European Hub
of the Global Network of
Internet and Society
Research Centers

East and West Workshop 2022: Power, Control, and Cyber Governance: Discourse from the East and the West

Recent years have seen continuous reconfiguration of power relationship among governments, market, and the public in response to digital technologies. Digital platforms have shown increasing power in shaping social order and everyday routines, outshining traditional institutions in practically every aspect (van Dijk, 2019). Superpowers have been engaging in a new round of confrontations. For example, in the U.S., President Biden initiated the agenda to secure the free market for middle classes at home (the Economist, 2022), whereas in China, a series of political policies were issued to structure and limit the emerging platforms in the name of national interests (Cyberspace Ministry, 2019). It is a global trend for states to be increasingly reliant on instant data generated by the digital platforms for decision making (Srneick, 2019), while trying to insert greater control over digital space. Contrary to the “technological positive” imagination (see: Curran, 2012), the trend represents an ongoing negotiation between the political, economic, and various other societal forces.

The study context brings opportunities for this workshop to explore the internet order brought by the political, economic, and social negotiations from a global perspective. Themed on power, control, and cyber governance, we do not merely assume a top-down and economic determinism of the internet and the society. Instead, we welcome studies that record the process of the changes and challenges from macro, mezzo, and micro levels. The workshop will engage conversations around three thematic tracks, including:

1. Global Perspective of Power, Control, and Internet Governance

We encourage projects and research at the international level and/or with comparative perspectives.

Track Leader: Prof. Ji Deqiang, Communication University of China, and/or Prof. Dr. Karen Arriaza Ibarra (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

2. Regional Perspective of Power, Control, and Internet Governance

Studies from regional level ranging from greater China, ASIEAN to EUROPEAN regions are welcome.

Track Leader: Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS)

3. Local Perspective of Power, Control, and Internet Governance

Local studies and stories about how the internet enables and constraints the existing power structure are welcome.

Track Leader: Prof. Steve Guo, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University, and Dr. Luqiu Rose, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University

Submission Information

In line with CAIS‘ mission of nurturing young scholars, we require applicants for the workshop to be current Ph.D students preferably in ABD status (or at an advanced level of their Ph.D program). Applicants should submit a project abstract of roughly 500-750 words in English in pdf. format. The deadline for submission is 17 April 2022. If accepted, complete papers within 8,000 words in text are due by 12 June 2022. Please submit your abstract to Angela Dan Wang (angela@hkbu.edu.hk) with indication of the track information at the title.

Resulting publications

Online Media and Global Communication has agreed to publish a respective special issue from the best work among the workshop, and another linked workshop at CAIS after a referee process.

An international workshop jointly hosted by The Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS), International Communication Section, International Association of Media and Communication Research (INC, IAMCR), and the School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU)

More information: https://www.cais.nrw/phdnet/east-and-west-workshop-2022/

The Digital Law Research Colloquium (DLRC) is organized by our Digital Law Center / University of Geneva, in collaboration with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, the CRIDES Center for Economic Law and Society at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), the Institute for Technology and Society of Rio, Renmin University of China and the Centre d’Etudes et de Recherche en Droit de l’Immatériel of  the University Paris Sud.

The DLCR constitutes a unique opportunity for young digital law researchers and scholars working on hot digital law & policy topics to present their work-in-progress to a global panel of digital law experts (coming from all the partner institutions involved in the DLRC) and to receive valuable feedback on their research from leading scholars and to be part of a growing global digital law research community (see the testimonials for the last colloquium: https://www.digitallawcenter.ch/en/event/DLRC2022).

For additional information & online application:

Digital Law Research Colloquium (deadline: April 30, 2022): www.digitallawcolloquium-geneva.ch

Please feel free to share the information around you and do not hesitate to contact us at digitallaw@unige.ch (in cc) in case of questions.

Digital Law Summer School (online – June 20 to July 1, 2022)

The Digital Law Summer School (DLSS) is a two week online education program which offers a unique opportunity to discuss cutting edge digital law and policy issues with leading academics, practitioners, representatives of international organizations and other leading global digital policy actors, including the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the CyberPeace Institute. The DLSS gathers a very diverse group of talented participants that build a dynamic global community of digital law experts and creates great opportunities for social and professional interactions and networking (and to be part of the growing community of DLSS alumni).

For additional information & online application:

Digital Law Summer School (deadline: April 15, 2022): www.digitallaw-geneva.ch

Please feel free to share the information around you and do not hesitate to contact us at digitallaw@unige.ch (in cc) in case of questions. 

The Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society is organizing its 2022 annual conference on the subject of “Practicing Sovereignty. Interventions for open digital futures”. The conference will take place at the venue „Alte Münze“ in Berlin on Thursday, 9 June and Friday, 10 June 2022.

The international conference and exhibition will investigate new opportunities for digital participation and policymaking and discuss alternative technological and social practices from various fields and disciplines. We frame digital sovereignty as a right to be claimed and a process constantly in the making, as a condition of the ability to critically partake in the digital transformation.

The conference will provide a transdisciplinary platform for scholars, artists, activists, and human rights advocates who develop transformative practices spaces to foster digital involvement. Grassroots initiatives, community projects, and participatory practices in design, art and activism appear as collective counter strategies and bottom-up interventions that challenge the normalization of inequalities and insecurities and push back against threats to an open society. They lay the groundwork for new forms of agency, paving novel ways of practicing sovereignty – both in the sense of collective activities as well as in terms of public education and experimentation.

More information

About the Weizenbaum Institute

The Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society – The German Internet Institute is a collaborative project from Berlin and Brandenburg funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).  The aim is to better understand the dynamics, mechanisms and implications of digitalisation.

To this end, the Weizenbaum Institute investigates the ethical, legal, economic and political aspects of digital change. This creates an empirical basis for responsible digitalisation. On the basis of the research findings, action options are developed for government, the economy and civil society, in order to shape the digital transformation in a responsible interdisciplinary manner.

Since September 2020, the Weizenbaum-Institut e.V. has been responsible for the administrative coordination of the collaborative project.

*GERMAN ONLY*

Intensivkurs: Normen der Digitalisierung: Grundlagen, Rechtsnormen, Kommunikationsnormen (CAIS, 17.05.2022, 10-16 Uhr)

Im Zusammenhang mit Digitalisierungsfragen wird häufig gefordert, man müsse sich mit ihnen auch normativ beschäftigen, müsse die ethischen Fragen berücksichtigen usf. Aber was ist damit gemeint? Was macht eine ethische, was macht eine rechtliche Perspektive aus, was sind überhaupt Normen, wie unterscheiden sich moralische, rechtliche und sonstige Normen? Wie beeinflussen Normen die Erwartungen von Handelnden, wie kommen sie in Kraft und wie kann man sie rechtfertigen?  Und wie prägen sich Normen in einem speziellen Bereich aus, etwa in der (digitalen) Kommunikation zu politischen Themen?

