In light of the need for resilient and sovereign digital infrastructure for public institutions during times of multiple crises, Free/Libre Open-Source Software (FLOSS) offers a way for institutions to lessen their dependence on platform economies.
Introduction
From negative impacts on teenagers’ mental health to the abuse of data collection for political microtargeting and potentially abetting genocide against the Rohingya: in the past decade, online platforms like In
Recent public discourse on social media sounds somewhat dystopian: Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and co. knowingly use manipulative design features and algorithms to keep users hooked. Children and young people are particularly susceptible to this — staring at their screen for countless hours, they become addicted, depressed, and plagued by anxiety. Losing control over their own behaviour, they neglect other activities. A problem so serious that politicians need to intervene.
According to recent studies, Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) output discriminates against women. On testing ChatGPT, terms such as “expert” and “integrity” were used to describe men, while women were associated with “beauty” or “delight”. This was the case while using the Large Language Model, Alpaca, a model developed by Stanford University to produce recommendation letters for potential employees.
Declaration
This work was based on the research developed in the framework of PNRR/NextGenerationEU project "Biorobotics Research and Innovation Engineering Facilities “IR0000036” – CUP J13C22000400007".
Stepping into a virtual realm where every move you make is not solely your own but is subtly orchestrated by game designers — where there could be 'dark patterns' controlling your gaming experience, dopamine rushes and spending habits — is a concerning but not unrealistic portrayal of the future of gameplay.
Brazil is currently examining a comprehensive AI bill to establish a rights-based and risk-based regulatory framework. In contrast to notions of legal transplant or the influence of the Brussels effect, Brazil seeks to carve its own path, addressing the nation's distinct challenges and opportunities.
Bloomberg has recently reported that Visa has 90 million disputes annually. The resolution of so many disputes requires an innovative dispute resolution method: CODR.
On the 23 February 2023, the Italian Data Protection Authority (DPA) issued a decision against Ediscom S.p.A. (Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali, 2023) explicitly referring to “dark patterns”, i.e. online design choices that manipulate users’ decision-making to benefit digital services.