ChatGPT and the AI Act external link

Helberger, N. & Diakopoulos, N.
Internet Policy Review, vol. 12, iss. : 1, 2023

Abstract

It is not easy being a tech regulator these days. The European institutions are working hard towards finalising the AI Act in autumn, and then generative AI systems like ChatGPT come along! In this essay, we comment the European AI Act by arguing that its current risk-based approach is too limited for facing ChatGPT & co.

Artificial intelligence, ChatGPT

Bibtex

Article{nokey, title = {ChatGPT and the AI Act}, author = {Helberger, N. and Diakopoulos, N.}, url = {https://policyreview.info/essay/chatgpt-and-ai-act}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.14763/2023.1.1682}, year = {2023}, date = {2023-02-16}, journal = {Internet Policy Review}, volume = {12}, issue = {1}, pages = {}, abstract = {It is not easy being a tech regulator these days. The European institutions are working hard towards finalising the AI Act in autumn, and then generative AI systems like ChatGPT come along! In this essay, we comment the European AI Act by arguing that its current risk-based approach is too limited for facing ChatGPT & co.}, keywords = {Artificial intelligence, ChatGPT}, }

Putting the DSA into Practice: Enforcement, Access to Justice and Global Implications external link

Verfassungsbooks, 2023, ISBN: 9783757517960

Abstract

The Digital Services Act was finally published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 27 October 2022. This publication marks the end of a years-long drafting and negotiation process, and opens a new chapter: that of its enforcement, practicable access to justice, and potential to set global precedents. The Act has been portrayed as Europe’s new „Digital Constitution“, which affirms the primacy of democratic rulemaking over the private transnational ordering mechanisms of Big Tech. With it, the European Union aims once again to set a global standard in the regulation of the digital environment. But will the Digital Services Act be able to live up to its expectations, and under what conditions?

big tech, DSA, enforcement

Bibtex

Book{nokey, title = {Putting the DSA into Practice: Enforcement, Access to Justice and Global Implications}, author = {van Hoboken, J. and Quintais, J. and Appelman, N. and Fahy, R. and Buri, I. and Straub, M.}, url = {https://verfassungsblog.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/vHoboken-et-al_Putting-the-DSA-into-Practice.pdf}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.17176/20230208-093135-0}, year = {2023}, date = {2023-02-17}, abstract = {The Digital Services Act was finally published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 27 October 2022. This publication marks the end of a years-long drafting and negotiation process, and opens a new chapter: that of its enforcement, practicable access to justice, and potential to set global precedents. The Act has been portrayed as Europe’s new „Digital Constitution“, which affirms the primacy of democratic rulemaking over the private transnational ordering mechanisms of Big Tech. With it, the European Union aims once again to set a global standard in the regulation of the digital environment. But will the Digital Services Act be able to live up to its expectations, and under what conditions?}, keywords = {big tech, DSA, enforcement}, }

Algorithmic News Diversity and Democratic Theory: Adding Agonism to the Mix

Digital Journalism, vol. 10, iss. : 10, pp: 1650-1670, 2022

Abstract

The role news recommenders can play in stimulating news diversity is receiving increasing amounts of attention. Democratic theory plays an important role in this debate because it helps explain why news diversity is important and which kinds of news diversity should be pursued. In this article, I observe that the current literature on news recommenders and news diversity largely draws on a narrow set of theories of liberal and deliberative democracy. Another strand of democratic theory often referred to as ‘agonism’ is often ignored. This, I argue, is a mistake. Liberal and deliberative theories of democracy focus on the question of how political disagreements and conflicts can be resolved in a rational and legitimate manner. Agonism, to the contrary, stresses the ineradicability of conflict and the need to make conflict productive. This difference in thinking about the purpose of democratic politics can also lead to new ways of thinking about the value of news diversity and role algorithmic news recommenders should play in promoting it. The overall aim of the article is (re)introduce agonistic theory to the news recommender context and to argue that agonism deserves more serious attention.

agonism, algorithmic news recommenders, Democracy, diversity, Media law, news recommenders