Der einführende Intensivkurs zu Normen der Digitalisierung richtet sich an Promovierende, die zu Digitalisierungsthemen arbeiten und sich bislang noch nicht mit Grundlagen normativer Fragen beschäftigt haben. Ausgehend von drei unterschiedlichen disziplinären Zugängen (Philosophie, Rechtswissenschaften, Kommunikationswissenschaft) erwerben die Teilnehmer:innen die Fähigkeit, den Begriff der „Norm“ theoretisch zu reflektieren und in digitalisierungsspezifischen Anwendungskontexten zu verstehen. Das erworbene Wissen kann auch dazu dienen, das eigene wissenschaftliche Arbeiten daraufhin zu befragen, inwiefern es direkt oder indirekt auf Normen verweist oder von diesen geprägt wird.

Der Kurs ist entsprechend dreiteilig aufgebaut:

• (Begriffliche) Grundlagen der Normativität: Was sind (moralische, rechtliche, sonstige) Normen, welche Funktion haben Normen? Was ist Moral, was ist Ethik? Welche Probleme gibt es bei der Begründung von Normen? Was ist “Ethics by Design”?
• Recht der Digitalisierung für Nicht-Jurist:innen: I. Rechtstheoretische Grundlagen (u.a. Was ist Recht? Wodurch zeichnet sich rechtliche Regulierung aus?), II. Grundwissen Verfassungsrecht (u.a. Normenhierarchie, Staatsaufbau, Verfassungsprinzipien) und III. Grundzüge des Rechts der Digitalisierung (Wie wird das Recht durch Digitalisierung – hier am Beispiel des Datenschutzrechts – herausgefordert?)
• Normative Erwartungen an digitale politische Kommunikation – Ein Anwendungsbeispiel für normative Überlegungen: Welche normativen Erwartungen werden an digitale politische Kommunikation gestellt? Woher stammen diese Erwartungen? Welche Äußerungen werden als Verstöße gegen die Kommunikationsnormen gewertet? Welche Schlüsse lassen sich daraus in Bezug auf die Moderation von Online-Diskussionen und in Bezug auf die Regulierung politischer Kommunikation ziehen?

Weitere Informationen und Anmeldung: https://www.cais.nrw/phdnet/phdnet-begriffe-und-konzepte/intensivkurs-normen-der-digitalisierung/

26 April 2022 | 18:00–19:30 | virtual event

Online media play a crucial role in the war Russia is waging against Ukraine. What are the main challenges for Ukrainian journalists covering the war in their country? How does the Kremlin’s propaganda machine work within and outside Russia? How do independent Russian media outlets that have been shut down manage to continue their work in exile? What strategies are the most successful against the dissemination of false information during a war and can quality journalism be a remedy for this sort of propaganda? These and other questions will be discussed.

REGISTRATION: Please register here by 26 April 2022 (12:00) for this event.

GUESTS

MODERATOR

• Prof. Dr. Christoph Neuberger, Managing Director Weizenbaum Institute

CONTACT:
Johanna Hampf | Phone: +49 30 700141-003 | email: johanna.hampf@weizenbaum-institut.de

Online-Workshop “Design Thinking”

Are you doing a PhD and have always wanted to learn Design Thinking? Then join our virtual PhDnet@CAIS workshop on April 05 (10 am – 2 pm CEST) with Samuel Simon and find out how you can apply it to your own academic work. For more information and registration visit: https://www.cais.nrw/workshop-design-thinking_en/

Program:

The innovation method Design Thinking, as established by the Hasso Plattner Institute and consulting agencies like IDEO and others, is increasingly applied in various business settings. Why not as well in academia?

For scientists in digitization research, design thinking can support both as a structural approach at the beginning of research work as well as an inspiring mindset to tackle challenges with new perspectives. Adapting Design Thinking methods for scientific contexts also offers rich impulses for agile work and efficient evaluation possibilities of any phase in your process. In the workshop you will learn to use natural moments of uncertainty productively and creatively to your advantage.

We will start the workshop with a short overview of the different phases of the Design Thinking process and a classification that shows us that the method does not necessarily focus on thinking and has little to do with what we understand as design.

In short, practical work units, we experiment with the interdisciplinary application of the different phases in the group. In doing so, we tap into design-oriented methods of research work, idea generation and problem definition, and learn how, among other things, to bring the various prototyping and testing methods into the scientific process.

Together, we locate design thinking within the big innovation buzzword cloud, while creating systemically meaningful and applicable connections to familiar work and research methods.

Please register via e-mail to: phdnet@cais.nrw

8 March 2022, 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., online event via Zoom, the log-in details will be sent by email after the registration.

Measuring Social Phenomena with Digital Behavioral Data

This Leibniz Media Lecture will be hosted by the Hamburg Section of the Research Institute Social Cohesion.

Dr. Gregor Wiedemann will provide the introduction. The event will be held in English.

About the Presentation

Behavior and communication of people that is recorded via online platform, devices or dedicated software offers novel opportunities to gain insights into social phenomena. These data may even allow to measure and explain human attitudes and biases. However, several methodological challenges arise when working with observational digital behavioral data. In this talk Claudia Wagner will firstly focus on some of the issues that become apparent when we aim to measure and explain attitudes based on social media messages. She will present some work on assessing and addressing those measurement issues. Secondly Claudia Wagner will present a study that combines observational digital behavioral data with survey data to study perception biases of humans.

About the Speaker

Please join the Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project  for a series of panel discussions on “Advancing Human Rights in the Age of AI and the Digital Society”

23 February 2022
11:00 hrs – 17:15 hrs
Online

Panel discussions include:

11:00 hrs – Machine Learning and Protecting Forcibly Displaced Persons
13:00 hrs – Violence Against Women – Evidence from Administrative Data
16:00 hrs – Interdisciplinary Engagement in Practice – Internal and External Factors

Register here.

The Global Digital Human Rights Network (GDHRNet) of the HBI, the University of Tallinn and the Department of Legal Theory and Future of Law (University of Innsbruck) present a new monthly lecture series in which experts from all over the world discuss topics such as algorithmic governance, digital constitutionalism, deep-fake regulation and also the protection of children and platform workers.

The “Highlights Lecture Series” presents current research by various participants on citizens, platforms and states in digital times. The event series is hosted and organized by Prof. Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann and Dr. Mart Susi (University of Tallinn).

Tuesday, 22 Feb 2022  | 13-14 CET
Protection of Children’s Rights and the Internet – International Standards and Self-Regulation
Marzena Barańska – Department of Management, Economics of Media and Advertising, Jagiellonian University in Krakow

Please register here to obtain the log in details.

