Timeline

Author: Nicolo Zingales Due to the easy duplicability of information transmitted in digital form, copyright holders regularly resort to technical protection measures (TPMs), such as encryption-based paywalls, to prevent acts that are not authorized by the right holder of any copyright or any right related to copyright. The legal system reinforces this type of protection… Continue reading Technological Protection Measures

Author: Luca Belli The concept of ‘spam’ refers to any kind of unsolicited digital communication that is usually dispatched in bulk. Hence spam is any messages sent to multiple recipients who did not ask for them. As pointed out by the Internet Society (2018), the main problems caused by spam are due to the combination… Continue reading Spam

Author: Enguerrand Marique A ‘social network’ is a platform-based service that enables users to share and exchange information with other individuals also using the network. Its purpose can be the sharing and exchange of political, commercial, personal interests, or mixed information. Each user has a profile, which can be added within one personal network. A… Continue reading Social Network

Authors: Yasmin Curzi and Enguerrand Marique See also marketplace. Sharing economy is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “an economic system in which assets or services are shared between private individuals, either for free or for a fee, typically by means of the internet”. It is also referred to as ‘collaborative’, ‘platform’, or ‘gig’ economy. In… Continue reading Sharing Economy

Author: Courtney Radsch ‘Shadowban’ refers to a relatively common moderation practice of lowering a user’s visibility, content or ability to interact without them knowing it so that they can continue to use the platform normally, but their content is not visible to anyone else. It can refer to user-driven or platform-driven blocking, and its meaning has expanded… Continue reading Shadowban/ Shadow-ban

Author: Rolf H. Weber ‘Self-regulation’ refers to rules that are autonomously developed and implemented by the thereof concerned persons, groups, or enterprises (such as users or users’ groups, intermediaries, platform or technology providers, etc.), independently from any structured form of rulemaking (often called ‘soft law’). The legitimacy of self-regulation is based on the fact that… Continue reading Self-regulation

Author: Konstantinos Stylianou ‘Self-preferencing’ is the practice of giving preferential treatment to one’s own complementary products or services when they are in competition with products and services provided by other entities using the platform (Crémer, 2019). The term rose to prominence after the Google Shopping case (2017) where the European Commission accused Google of ‘self-preferencing’… Continue reading Self-preferencing

Authors: Luã Fergus and Laila Lorenzon Self-injury or self-harm is often described as the act of purposely hurting physically or psychologically oneself as an emotional coping mechanism (Skegg, 2005; Daine et. al, 2013). These behaviors are not just suicidal-related, the practice of violent activities and challenges with a high risk to life and self-harm are… Continue reading Self Injury

Author: Nicolo Zingales A safe harbor is an area of exemption from liability guaranteed by the legal system, a ‘comfort zone’ that enables the pursuit of what would otherwise be considered legally risky activities. Safe harbors can be important not only to enable experimentation and innovation, but also, and particularly in the context of speech… Continue reading Safe Harbor

Author: Stefan Kulk The right to be forgotten is a legal right that exists in some jurisdictions, and that is closely related to the right of privacy and the protection of personal data. This right generally enables people to require the removal of information about them that is stored or otherwise processed by others. It… Continue reading Right to be Forgotten