Bibtex

Article{nokey, title = {Algorithmic News Diversity and Democratic Theory: Adding Agonism to the Mix}, author = {Sax, M.}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2022.2114919}, year = {2022}, date = {2022-09-14}, journal = {Digital Journalism}, volume = {10}, issue = {10}, pages = {1650-1670}, abstract = {The role news recommenders can play in stimulating news diversity is receiving increasing amounts of attention. Democratic theory plays an important role in this debate because it helps explain why news diversity is important and which kinds of news diversity should be pursued. In this article, I observe that the current literature on news recommenders and news diversity largely draws on a narrow set of theories of liberal and deliberative democracy. Another strand of democratic theory often referred to as ‘agonism’ is often ignored. This, I argue, is a mistake. Liberal and deliberative theories of democracy focus on the question of how political disagreements and conflicts can be resolved in a rational and legitimate manner. Agonism, to the contrary, stresses the ineradicability of conflict and the need to make conflict productive. This difference in thinking about the purpose of democratic politics can also lead to new ways of thinking about the value of news diversity and role algorithmic news recommenders should play in promoting it. The overall aim of the article is (re)introduce agonistic theory to the news recommender context and to argue that agonism deserves more serious attention.}, keywords = {agonism, algorithmic news recommenders, Democracy, diversity, Media law, news recommenders}, }

Towards a Normative Perspective on Journalistic
AI: Embracing the Messy Reality of Normative
Ideals
download

Helberger, N., Drunen, M. van, Möller, J., Vrijenhoek, S. & Eskens, S.
Digital Journalism, vol. 10, iss. : 10, pp: 1605-1626, 2022

Abstract

Few would disagree that AI systems and applications need to be “responsible,” but what is “responsible” and how to answer that question? Answering that question requires a normative perspective on the role of journalistic AI and the values it shall serve. Such a perspective needs to be grounded in a broader normative framework and a thorough understanding of the dynamics and complexities of journalistic AI at the level of people, newsrooms and media markets. This special issue aims to develop such a normative perspective on the use of AI-driven tools in journalism and the role of digital journalism studies in advancing that perspective. The contributions in this special issue combine conceptual, organisational and empirical angles to study the challenges involved in actively using AI to promote editorial values, the powers at play, the role of economic and regulatory conditions, and ways of bridging academic ideals and the messy reality of the real world. This editorial brings the different contributions into conversation, situates them in the broader digital journalism studies scholarship and identifies seven key-take aways.

Artificial intelligence, governance, Journalism, Media law, normative perspective, professional values, Regulation

Bibtex

Article{nokey, title = {Towards a Normative Perspective on JournalisticAI: Embracing the Messy Reality of NormativeIdeals}, author = {Helberger, N. and Drunen, M. van and Möller, J. and Vrijenhoek, S. and Eskens, S.}, url = {https://www.ivir.nl/publications/towards-a-normative-perspective-on-journalisticai-embracing-the-messy-reality-of-normativeideals/digital_journalism_2022_10/}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2022.2152195}, year = {2022}, date = {2022-12-22}, journal = {Digital Journalism}, volume = {10}, issue = {10}, pages = {1605-1626}, abstract = {Few would disagree that AI systems and applications need to be “responsible,” but what is “responsible” and how to answer that question? Answering that question requires a normative perspective on the role of journalistic AI and the values it shall serve. Such a perspective needs to be grounded in a broader normative framework and a thorough understanding of the dynamics and complexities of journalistic AI at the level of people, newsrooms and media markets. This special issue aims to develop such a normative perspective on the use of AI-driven tools in journalism and the role of digital journalism studies in advancing that perspective. The contributions in this special issue combine conceptual, organisational and empirical angles to study the challenges involved in actively using AI to promote editorial values, the powers at play, the role of economic and regulatory conditions, and ways of bridging academic ideals and the messy reality of the real world. This editorial brings the different contributions into conversation, situates them in the broader digital journalism studies scholarship and identifies seven key-take aways.}, keywords = {Artificial intelligence, governance, Journalism, Media law, normative perspective, professional values, Regulation}, }

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights per Protocol No. 1 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