Please find all events of the lecture series here.

The Global Digital Human Rights Network (GDHRNet) of the HBI, the University of Tallinn and the Department of Legal Theory and Future of Law (University of Innsbruck) present a new monthly lecture series in which experts from all over the world discuss topics such as algorithmic governance, digital constitutionalism, deep-fake regulation and also the protection of children and platform workers.

The “Highlights Lecture Series” presents current research by various participants on citizens, platforms and states in digital times. The event series is hosted and organized by Prof. Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann and Dr. Mart Susi (University of Tallinn).

Tuesday, 1 Feb 2022 |  13-14 CET           
The Platform Economy and Human Rights
Janneke Gerards, Utrecht University
Valeria Filí and Federico Costantini – Department of Law, University of Udine

Please register here to obtain the log in details.

View all events of the lecture series here.

Programm (18:00-20:00)

• Eröffnung & Begrüßung | Prof. Ute Schmid (bidt / Universität Bamberg)
• Keynote | Dr. h.c. Thomas Sattelberger MdB, Parlamentarischer Staatssekretär (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung)
• Vorstellung der Studie | Dr. Roland A. Stürz (bidt) und Dirk von Gehlen (SZ-Institut)
• Panel & Fragen aus dem Publikum | mit Dr. h.c. Thomas Sattelberger MdB, Dr. Astrid Carolus (Universität Würzburg), Dirk von Gehlen und Dr. Roland A. Stürz
  Moderation: Sara Weber (Journalistin und Digitalstrategin)
• Ausblick & Abschluss

The ITSL kindly invites you to join the online event “Cognitive Sovereignty and Machine Learning” on Thursday, 9 December 2021, from 4.30-5.30 pm  with Prof. Dr. Lee A. Bygrave of the University of Oslo.

Human behaviour is increasingly governed by automated decisional systems based on machine learning (ML). This throws up a congeries of new challenges, particularly with respect to people’s ability to understand the logic and implications of ML-enhanced algorithmic systems.

This understanding is essential as such systems may have a significant impact on individuals and social development. Yet our philosophical and legal frameworks for conceptualizing and supporting the need for this understanding are underdeveloped.

Lee A. Bygrave is professor at the Department of Private Law, University of Oslo, where he leads the Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law (NRCCL). In this talk, he considers whether the notion of cognitive sovereignty may provide a useful supplement to discourse on the challenges raised by algorithmic systems, places the notion in the context of existing regulation, and points to a need for further research and action.

The talk will be followed by an open discussion moderated by and kicked-off with comments of Prof. Dr. Rolf H. Weber, Professor of Private, Commercial and European Law, University of Zurich, and Prof. Dr. Florent Thouvenin, Professor of Information and Communications Law, University of Zurich.

This event will be held in English and will be conducted virtually. Please register by e-mail to info@itsl.uzh.ch by 8 December 2021. The Zoom link will be forwarded the day before the event.

The Network of Centers (NoC) is hosting a series of virtual gatherings to reconnect. The last in person annual meeting took place in Berlin in 2019 and much has changed personally, professionally and throughout the Network of Centers. Join us to learn about peer-produced work that features participating centers and affiliates.

7 of December 2021: AI Regulation & Policy

12:00-1:45 pm CET/6:00-7:45 am ET (time converter)

Hosted by:
Institute for Technology and Society
(Participants: Carlos Affonso and Celina Bottino)
Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society / Leibniz Institute for Media Research / Hans-Bredow-Institut
(Participants: Wolfgang Schulz, Matthias C. Kettemann, Vincent Hofmann, Johannes Schmees, Katharina Mosene)
Moderator: Christian Perrone

Streaming information tba.

Panel Focus: Comparing the rhythm, scope and dynamics of AI Regulation.

12.10 Part I: European and Global Perspectives: (30 min)
HIIG: The European perspective on AI Regulation.
Speaker: Matthias C. Kettemann

12.20  ITS: The Brazilian perspective on AI Regulation.
Speaker: Carlos Affonso de Souza

12.30-12.45 Q&A

12.45-13.25 Part II: Explainability and Inclusion: (40 min)

12.45 HIIG: The challenges to AI Explainability:  The focus of the debate here should be both the regulatory and the social challenges of explainability. How does it appear in different sets of regulation and under what conditions? What are its shortcomings? How is it possible to achieve its main objectives?
Speaker: Wolfgang Schulz and Vincent Hofmann

12.55 ITS: Explainability in Brazil: The intention is to showcase how the explainability debate appeared in Brazil. Why did it reemerge in the midst of a “Fake News Bill”? What is its status now?
Speaker: Carlos Affonso de Souza

13.05 HIIG: AI and Feminism: The main objective is highlight feminist perspectives on AI and what how it sheds light to several significant controversies on AI.
Speaker: Katharina Mosene

13.15 ITS: AI and Inclusion: The aim is to note that potential social risks go much beyond AI biases and discrimination. There is an underlying risk of exclusion in conceptualizing, designing and implementing AI.
Speaker: Celina Bottino

1325-13.40 Q&A

13.40-13.45 Closing words by the moderator

The Internet Commons Forum will take place during the UN Internet Governance Forum, on Monday, 6 December 2021, form 14:45 to 16:45 (UTC). To participate, please register to the UN Internet Governance Forum and add the ICF to your personal calendar. For further information regarding online participation, click here.

The Internet Commons Forum (ICF) is jointly organised by FGV, ISOC, APC, Centrum Cyfrowe and Free2Air. The ICF aims at gathering thinkers and doers that are developing ideas and solutions for a less concentrated and more just Internet.

The structures of the Internet affect us more deeply than ever before, reaching out to all aspects of our lives, from our societies and cultures to our finances and politics – to our very individual human behaviours and identities. This event will explore different views of Internet Commons exploring strategies for a less concentrated Internet.

The ICF will feature well-respected thinkers and doers exposing their ideas and innovative approaches to digital commons, with regard to the development of Internet access infrastructure, digital platforms, digital policies and data. This workshop will ami at fostering a collaborative discussion with the participants in order to identify concrete actions and strategies for collaboration and implementation of digital commons.

