News and Research articles on Governmental

Management of the internet by the principle of the multistakeholder governance model has survived attempts of replacing it with inter-government management. What additional principles are useful to guide global internet governance and enhance ICANN’s legitimacy, seen in light of recent challenges? Are the disagreements over global internet governance also about diverging understandings of the goals in internet governance?

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
PUBLISHED ON: 31 Dec 2019 DOI: 10.14763/2019.4.1440

This paper discusses how online political micro-targeting is regulated in Europe, from the perspective of data protection law, freedom of expression, and political advertising rules.

After a process that took more than five years, Serbia finally received a new Law on Personal Data Protection [in Serbian] - adopted by the National Assembly last November. The law closely follows EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), almost to the point of literal translation into Serbian. That was expected, due to Serbia’s EU membership candidacy.

Zero rating has emerged as one of the most contentious communications policy debates of the last decade. The offer of ‘free’ access to select applications compromises network neutrality, at the same time as it can present advantages to users with limited economic resources. How can we attempt to reconcile these conflicting dimensions of zero rating?

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
PUBLISHED ON: 31 Mar 2019 DOI: 10.14763/2019.1.1389

Operationalisation of communication rights in the context of Finland highlights major challenges that digitalisation poses to democracy.

The countering of terrorism propaganda online, through private companies, may little by little kill our right to freedom of expression.

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
PUBLISHED ON: 15 May 2018 DOI: 10.14763/2018.2.794

Since being first developed through the case law of the European Court of Justice, the Right to be Forgotten (RTBF) has rapidly diffused beyond its European origins: in Latin America for instance. This paper documents the wide spectrum of interpretations the RTBF has had across countries and data protection authorities.

Standard form contracts and a smart contract future

Kristin B. Cornelius, University of California, Los Angeles
PUBLISHED ON: 15 May 2018 DOI: 10.14763/2018.2.790

With widespread smart contract implementation on the horizon, there is much conversation about how to regulate this new technology. Noting the failure of contract law to address the inequities of standardised contracts in the digital environment can help prevent them from being codified further into smart contracts.

What kind of cyber security? Theorising cyber security and mapping approaches

Laura Fichtner, University of Hamburg
PUBLISHED ON: 15 May 2018 DOI: 10.14763/2018.2.788

This paper explores how four approaches to cyber security are constructed, motivated and justified by different values such as privacy, economic order and national security and what this means for the actors involved.

Accountability challenges confronting cyberspace governance

Jacqueline Eggenschwiler, University of Oxford
PUBLISHED ON: 20 Sep 2017 DOI: 10.14763/2017.3.712

Cyberspace governance struggles with three accountability challenges, the problem of many hands, the profusion of issue areas, as well as the hybridity and malleability of institutional arrangements. In order to address and mitigate these challenges, accountability relationships need to be consciously reframed and discursively constructed.

The importance of personal data for the digital economy accentuates a problematic information asymmetry between consumers and the data-driven market players. An increased consumer protection would have to deal with the lack of transparency of this black-box setup and a flawed use of consent as regulatory model. The consumer protection needs to be improved in practice, in its implementation, not only in its policy.