news from the lab

AL Jazeera interview

Why is WhatsApp suing India's government?

digital legal lab researcher Catalina Goanta (maastricht university) joined al jazeera's "Inside story"to talk about the legal battle between whatsapp and india over the government's new internet rules, which would make app messages traceable. Are free speech and privacy under threat?

presentation for the EU's imco committee

Digital Services Act: Safe harbours, due diligence and online ads

Digital Legal Lab researcher Joris van Hoboken, professor of Law at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels and a senior researcher at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) at the University of Amsterdam, was invited to speak at the European Parliament’s IMCO Committee workshop on the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act.

Second seminar in our series on the dsa & DmA

HOW TO DESIGN EFFECTIVE INSTITUTIONS FOR REGULATING DIGITAL PLATFORMS

On 19 May 2021, a second seminar in the Digital Legal Lab Seminar Series on the DSA & DMA was organized in the form of a panel discussion hosted during the TILTing Perspectives conference. Panelists were: Nataliia Bielova (Inria Sophia Antipolis), Catherine Batchelor (UK CMA), Anu Bradford (Columbia Law School) and Digital Legal Lab researcher Inge Graef (Tilburg University).

Visual guide to the ai act

Visual guide to the Eu's proposed AI Act

Ronald Leenes, professor of regulation by technology at TILT and head of the Digital Legal Lab research initiative, has created a visual representation of the EU’s Proposal for a Regulation on a European approach for Artificial Intelligence published in April 2021. This work-in-progress visual may be useful in understanding the AI Act and its applicability.

the digital legal lab at tilting 2021

The Digital Legal Lab at Tilting Perspectives 2021: Regulating in Times of Crisis

TILTing Perspectives is the bi-annual conference of the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT), the spearheading partner of the Digital Legal Lab research initiative. Read our day-to-day conference reports here to learn more about our collaboration’s involvement.

Brief on influencer culture

WRITTEN EVIDENCE FOR UK PARLIAMENT ON INFLUENCER CULTURE

In early May 2021, Dr. Catalina Goanta (Maastricht University) co-convened a research group to respond to a call for evidence launched by the UK Parliament to examine the power of influencers on social media and the absence of regulation on the promotion of products or services by social media influencers.

seminar series

Social media content moderation & The digital Services act

In a new seminar series, Digital Legal Lab researchers are joining forces to address questions around the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA). Read prof. Pietro Ortolani's report on the first seminar, which took place on 9 April 2021, here.

Al Jazeera interview

the risks & potential of brain-chip technologies

Dr. Ruta Liepina (Maastricht University) joined Inside Story on Al Jazeera to comment on Elon Musk’s brain-chip startup Neuralink, and to talk about the risks and opportunities of brain implant technologies.

al jazeera appearance

How can social media users be protected from hackers?

Catalina Goanta (Maastricht University) joined Inside Story on Al Jazeera after the personal data of more than half a billion Facebook users were shared online in a security breach. How can social media users be protected from hackers?

tv interview

how the use of predictive algorithms can lead to fundamental rights violations

Natali Helberger (University of Amsterdam) appeared on the dutch research show 'stand van nederland' to talk about the rapidly increasing use of predictive algorithms and the risk of fundamental rights violations.

new podcast series

new podcast series: the digital hearing

The Digital Hearing brings you voices, perspectives and ideas on recent events and issues relating to all things law & tech. In the first episode, ronan fahy (university of amsterdam) and esther keymolen (tilburg university) discuss digitally fueled riots and how to respond to them.

lunchtime talks series

DTDM Lunchtime talks

the digital transformation of decision-making (DTDM) research initiative at the Amsterdam Law School — the amsterdam-based part of our collaboration — has launched a series of online lunchtime talks. Researchers and scholars will share and discuss their research with our research community, as well as connect with other researchers working in similar areas.

new report

Definitions of Disinformation & related concepts

ronan fahy and natali helberger (amsterdam university) contributed to the report "Notions of Disinformation and related concepts" published by erga. The aim of this Report is to provide for clearer and more uniform definitions of disinformation and related concepts, including political advertising and issue-based advertising.

book contribution

A Citizen's guide to artificial intelligence

Merel Noorman (Tilburg University) is one of the authors of "A Citizen's guide to artificial intelligence," a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the ethical, legal, political, and economic stakes of the use of AI in different areas of society.

tv interview

Facebook's australia ban & who should pay for news online

Catalina Goanta (Maastricht University) joined the Al Jazeera show "inside story" to talk about facebook's news ban in australia and who should pay for online news.