Opening remarks: Luca Belli, FGV, and Adam Burns, Free2Air
Segment one: Evolving Conceptions of Digital Commons
Yu Ping, Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology
Rebecca MacKinnon, Wikimedia Foundation
Renata Avila, Open Knowledge Foundation
Alek Tarkowski, Open FutureLuca Belli, FGV, and Adam Burns, Free2Air, moderate
First Q&A (15 min)
Segment two: Digital Commons and Digital Public Goods.
Lucy Harris, UNICEF / Digital Public Good Alliance
Osama Manzar, Digital Empowerment Foundation
Denis “Jaromil” Roio, Dyne.orgJane Coffin, ISOC, and Alek Tarkowski, Open Future, moderate
Second Q&A + open debate (15 min)
Concluding remarks: Anriette Esterhuysen, UN IGF MAG Chair
Wrap-up and takeaways: Luca Belli, FGV, and Adam Burns, Free2Air

The Würzburg Centre for Social and Legal Implications of Artificial Intelligence (SOCAI) together with the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat – Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter will hold a two-day conference on 2 – 3 December 2021 on the impact of technological advances on individuals. Speakers, predominantly from the disciplines of law, computer science, business management and information systems as well as economics will contribute with the aim of placing “individual” at the core of their subjective perspectives. The venue will take place in Würzburg providing for an interactive platform for the definition, description and analysis of possible ways in which technological developments as well as legal and regulatory reforms could be administered and implemented in an effective manner, catering for the protection of rights and legitimate interests of individuals.

Please find the Programme here: https://www.jura.uni-wuerzburg.de/fakultaet/zentrum-fuer-soziale-implikationen-kuenstlicher-intelligenz-socai/socai-conference/

Participants are requested to register via our form. Therefore click here.

The Network of Centers (NoC) is hosting a series of virtual gatherings to reconnect. The last in person annual meeting took place in Berlin in 2019 and much has changed personally, professionally and throughout the Network of Centers. Join us to learn about peer-produced work that features participating centers and affiliates.

1 of December 2021: Digital Health, Identity and Equity 

2:00-3:15 pm CET/8:00-9:15 ET (time converter)

Hosted by: American Law Center and Korea University and Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society

• Participants can login into Zoom using this url (https://brk.mn/digitalhealth). They will be placed in a waiting room and let in on the day of the event.

Presenters: Professor Kyung Sin “KS” Park, Professor Dae-Hee Lee, Dr. David Arney, Hong-Seok

Moderator: Adam Nagy

Description: This webinar will focus on the salient law/governance/equity issues relating to the use of digital technology for health, comparing the US, Korea, and other countries. 

We will first discuss medical device interoperability and the policy and governance issues related to medical devices more broadly, with a focus on the U.S. Medical device interoperability has become important as we are beginning to tap into the Internet of Things to expand availability of medical services to remote locations. 

We will then discuss the use of big data in Korea and the related legal changes. Korea has recently amended the personal data statute to make a bigger room for big data analysis, and the bill is pending in the Assembly to amend the copyright statute for text and data mining. While these efforts would make it easier to analyze big data, Korea needs more room for data analysis more appropriately. This presentation will review the current status of Korea’s regulation on data analysis, and will argue Korea still needs to relax the regulation.

The Network of Centers (NoC) is hosting a series of virtual gatherings to reconnect. The last in person annual meeting took place in Berlin in 2019 and much has changed personally, professionally and throughout the Network of Centers. Join us to learn about peer-produced work that features participating centers and affiliates.

30 of November 2021: Digital Infrastructures for Schools and Universities

3:45-5:15 pm CET/9:45-11:15 am ET (time converter)

Hosted by: Nexa Internet & Society Conference 

Presenters: 

Antonio Vetrò, Giulia Schneider, Lorenzo Benussi, Francesca Musiani

• Event will be live streamed via YouTube.
• If attendees want to interact and use the chat, you can log into the conference  15 minutes early on the day of the event.

Description:

The pandemic shows us that dedicated network infrastructures and digital platforms for supporting and enhancing teaching activities are fundamental elements for the future of our educational institutions, at every level. The same applies to research, where the renewed open science policy priorities of the European Commission pushes towards the adoption of new knowledge sharing practices and federated institutional infrastructures to store, share, process and reuse research digital objects. Hence, there is no better time than now to publicly discuss what type of digital world is preferable for schools and universities.

Digital technologies have the potential to unfold a new Renaissance for humanity and for the planet or else to destroy them. At our third digital Conference Ethics and Digitalization on 25 November 2021, at 2 – 7 pm, we shall be asking how the digitalization of society can be used for the good of humanity and the planet and exploring some practical examples from research, business, politics and civic engagement.

For some time now, many of the visions associated with the digitalization narrative have been unsettling and dystopian. These fears have been deliberately fostered by political players who food social media platforms with misleading content, attracting followers and even manipulating elections. Populists, dictators and fundamentalists are using cutting-edge technological applications to control people and build their own consensus. They spread reactionary ideologies in which scientifc insights, ethical principles and democratic values play no part. These characters are increasingly active in cyberspace, threatening and sometimes silencing the companies, organisations and activists they have marked as enemies. They are even prepared to cripple the infrastructure of – democratic – countries if it helps to strengthen their geopolitical influence.

Europe has taken initial steps to regulate the tech giants and to protect data and privacy and is working to build on these measures. Cybersecurity to stop hackers is being stepped up in order to protect the democratic order and our citizens. Freedom and transparency on the Internet must be guaranteed, social inequality countered, green growth enhanced and gendered innovation advanced. NextGenerationEU, the post-pandemic recovery plan drawn up by the EU Commission, is geared towards fundamental macroeconomic principles, productivity, justice and environmental sustainability. The action plans adopted by member states must, therefore, contribute to a green, digital, sustainable recovery. In this way, Europe can facilitate ecological innovation and economic prosperity and inspire other countries.

Many institutions, companies and social sectors are already open to solutions of this kind and want to see protection for the environmental, democratic, humanist values on which the EU was founded extended to the digital sphere. Digitalization must also take a form that offers equal opportunities to men and women. By examining the ethics of digitalization, we can not only assess the consequences but also – and far more importantly – design and implement the future digitalization of our society to ensure that it is fair.

Programme (in progress)

14:00 – 14:15 Dr. Clara Mavellia – Cultural Entrepreneurship Institute Berlin (Deutschland)

14:15 – 14:30 Prof. Carlo Giupponi – Venice International University (Italia)

14:30 – 14:50 Prof. Fiorella Battaglia – Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Deutschland)

14:50 – 15:00 Alex de Vries – Digiconomist (Netherlands)

15:00 – 15:20 Prof. Ruth Hagengruber – Universität Paderborn (Deutschland)

15:20 – 15:30 Daniela Ducato – Industrie Verdi Edizero Architecture for Peace (Italia)

15:30 – 15:50 Prof. Riccardo Pozzo – Università Tor Vergata, Roma (Italia)

15:50 – 16:00 Yuliya Salauyova – Razam – Balarusische Gemeinschaft (Deutschland)

16:00 – 16:20 Prof. Carla Bagnoli – Università Modena e Reggio Emilia (Italia)

16:20 – 16:40 Matthias Rumpf – Deputy Head OECD Berlin (Deutschland)

16:40 – 16:50 Cristina Aranda – mujerestech (Spain)

