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
News on Governance
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. Ongoing regulatory debates in the EU
The road to regulation of artificial intelligence: the Brazilian experience
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.
What does China’s newly launched National Data Bureau mean to China and global data governance?
On 16 March 2023 the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee and the State Council formally released the plan on reforming Party and state institutions which was endorsed during the annual National People’s Congress in early March.
Regulating Netflix: A cross-national momentum?
The author argues that the regulation over transnational audiovisual platforms (Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+) is framed by two crucial variables: handling state-interest groups relationships and global interdependence.
The fallacy of decentralised autonomous organisations: Decentralised in name only?
Decentralised Autonomous Organisations ( DAOs) promise to be decentralised, but many fall short of this promise in practice. This is why.
Identifying harm in manipulative artificial intelligence practices
This op-ed is part of a series of opinion pieces edited by Amélie Heldt in the context of a workshop on the Digital Services Act Package hosted by the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society on 15 and 16 November 2021 in Berlin. This workshop brought together legal scholars and social scientists to get a better understanding of the DSA
P2B and the missing relational dimensions of the Digital Services Act
This op-ed is part of a series of opinion pieces edited by Amélie Heldt in the context of a workshop on the Digital Services Act Package hosted by the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society on 15 and 16 November 2021 in Berlin. This workshop brought together legal scholars and social scientists to get a better understanding of the DSA
The Digital Services Act: risk-based regulation of online platforms
This op-ed is part of a series of opinion pieces edited by Amélie Heldt in the context of a workshop on the Digital Services Act Package hosted by the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society on 15 and 16 November 2021 in Berlin. This workshop brought together legal scholars and social scientists to get a better understanding of the DSA
Framing the Digital Services Act within transatlantic digital constitutionalism
This op-ed is part of a series of opinion pieces edited by Amélie Heldt in the context of a workshop on the Digital Services Act Package hosted by the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society on 15 and 16 November 2021 in Berlin. This workshop brought together legal scholars and social scientists to get a better understanding of the DSA