Video

How to make data findable & reusable in order to maximize the use of your data

In this video, Kody Moodley (Maastricht University) explains the FAIR - Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable - principles, and how adhering to them contributes to maximum visibility and impact of data.

new report

How should the EU respond to the unaccountable power large platforms possess?

How should the EU respond to the unaccountable power large platforms possess? Dr. Catalina Goanta (maastricht university) and prof. Joris van Hoboken (University of Amsterdam) advised the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) on this position paper.

audio documentary

social media influencers & plastic surgery

In an audio documentary by the BBC, dr. Catalina Goanta (Maastricht University) talked about the relationship between social media influencers and clinics promoting cosmetic surgery.

commentary

does apple's iphone tracking tool breach eu privacy law?

Professor Eleni Kosta (Tilburg University) talked to Digital Privacy News about a tracking code installed on millions of Iphones without consent. Does Apple's tracking tool breach EU privacy law?

new study & interview

what the law can and can't do about online harassment

Naomi Appelman (University of Amsterdam) was interviewed by Trouw about a report she wrote with Joris van Hoboken, Anna van Duin, Ronan Fahy and Natali Helberger, showing how difficult it can be for victims of online harassment to take legal action against their attackers.

new book

the risk-based approach to data protection

'The Risk-Based Approach to Data Protection' by dr. Raphaël Gellert is out now! Published by Oxford University Press, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of the GPDR and the risk-based approach to data protection.

Commentary

will the digital services act reshape the internet?

Professor Natali Helberger (University of Amsterdam) talked to VICE about the Digital Services Act – a European regulation that some experts say will change the internet forever – and explained why she thinks the DSA may indeed be groundbreaking.

Kick-off conference

kick-off conference of the digital legal studies collaboration

our first conference was a blast! We welcomed over 250 participants from all over the world. Researchers from our 4 partner universities presented their projects, we had keynote speeches by Julie Cohen and Frank Pasquale, two breakout rounds with lots of interesting sessions, and a closing discussion panel where sparks flew on the topic of technology in relation to law & justice.

interview

How influencers are becoming vehicles of political advertising

Social media platforms are increasingly saying no to political ads. But what about sponsored political speech by influencers? Dr. Catalina Goanta (Maastricht University) appeared on Al Jazeera to talk about the online spread of misinformation and how to regulate it.

interview

Why algorithms can discriminate - and what can be done about it [In dutch]

Tech philosopher and legal scholar Bart van der Sloot (Tilburg University) explains why AI systems can reproduce human bias and discrimination - and what can be done about it. (In Dutch)

innovative study

the return of AI: An analysis of legal research on artificial intelligence using topic modeling

A group of Maastricht University researchers affiliated to the Digital Legal Lab explored what legal research on AI constitutes of and how it has evolved. to do so, they used unsupervised machine learning. read the paper & watch the NLLP workshop 2020 presentation of this innovative study.

Report & interview

the problem with facial recognition technology [in dutch]

In a podcast by online news platform Nu.nl, Esther keymolen (Tilburg University) talked about the concerns around facial recognition technology. She recently published a report on the privacy risks of facial recognition with digital legal lab associates merel noorman, bart van der sloot & other tilburg university researchers.

new study

search engines, digitalization and national private law

In a new study published in the European Review of Private Law, legal scholar Pieter Wolters (Radboud University Nijmegen) discusses search engines, digitalization and the role of national private law. read the paper here, and watch a video seminar by pieter wolters on this topic.

Online talk show

what are social media platforms doing to moderate content during the pandemic?

In this online talk show, Catalina Goanta (Maastricht University) invited three experts to talk about social media content moderation during a global crisis such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. One of her guests, Pietro Ortolani (Raboud University), is also part of our research collaboration.