16:50 – 17:00 Jutta Shaik – Omas gegen Rechts – Grandmas against Far Right (Deutschland)

17:00 – 17:20 Prof. Doris Weßels – Fachhochschule Kiel (Deutschland)

17:20 – 17:30 Edith Wolf – well.come.back (Deutschland)

17:30 – 18:00 Prof Mariarosaria Taddeo – Keynote – Oxford University (UK)

18:45 – 19:00 Dr. Clara Mavellia closing words

You can follow the event live on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ceberlin/videos

In the event of inquiries get in touch with Dr. Clara Mavellia, Director Cultural Entrepreneurship Institute Berlin: info@cultural-entrepreneurship.de

The Cultural Entrepreneurship Institute Berlin promotes humanism as an innovative and economically productive force in business.We promote ethical principles in industry and politics, and entrepreneurial skills for people engaged in cultural activity. Our inspiration comes from the intersection between different disciplines and sectors, combining existing concepts to generate outstanding new ideas (Medici effect). These ideas can only be implemented properly and sustainably if students and trainees and interested members of the public have free access to information about them. To this end, we hold international, interdisciplinary conferences bringing together eminent academics, exemplary entrepreneurs and committed men and women from all walks of life. These speakers pursue their commitment with expertise and passion. We record their contributions and post them on ceberlin, the YouTube channel of the Cultural Entrepreneurship Institute. We produce humanist focused digital contents for business, human life and artificial intelligence and support gendered innovation. Humanist values are independent of religion and serve our common good. They need a voice. Ethics are an inexhaustible resource that ensure certain and lasting returns for human society and for the environment. Humanism (ethics) is the foundation of economic, ecological and emotional prosperity, enabling us and future generations to lead a good life and unleashing a global renaissance.

In order to create a space for interdisciplinary discussions and exchanges on the governance issues raised by artificial intelligence, the Digital Law Center has launched the AI Tech & Policy Talks (AITPT) online series in October 2020. During each session of AITPT, a presentation is made by a distinguished speaker on a topic relating to IA governance. The presentation is followed by comments made by two expert commentators and by a general informal discussion with the participants. The AITPT events are organized in English.

The DLC invites you to join us for the next session of our AI Tech & Policy Talks that will take place online on Thursday, November 4, 2021, from 12:15 pm to 2:00 pm (CET ; Swiss time). 

Prof. Julien Cabay, Associate Professor at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Associate Professor at Université de Liège (ULiège) and Affiliated researcher at the Digital Law Center, Prof. Olivier Debeir, Professor at ULB, and Thomas Vandamme, Deep Learning Researcher at ULB, will make a presentation on the following topic : Assessing IP Similarities Through Technology : A Trademark Exploration of Challenges and Avenues.

More information on their project at : https://www.ulb.be/fr/arc/arc-research-project-ipsam

The presentation will be commented by Prof. Stéphane Machand-Maillet, Associate Professor at the Departement of Computer Science, University of Geneva, and Prof. Dev Gangjee, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, University of Oxford.

Conditions of participation : Participation in the AI Tech & Policy Talks is free of charge but registration is mandatory. The deadline for registration is Wednesday November 3, 2021, at 12.00 pm (CEST ; Swiss time).

Online registration: available here.

New technologies have had a revolutionary impact on healthcare since the early 1990s. At first complex, costly and limited process developed into an advanced, assimilated and mainstream support of the society with a remarkable value for our health.

From monitoring the impact of policies on population health to technologies that allow people to manage their healthy habits, from mobile health (mHealth) to wearable devices, from telehealth to telemedicine, the power of computing platforms, rapidly developing software and increasing connectivity serve the humankind to improve our lives.

With the use of robotics in healthcare, utilization of machine-learning techniques and software and spread of sophisticated tools that harness the power of AI, the AI is transforming the healthcare sector and the future of public health. As data, analytics and AI drive innovation across the sectors, COVID-19 pandemic additionally triggered acceleration of modelling and predicting demands and solutions, both for diagnosing and for drug development. Intellectual property laws will have to find a way to adapt in order to enable innovation and protect future developments and investments.

At the same time, education, investment, multiplication of effects, equal distribution and development that takes into account safety and security of the citizens are some of the crucial activities that we as a society must undertake when it comes to the AI and the future of health. How can we reach long-lasting results? How can we harness the power of AI for public health and reduce the risks related to the use of new technologies? How can we make sure that developing countries benefit from the rapid technological development equally and meaningfully? What are the implications of the new technologies in the field of intellectual property?

Join us on Wednesday, 3rd November 2021, 14:00 – 15:00 CET.

Register here: https://diplomacy.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PTS8pkfaTEyCpuW3bymp8g

The COVID crisis is transforming the world of work. Most noticeable, is the huge increase of employees working at home and the associated modernization of digital infrastructures in companies. But the changes go beyond that. The restrictions on the presence of employees in companies have led to considerations about the digitalization of a wide range of processes, for example in administration, human resources, sales, but also in production or the service processes themselves. However, it remains to be seen how widespread these digitalization processes are and under what conditions they could be successfully implemented during the COVID crisis. It is also open to what extent this push for technical innovation is also accompanied by organizational changes, for example in the area of work organization and leadership. The presentation will address these issues on the basis of initial, preliminary findings from case studies and a company survey conducted as part of the research project “Automation, digitalization and virtualization of work in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis”.
Martin Krzywdzinski is head of the WZB research group “Globalization, Work and Production”.

Please note that this event takes place in English only with no translation.

The event is part of the WZB Talks series.

The next Leibniz Media Lecture will be presented by the Digital Disinformation Hub at HBI. Prof. Dr. Florian Gallwitz and Michael Kreil will talk about the Rise and Fall of Social Bot Research.

Dr. Clara Iglesias Keller will provide the introduction. The event will be held in English.

Time

Monday, 18 October 2021, 4 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.

Registration

The event will take place online on Zoom. After the registration you will receive the dial-in data by mail shortly before the event starts.

About the Lecture

The idea that social media is populated by countless “social bots” has become widely accepted. “Social bots” are assumed to be automated social media accounts operated by malicious actors with the aim of manipulating public opinion. Alleged “social bot armies” have been reported during the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit referendum, and, more recently, in the context of the Covid19 pandemic. In fact, however, the relevant research is based on inappropriate methods, the failure of which the researchers regularly try to conceal by withholding the raw data. The alleged “bots” from these studies are almost exclusively normal people who are misinterpreted as “bots”.

About the Speakers

Prof. Dr. Florian Gallwitz is professor of computer science and media at the Nuremberg Institute of Technology. His main areas of expertise include pattern recognition in digital media and natural language-based human-computer interaction.

Michael Kreil is specialised in the analysis and processing of very large amounts of data for over two decades. For the last 10 years he has worked as a data scientist and data journalist. Since 2020, he has been working at BR Data.