GRUR International, vol. 72, iss. : 3, pp: 323-324, 2023

Human rights, Intellectual property

Bibtex

Case note{nokey, title = {Protection of Intellectual Property Rights per Protocol No. 1 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms}, author = {Izyumenko, E.}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/grurint/ikac144}, year = {2023}, date = {2023-02-02}, journal = {GRUR International}, volume = {72}, issue = {3}, pages = {323-324}, keywords = {Human rights, Intellectual property}, }

Polen is plotseling de verdediger van de Europese grondwet. Een beschouwing over de zaak Polen/Europees Parlement: HvJ EU 22 april 2022, zaak C-401/19 download

Auteursrecht, vol. 2022, iss. : 4, pp: 219-227,

Abstract

Dit artikel bevat een inleiding waarin de verandering in de communicatienetwerkomgeving wordt geschetst om te verduidelijken dat het systeem van de e-Commercerichtlijn niet goed meer past, maar waar toch nog dikwijls aan wordt gerefereerd (par. 1). Vervolgens wordt stilgestaan bij de constitutionele toetsing die het VEU introduceert (par. 2). Hiermee hangt samen dat een abstracte constitutionele toetsing aan de beperkingsclausules van het Handvest ingewikkeld is, een aspect dat in deze vorm in het auteursrecht nog niet eerder aan de orde is geweest (par. 3). Dat een dergelijke constitutionele toetsing heel verschillend kan worden aangepakt, blijkt uit de conclusie van de A-G en het Hof, die daarom tegenover de aanpak van het Hof wordt gezet (par. 4 en 5). Het artikel rondt af met een analyse dat de inzet van de zaak is vrijheid van meningsuiting, maar dat het resultaat is meer overheidsinvloed op de filtertechnieken die censuur moeten voorkomen (par. 6).

Auteursrecht, censuur, Grondrechten, Vrijheid van meningsuiting

Bibtex

Article{nokey, title = {Polen is plotseling de verdediger van de Europese grondwet. Een beschouwing over de zaak Polen/Europees Parlement: HvJ EU 22 april 2022, zaak C-401/19}, author = {Dommering, E.}, url = {https://www.ivir.nl/publications/polen-is-plotseling-de-verdediger-van-de-europese-grondwet-een-beschouwing-over-de-zaak-polen-europees-parlement-hvj-eu-22-april-2022-zaak-c-401-19/auteursrecht_2022_4/}, year = {}, date = {DATE ERROR: pub_date = }, journal = {Auteursrecht}, volume = {2022}, issue = {4}, pages = {219-227}, abstract = {Dit artikel bevat een inleiding waarin de verandering in de communicatienetwerkomgeving wordt geschetst om te verduidelijken dat het systeem van de e-Commercerichtlijn niet goed meer past, maar waar toch nog dikwijls aan wordt gerefereerd (par. 1). Vervolgens wordt stilgestaan bij de constitutionele toetsing die het VEU introduceert (par. 2). Hiermee hangt samen dat een abstracte constitutionele toetsing aan de beperkingsclausules van het Handvest ingewikkeld is, een aspect dat in deze vorm in het auteursrecht nog niet eerder aan de orde is geweest (par. 3). Dat een dergelijke constitutionele toetsing heel verschillend kan worden aangepakt, blijkt uit de conclusie van de A-G en het Hof, die daarom tegenover de aanpak van het Hof wordt gezet (par. 4 en 5). Het artikel rondt af met een analyse dat de inzet van de zaak is vrijheid van meningsuiting, maar dat het resultaat is meer overheidsinvloed op de filtertechnieken die censuur moeten voorkomen (par. 6).}, keywords = {Auteursrecht, censuur, Grondrechten, Vrijheid van meningsuiting}, }

Popularity-driven Metrics: Audience Analytics and Shifting Opinion Power to Digital Platforms external link

Dodds, T., Vreese, C.H. de, Helberger, N., Resendez, V. & Seipp, T.
Journalism Studies, 2023

Abstract

As digital technologies have made their way into news production, allowing news organizations to measure audience behaviors and engagement in real-time, click-based and editorial goals have become increasingly intertwined. Ongoing developments in algorithmic technologies allow editors to bring their audience into the newsroom using specialized tools such as Chartbeat or Google Analytics. This article examines how these technologies have affected the composition of the audience and their power to influence news-making processes inside two Chilean newsrooms. Drawing on several months of newsroom ethnography, we identify how the pursuit of “clickable news” impacts editorial processes and journalistic priorities by changing the datafied audience opinion power behind news production. Shifts in opinion power, loss of control, and increased platform dependency may contribute to a concentrated media landscape. Our findings show that opinion power has shifted to a datafied version of the audience, raising new questions about platform dependency and editorial autonomy in media organizations. These results carry significant implications for understanding the chase for traffic in current multiplatform newsrooms and how this phenomenon impacts news production.

