
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