About the Digital Disinformation Hub

Considering the Institute’s long tradition in interdisciplinary media studies, the Digital Disinformation Hub is a research project aiming at strengthening the Institute’s contributions to this debate. This is to be achieved by promoting multidisciplinary collaborations between researchers, by gathering and systematically bringing together internal and external research expertise in the field of disinformation, by promoting conceptual and epistemological approaches to disinformation, and by building external collaborations.

Newly embraced technology is shaping and creating the world we all live in. Machine learning, data governance, and fintech will determine our future, while raising ethical policy conundrums. Global issues like climate change, human rights, the supply chain, and the labour force are and continue to be impacted by technology, which is now deeply intertwined with policy. But do we really understand it?

The Innovation & Technology Initiative by Young Professionals in Foreign Policy, aims to provide a foundation for this topic.

The event How Artificial Intelligence is Changing Global Conflict will take place on Monday, 18th October, 19:00–20:30 CEST. It will  provide participants with the change to learn more about AI’s recent initiatives and threats for peacebuilding and conflict resolution.

Speaking at this event:

• Pavla Danisova, Policy Officer, Peace Mediation and Dialogue support, European External Action Service (EEAS)
• Katharina Höne, Director of Research, Diplo

For more information and to register, please visit the official event page.

We are delighted to present one of the co-authors of ‘Framers’ and Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the OII, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger. He will discuss the book and answer audience questions. This session will be hosted by Ivana Bartoletti, Global Chief Privacy Officer at Wipro and Co-Founder of the Women Leading in AI Network. Ivana is a Visiting Policy Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute.

Don’t just think deep, think wide.

From pandemics to populism, AI to ISIS, wealth inequity to climate change, humanity faces unprecedented challenges that threaten our very existence. But how we see them affects how we respond and lets us uncover hidden options that expand our thinking.

In this bold, optimistic book, the authors of the best-selling Big Data show how humans have a unique cognitive ability to frame – to create mental models that allow us to spot patterns, make predictions and grasp new situations. While computers may now excel at reasoning and judgement, framing is unique to humans. This book is the first guide to mastering an essential skill for the 21st century.

Blending fascinating stories with cutting-edge research, you’ll discover why it’s useless to try to think outside the box, how Spotify beat Apple by framing music as experience, how the #MeToo movement reframed the perception of sexual assault from silence to solidarity, and how framing COVID-19 as seasonal flu led to disaster whereas framing it as SARS delivered New Zealand from the pandemic.

Framers will show you how to make better decisions in the age of algorithms and will revolutionise not only how we think about our future but how we think about everything.

Register here: https://oii.zoom.us/webinar/register/3816335520842/WN_950sua7RT1C6cLPOSLGetQ

The European Union Delegation to the United Nations in Geneva, the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in Geneva, the Permanent Mission of Slovenia to the UN in Geneva (currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU), and the Geneva Internet Platform, in partnership with the International Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) invite you to a series of dialogues – From Geneva: Reflections on digital future – on issues of importance for the Geneva and global audiences. Our next dialogue, on 14 October 2021, is on Digitalisation powering environmental protection.

The digital revolution is changing the way we work, live, and solve challenges. New technologies offer ground-breaking opportunities for environmental protection and climate action. For example, AI can strengthen climate predictions, enable smarter decision-making for decarbonising industries, and anticipate the effects of extreme weather.

As we strive for digital economies that will put people at the heart, foster international development, and protect human rights and freedoms, we also need a better understanding of the environmental footprint of our economic development, including ICT’s growing carbon footprint.

The UN Secretary General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation warns that operations related to ICT are expected to represent up to 20% of the world’s demand for electricity. One third stems from data centres alone.

In our dialogue, we will therefore ask, how can we truly benefit from the technology’s environmental solutions and use the digital revolution to advance environmental stewardship? How can we appropriately harness digital opportunities while limiting adverse effects of digitalisation on the environment? How can we build strong partnerships among regions to support digital transition that powers environmental protection across the globe?

Join us on Thursday, October 14th at 14:00 UTC (10:00 EDT | 16:00 CEST | 22:00 CST)

Speakers:

• Ilias Iakovidis, Advisor, Green digital transformation, DG CONNECT, European Commission
• David Jensen, Coordinator of the Digital Transformation Task Force at the United Nations Environment Programme
• Mitja Jermol, Program Committee Chair in AI and Circular Economy, International Research Centre for AI
• Reyna Ubeda, Project Officer, International Telecomunication Union
• Flurina Wäspi, Independent Consultant to the IGF Policy Network on Environment and Digitalisation 2021

Moderator:

• Tereza Horejsova, Projects and Partnerships Director, Diplo

Register here: https://diplomacy.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RQmhJ6cLQ9OfQSZKMB7hIg

The next Leibniz Media Lunch Talk will be presented by the Digital Disinformation Hub at HBI. Leonardo Suárez Montoya, Venezuelan-Colombian guest researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut, will talk about his dissertation project, in which he addresses the moral role of citizens with respect to fake news.

The Lunch Talk is part of the new DigDisHub Series “Political Crisis and Disinformation in Latin America”. In this series, the Digital Disinformation Hub takes a closer look at the debate on disinformation practices in Latin America by spotlighting theoretical contributions from Latin American researchers and exploring specific regional contexts.

More about the event

The DSA Observatory is delighted to announce its next expert workshop, organized in collaboration with the Centre for Intellectual Property and information Law (CIPIL) at Cambridge University, which will take place on the 30^th of June (4:30-5:30 pm). 

During this session, dr. Christina Angelopoulos and prof. Martin Senftleben will discuss their new paper “An Endless Odyssey? Content Moderation Without General Content Monitoring Obligations”. The paper looks at the present status of the prohibition of general monitoring in the e-Commerce Directive and in the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market and considers the likely impact of the DSA proposal, offering some guidelines for the refinement of the draft Regulation. 

30 June 2021, 4:30-5:30 pm (CEST, Amsterdam)
Online Seminar via Zoom, link will be shared beforehand
Underlying paper available open access: http://ssrn.com/abstract=3871916
RSVP to Ilaria Buri: i.buri@uva.nl

Digital law researchers are invited to apply to present their on-going research projects at our Geneva Digital Law Research Colloquium that will take place online on June 25, 2021.
The Colloquium offers to digital law researchers and scholars the privileged opportunity to present their work-in-progress to a global panel of digital law experts (coming from the partner institutions involved in the Colloquium), in order to receive feedback and advice on their research and to foster the development of a global digital law research community (testimonials of researchers having participated to the last editions are available on our website).
Information about the Geneva Digital Law Research Colloquium and about the application process is available here (questions & applications to be sent to digitallawcolloquium@unige.ch).  