Media law

Bibtex

Article{nokey, title = {Popularity-driven Metrics: Audience Analytics and Shifting Opinion Power to Digital Platforms}, author = {Dodds, T. and Vreese, C.H. de and Helberger, N. and Resendez, V. and Seipp, T.}, url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1461670X.2023.2167104}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2023.2167104}, year = {2023}, date = {2023-01-06}, journal = {Journalism Studies}, abstract = {As digital technologies have made their way into news production, allowing news organizations to measure audience behaviors and engagement in real-time, click-based and editorial goals have become increasingly intertwined. Ongoing developments in algorithmic technologies allow editors to bring their audience into the newsroom using specialized tools such as Chartbeat or Google Analytics. This article examines how these technologies have affected the composition of the audience and their power to influence news-making processes inside two Chilean newsrooms. Drawing on several months of newsroom ethnography, we identify how the pursuit of “clickable news” impacts editorial processes and journalistic priorities by changing the datafied audience opinion power behind news production. Shifts in opinion power, loss of control, and increased platform dependency may contribute to a concentrated media landscape. Our findings show that opinion power has shifted to a datafied version of the audience, raising new questions about platform dependency and editorial autonomy in media organizations. These results carry significant implications for understanding the chase for traffic in current multiplatform newsrooms and how this phenomenon impacts news production.}, keywords = {Media law}, }

Dealing with Opinion Power in the Platform World: Why We Really Have to Rethink Media Concentration Law external link

Seipp, T., Helberger, N., Vreese, C.H. de & Ausloos, J.
Digital Journalism, 2023

Abstract

The platformised news environment affects audiences, challenges the news media’s role, and transforms the media ecosystem. Digital platform companies influence opinion formation and hence wield “opinion power,” a normatively and constitutionally rooted notion that captures the core of media power in democracy and substantiates why that power must be distributed. Media concentration law is the traditional tool to prevent predominant opinion power from emerging but is, in its current form, not applicable to the platform context. We demonstrate how the nature of opinion power is changing and shifting from news media to platforms and distinguish three levels of opinion power: (1) the individual citizen, (2) the institutional newsroom and (3) the media ecosystem. The reconceptualization at the three levels provides a framework to develop future (non-)regulatory responses that address (1) the shifting influence over individual news consumption and exposure, (2) the changing power dynamics within automated, datafied and platform-dependent newsrooms, and (3) the systemic power of platforms and structural dependencies in the media ecosystem. We demonstrate that as the nature of opinion power is changing, so must the tools of control.

Media law, news, Platforms

Bibtex

Article{nokey, title = {Dealing with Opinion Power in the Platform World: Why We Really Have to Rethink Media Concentration Law}, author = {Seipp, T. and Helberger, N. and Vreese, C.H. de and Ausloos, J.}, url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21670811.2022.2161924}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2022.2161924}, year = {2023}, date = {2023-01-03}, journal = {Digital Journalism}, abstract = {The platformised news environment affects audiences, challenges the news media’s role, and transforms the media ecosystem. Digital platform companies influence opinion formation and hence wield “opinion power,” a normatively and constitutionally rooted notion that captures the core of media power in democracy and substantiates why that power must be distributed. Media concentration law is the traditional tool to prevent predominant opinion power from emerging but is, in its current form, not applicable to the platform context. We demonstrate how the nature of opinion power is changing and shifting from news media to platforms and distinguish three levels of opinion power: (1) the individual citizen, (2) the institutional newsroom and (3) the media ecosystem. The reconceptualization at the three levels provides a framework to develop future (non-)regulatory responses that address (1) the shifting influence over individual news consumption and exposure, (2) the changing power dynamics within automated, datafied and platform-dependent newsrooms, and (3) the systemic power of platforms and structural dependencies in the media ecosystem. We demonstrate that as the nature of opinion power is changing, so must the tools of control.}, keywords = {Media law, news, Platforms}, }