The spread of digital technologies has contributed to a multi-faceted change of democratic orders, actors, and practices. At the intersection of long-term evolution of democracies and the emergence of social media, we observe a profound redistribution of communication and political power. Traditional mass media are losing their privileged position as gatekeepers of the public sphere; social media are establishing new norms of social relevance and simultaneously give voice to ideas, opinions, and actors, which used to be marginalized.
This development seems full of ambivalences. Thus, the changing conditions of communication have spawned a situation of democracy in permanent flux. The debate on how digital technologies have changed public spheres and impacted democracy has been scattered across different scientific disciplines, political arenas, and civil society. The 2020/2021 Annual Weizenbaum Conference “Democracy in Flux – Order, Dynamics and Voices in Digital Public Spheres” aims to bring together these various perspectives and seeks to initiate an interdisciplinary exchange on the linkages between digital public spheres and democracy.

For programme information and registration visit: https://www.weizenbaum-conference.de/

Next week we continue with our webinar series about the “Future of Digital Entrepreneurship & Innovation Research”. In our second lunch talk we will explore how researchers can study how the adoption of Artificial Intelligence  shapes the world of work. This digital lunch talk entitled “Artificial Intelligence & Work” takes place on June 10, at 1 p.m. GMT+2. The speakers are Florian Butollo, Research Group Leader at the Weizenbaum Institute, Marie-Christin Fregin, Research Director at Maastricht University’s Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market, and Georg von Richthofen, Senior Researcher at the Humboldt Institute for Internet & Society Berlin.
Save the date:

The Weizenbaum Institute, the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt) and the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) – three leading German institutions in the field of digitalisation research, invite doctoral researchers to present their work at the newly established joint Digitalisation Research and Network Meeting – DigiMeet. Its special topic for 2021: Sustainability in digital transformation: charting new terrain, exploring tensions. Find the Call for Participation here.

The DSA Observatory at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) (University of Amsterdam) is delighted to announce its next expert workshop, which will take place on the 1^st of June (15:00-16:30). The discussion will focus on the possible implications of the Facebook Germany case which was recently referred to the CJEU and address a variety of issues at the interface of competition law, data protection law and platform regulation. We will discuss these questions with three top experts in the field: Heiko Dünkel (Head of Litigation at the German Consumer Federation), Dr. Kati Cseres (University of Amsterdam) and Dr. Inge Graef (University of Tilburg)”. Please refer to this page for more info.

RSVP to Ilaria Buri: i.buri@uva.nl

Next week the HIIG starts with a new webinar series about the “Future of Digital Entrepreneurship & Innovation Research”. In the first lunch talk we will explore how digital entrepreneurship is interlinked with society – and what this means for entrepreneurship research and practice. This digital lunch talk entitled “Digital Entrepreneurship & Society” takes place on May 18, at 1 p.m. GMT+2. The speakers are Katharina Hölzle, Professor of IT Entrepreneurship at the Hasso Plattner Institute, Franziska Günzel-Jensen, Associate Professor at Aarhus University, and Thomas Gegenhuber, Junior Professor of Digital Transformation at Leuphana University Lüneburg. You can register here for the event. 

VOICE THROUGH SILENCE: ALGORITHMIC VISIBILITY AND BOTTOM-UP AUTHORITARIANISM IN THE BRAZILIAN CRISIS

The next Leibniz Media Lunch Talk will be presented by the HBI’s Digital Disinformation Hub. Dr. João Carlos Magalhães from Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) will explain the relationship between authoritarianism and algorithmic platforms via the conference platform Zoom. Dr. Clara Iglesias Keller will provide the introduction.

Find more about the event here. 

The session will run from 5.00 to 6.30 pm (Swiss / CET time) and will feature a presentation of Dr Padmashree Gehl Sampath, Senior advisor at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, Adjunct Professor and a Professorial Fellow at the United Nations University-MERIT, will make a presentation on : “Artificial Intelligence and Structural Inequality: The Problems of Foreseeable and Unforeseeable Bias”.
The presentation will be followed by comments made by Dr james Wahutu, Assistant Professor in Media, Culture, and Communication, New York University and Faculty Associate, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and Prof. Jean-Henry Morin, Associate Professor for Information Systems, University of Geneva, and by a general discussion with the participants.
The participation is free upon registration (until April 28).
Website of this session of AITPT

Online Workshop Series
convened by Wolfgang Schulz • Matthias C. Kettemann • Giovanni De Gregorio

Technology creates societal fractures. Courts have traditionally been responsible to apply the law to fill fractures, ease normative tensions, develop social mores. But courts are uneasy rulers in times of technological change, even as platforms seek to recreate private quasi-courts. This workshop series takes a deep dive into the role of technology, including automated decision-making, in and in front of courts, of platform courts, and of the use of courts to effect social changes. The four noon events featuring a keynote speaker and one or more discussants run from April to July 2021 and are organized by the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow- Institut (HBI) and its Private Ordering Observatory (PrObs), the Baffi Carefin Center at Bocconi University and the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG).

Web
Registration

The next session of the AI Tech & Policy Talks (AITPT) organized by the Digital Law Center  will take place on March 31, 2021.
The session will run from 12.15 to 2 pm (Swiss / CET time) and will feature a presentation of Dr Sivan Tamir (who is Policy Counsel & Senior Research Fellow at the Israel Tech Policy Institute) on: “Implementing Algorithmic Decision-Making Systems in Social Welfare Services”.
The presentation will be followed by comments made by Limor Shmerling Magazanik (Managing Director of the Israel Tech Policy Institute) and Prof. Diego Kuonen (Geneva School of Economics and Management, University of Geneva) and by a general discussion with the participants.

Website of this session of AITPT. 

On Wednesday March 3, 2021,  the next session of the AI Tech & Policy Talks (AITPT) organized by the Digital Law Center (www.digitallawcenter.ch) takes place.
The session will run from 12.15 to 2 pm (Swiss / CET time) and will feature a presentation of Prof. Robin Geiss (who is Swiss Chair of International Humanitarian Law at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Glasgow and upcoming Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, UNIDIR) on: “AI and the Digital Battlefield”.
The presentation will be followed by comments made by Prof. Marco Sassòli (Department of Public International Law and International Organization, University of Geneva) and Prof. Giovanna Di Marzo (Computer Science Center, University of Geneva) and by a general discussion with the participants.The participation is free upon registration (until March 2) at: https://formulaire.unige.ch/outils/limesurveyfac/droit/index.php/511513?lang=en
Website of this session of AITPT: https://www.digitallawcenter.ch/en/event/2021/AITPT4

Advocates for bridging the digital divide often have a vision of what digital technologies will enable actors to do—learn, create, communicate. Through these technologies, they also become consumers, exposed to potential exploitation and the level of surveillance over their activities is markedly increased. This talk explores the ethical and practical questions of creating global governance frameworks in conditions of power and informational asymmetry. It aims to go beyond abstractions into a discussion around real world experiences and potential solutions. Learn more here.

The next session of the AI Tech & Policy Talks (AITPT) organized by the Digital Law Center,  (www.digitallawcenter.ch) which has just joined the NoC,  will run from 12.15 to 2 pm (Swiss / CET time) and will feature a presentation of Professor Katarzyna Wac, Geneva School of Economics and Management, University of Geneva, on “AI @ CARE: Laws and Ethics and Algorithmic Bias in Healthcare” followed by an open discussion / comments on the presentation to be made by Professor François Fleuret (Department of Computer Science, University of Geneva) and Ms. Sotiria Kechagia (Digital Law Center).

The participation is free upon registration (until January 27) at: https://formulaire.unige.ch/outils/limesurveyfac/droit/index.php/511513?lang=en
Website of this session of AITPT:  https://www.digitallawcenter.ch/en/event/2021/AITPT3 /

The Politecnico di Torino – together with over 50 partners – is glad to present Biennale Tecnologia, a major cultural initiative to explore the relationship between technology and society. From health to the environment, from interpersonal relationships to democracy, from energy to artificial intelligence, many technology-related topics will be discussed with a strongly interdisciplinary approach, including the contribution of fiction, cinema, music and – more generally – the arts. More info at: https://www.biennaletecnologia.it/node/14

Public pressure on platform companies to more soundly monitor the content on their sites is constantly increasing. To address this, platforms are turning to algorithmic content moderation systems. These systems prioritize content that promises to increase engagement and block content that is deemed illegal or is infringing the platforms own policies and guidelines. But content moderation is a ‘wicked problem’ that raises many questions all of which eschew simple answers. Where is the line between hate speech and freedom expression – and how to automate and deploy this on a global scale? Are platforms overblocking legitimate content, or are they rather failing to limit illegal speech on their sites?

AI and Content Moderation – Closing event of the first research sprint
November 11 | Livestream (hiig.de) | 6:30 – 8:00 pm

Within the framework of a ten-week virtual research sprint hosted by the HIIG, thirteen international researchers from various disciplines came together to tackle the challenges posed by automation in content moderation. Their work resulted in policy briefings focused on algorithmic audits and on increasing the transparency and accountability of automated content moderation systems. We warmly invite you to learn more about their findings and attend their output presentations followed by a panel discussion.

The Internet Interdisciplinary Institute is pleased to invite you to the:
‘Online Workshop “The Network Society Today: (Revisiting) the Information Age Trilogy’

When: Monday, 2 November until Monday, 30  November.
Venue: Online (Via WebPage of the Workshop)
If you want to participate in the discussions, please go to: https://netsociety.uoc.edu/

The workshop will be run through November (from the 2nd to the 30th) in an asynchronous way on a free open-source participatory platform Decidim adapted by Platoniq. Each asynchronous session will develop during a week, one after the other. There will be a total of 4 sessions: 3 sessions and a final wrap-up discussion:

Session 1: Networks in the Age of Platforms – Nov. 2-8, 2020
Session 2: The Network and the Grassroots – Nov 9-15, 2020
Session 3: The Geopolitics of the Network Society – Nov. 16-22, 2020
Session 4: The Network Society Today (wrap-up) – Nov. 23-30, 2020

Full Program of the Workshop here.

On 17 August 2020, in Schloss Bellevue, German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier presided over the launch event of the two-year project “Ethics of digitalisation – from principles to practices”. The project by the NoC (Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers) is coordinated by the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and supported by Stiftung Mercator. In the course of the event, international experts from science, politics, civil society and business will analyse ethical questions of digitalisation, including the use of artificial intelligence and algorithms. Interdisciplinary and international research formats form the core of the project. Researchers from different disciplines are given the opportunity to work together on an interdisciplinary and international basis to develop answers to ethical questions concerning digitalisation. Furthermore, the innovative research formats give scientists the opportunity to communicate with each other and to network with high-ranking stakeholders from politics, business and society.

For further information, please check out this page.

The CRIDS and the European Hub of the NoC are pleased to announce the organisation of an international summer school on recent and upcoming legislative initiatives affecting the digital society.
It will take place on 30 June and 1 July 2020 at the University of Namur in Belgium and is part of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the CRIDS. A keynote address will be given by Prof. Wolfgang Schulz, Research Director at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG). Please visit the website of the CRIDS  for further information and practical details.  The summer school will be followed by an international interdisciplinary conference assembling high level speakers from all over the world to reflect on how to reshape the Digital Society. For more information, see https://www.crids.eu/40ans.

The EU Hub of the Network of Centers has its own tool now: The European Science Press Service (ESPS)!

The ESPS is a new platform for scientists, journalists, policy makers and interested citizens to learn about and share relevant scientific results in the field of internet and society research. The project aims to promote networking and knowledge sharing between the scientific community and the media – across national scientific communities and publics.

You can easily set up an account for your institution and upload your latest press releases here.

We are cordially inviting all NoC-center-representatives for a roundtable on “Ethics and Technology in a Global Perspective” and a Working Session in which we will discuss the NoC’s strategy and set up a Roadmap for the year 2020. Inputs by participants are explicitly welcome. Please RSVP to Helene von Schwichow, more information is following soon.

Concerns about the corporate funding of scientific research, and about the presence of corporate sponsors in scientific events are not an exceptional issue in the academic field. For decades, scientific domains like medicine, climate research, health and nutrition science have been struggling with controversies and dilemmas around the direct and indirect impact of corporate funding on the quality of their scholarship, integrity, independence, both actual, and as perceived by others. The event has been organized by the Institute for Information Law, University of Amsterdam, as part of the European Hub of the Global Network of Centers for Internet and Society (NoC). Find out more.

The Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society (TILT) is very pleased to host the next European Hub NoC meeting during the TILTING 2019 Conference in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The meeting will take place in the afternoon and evening of Thursday May 16th 2019. Please find the program here.

The European Hub of the NoC has convened its first workshop for young scholars to address the social, ethical and legal implications of AI-based technologies. We invited doctoral candidates and junior scholars (up to 3 years from receiving their degree) from all partnering centers to apply. We have welcomed both traditional and interdisciplinary approaches, from all disciplines, including social sciences, computer science, data sciences, political theory, philosophy, law, among others. The workshop has marked one of the first steps for the newly founded European Hub in joining forces to better coordinate research in the field of internet and society and foster synergies, as well as developing guidelines and ethical standards for internet research. Program, Videos of the talks and discussions 
Organized by: The Center for Cyber Law & Policy, University of Haifa (CCLP) & and the European Hub