Leading the Charge on Digital Regulation: The More, the Better, or Policy Bubble? external link

Codagnone, C. & Weigl, L.
Digital Society, vol. 2, num: 4, 2023

Abstract

For about a decade, the concept of ‘digital sovereignty’ has been prominent in the European policy discourse. In the quest for digital sovereignty, the European Union has adopted a constitutional approach to protect fundamental rights and democratic values, and to ensure fair and competitive digital markets. Thus, ‘digital constitutionalism’ emerged as a twin discourse. A corollary of these discourses is a third phenomenon resulting from a regulatory externalisation of European law beyond the bloc’s borders, the so-called ‘Brussels Effect’. The dynamics arising from Europe’s digital policy and regulatory activism imply increasing legal complexities. This paper argues that this phenomenon in policy-making is a case of a positive ‘policy bubble’ characterised by an oversupply of policies and legislative acts. The phenomenon can be explained by the amplification of values in the framing of digital policy issues. To unpack the policy frames and values at stake, this paper provides an overview of the digital policy landscape, followed by a critical assessment to showcase the practical implications of positive policy bubbles.

Bibtex

Article{nokey, title = {Leading the Charge on Digital Regulation: The More, the Better, or Policy Bubble?}, author = {Codagnone, C. and Weigl, L.}, url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44206-023-00033-7}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s44206-023-00033-7}, year = {2023}, date = {2023-01-17}, journal = {Digital Society}, volume = {2}, number = {4}, pages = {}, abstract = {For about a decade, the concept of ‘digital sovereignty’ has been prominent in the European policy discourse. In the quest for digital sovereignty, the European Union has adopted a constitutional approach to protect fundamental rights and democratic values, and to ensure fair and competitive digital markets. Thus, ‘digital constitutionalism’ emerged as a twin discourse. A corollary of these discourses is a third phenomenon resulting from a regulatory externalisation of European law beyond the bloc’s borders, the so-called ‘Brussels Effect’. The dynamics arising from Europe’s digital policy and regulatory activism imply increasing legal complexities. This paper argues that this phenomenon in policy-making is a case of a positive ‘policy bubble’ characterised by an oversupply of policies and legislative acts. The phenomenon can be explained by the amplification of values in the framing of digital policy issues. To unpack the policy frames and values at stake, this paper provides an overview of the digital policy landscape, followed by a critical assessment to showcase the practical implications of positive policy bubbles.}, }

Freedom of Expression and the EU’s Ban on Russia Today: A Dangerous Rubicon Crossed external link

Fahy, R. & Voorhoof, D.
Communications Law, vol. 27, iss. : 4, pp: 186-193,

Abstract

In RT France v Council, the General Court of the European Union found that the ban on RT France in the EU did not violate the right to freedom of expression and media freedom, under Article 11 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Notably, the General Court sought to apply principles from case law of the European Court of Human Rights and international human rights law. This article argues that there are serious questions to be raised over the General Court’s reasoning in RT France, and the judgment arguably represents a deeply problematic application of European and international free expression principles.

Vrijheid van meningsuiting

Bibtex

Article{nokey, title = {Freedom of Expression and the EU’s Ban on Russia Today: A Dangerous Rubicon Crossed}, author = {Fahy, R. and Voorhoof, D.}, url = {https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4322452}, year = {}, date = {DATE ERROR: pub_date = }, journal = {Communications Law}, volume = {27}, issue = {4}, pages = {186-193}, abstract = {In RT France v Council, the General Court of the European Union found that the ban on RT France in the EU did not violate the right to freedom of expression and media freedom, under Article 11 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Notably, the General Court sought to apply principles from case law of the European Court of Human Rights and international human rights law. This article argues that there are serious questions to be raised over the General Court’s reasoning in RT France, and the judgment arguably represents a deeply problematic application of European and international free expression principles.}, keywords = {Vrijheid van meningsuiting}, }