December 21, 2025 Online Lecture: "Legal Perspectives on the Global Rise of Internet Restrictions" by Gergely Gosztonyi on 20 January 2026"From a Borderless Network to a Regulated Sphere: Legal Perspectives on the Global Rise of Internet Restrictions"
by Prof. Dr. Gergely Gosztonyi (Digital Authoritarianism Research Lab, Faculty of Law of Eötvös, Loránd University)
Date and time: 20 January 2026, Tuesday 15:00 - 16:30 CET
From the Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism
"From a Borderless Network to a Regulated Sphere: Legal Perspectives on the Global Rise of Internet Restrictions"
by Prof. Dr. Gergely Gosztonyi (Digital Authoritarianism Research Lab, Faculty of Law of Eötvös, Loránd University)
Date and time: 20 January 2026, Tuesday 15:00 - 16:30 CET Moderator: Dr. Ülker Sözen (University of Passau & Leipzig University)
Abstract
The past decade has witnessed an expansion of state-imposed restrictions on the internet, reshaping the legal architecture of digital communication globally. Once seen as a borderless and largely self-regulating space, the internet is increasingly subject to territorial governance, content controls, censorship and platform-centered enforcement mechanisms. From a lawyer’s perspective, this trend raises fundamental questions about sovereignty, freedom of expression, procedural guarantees, and the rule of law in the digital environment. The presentation examines the legal rationales underpinning contemporary internet restrictions, with particular attention to fundamental rights limitations, the privatisation of enforcement through online platforms, and the growing fragmentation of global internet governance. It argues that while regulation is neither avoidable nor inherently illegitimate, the cumulative expansion of restrictive measures risks normalising overbroad control and chilling effects unless anchored in clear legality, proportionality, and effective accountability framework.
Bio
Gergely Gosztonyi is a Full Professor, a Hungarian lawyer and media researcher. He is the Head of Digital Authoritarianism Research Lab (DARL) at the Faculty of Law of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE). His research interests include global regulation of social media, censorship, deepfake, alternative media and the liability of intermediaries. Since 2015, he has been the lead coach of the Hungarian team for the Monroe E. Price Media Law Moot Court Competition. He has been an expert on various occasions for the Council of Europe, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority, and the National Talent Centre. He is editor of several law journals and has published over 170 articles in Hungarian and international law journals.
June 11, 2025 "Genocidal Human-Machine Assemblage: Artificial Intelligence and the Mass Extermination of Civilians in Gaza" by Dr. Vasja Badalič As part of "The Many Faces of Digital Authoritarianism" Lecture Series by the ECPR Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism: "Genocidal Human-Machine Assemblage: Artificial Intelligence and the Mass Extermination of Civilians in Gaza" by Dr. Vasja Badalič (Institute of Criminology, Ljubljana, Slovenia)
From the Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism
As part of "The Many Faces of Digital Authoritarianism" Lecture Series by the ECPR Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism:
"Genocidal Human-Machine Assemblage: Artificial Intelligence and the Mass Extermination of Civilians in Gaza"
by Dr. Vasja Badalič (Institute of Criminology, Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Date and time: 01 July 2025, Tuesday 16:00 - 17:30 CET
Moderator: Dr. Ülker Sözen (University of Passau & Leipzig University)
Link: https://ecpr-eu.zoom.us/j/86309076890?pwd=1fZiwHSKxUCxrqZnMTuaG6t8Kh4Bvm.1
Meeting ID: 86309076890
Password: 946788
For registration: https://ecpr.eu/Events/337
Abstract
This paper discusses how the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the target selection process exacerbated genocidal violence in Gaza. The first objective is to examine how various AI-enabled systems, together with judgments made by Israeli soldiers, erased civilians from the battlefield by redefining them as military targets. The paper examines the shortcomings of AI technology (e.g., uncertainty in proxy-based target determinations, faulty training dataset, incorporated error rate) and human decisions (e.g., using “dumb” bombs, relying on too wide pinpointing of targets) that contributed to the erasure of civilians. The second objective is to show how the human-machine assemblage created the conditions for indiscriminate and disproportionate armed attacks that ignored the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.
Bio
Vasja Badalič is a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana, Slovenia. His primary fields of research are contemporary imperialism and migration. He has published many peer-reviewed articles in academic journals and monographs, including in Drones and Unmanned Aerial Systems (Springer, 2016), and Automating Crime Prevention, Surveillance, and Military Operations (Springer, 2021). He is the author of five books, including The War Against Civilians: Victims of the ‘War on Terror’ in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019) and Preventive Warfare: Hegemony, Power, and the Reconceptualization of War (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).
May 5, 2025 CANCELLED Online Lecture on May 20: "Naming the Beast: The Question of Agency in Social Media and Platformization Studies on Authoritarianism" by Wolfram Schaffar---- CANCELLED ----
We regret to inform you that the seminar with Prof. Wolfram Schaffar has been cancelled due to an unforeseen emergency involving the speaker. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.
From the Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism---- CANCELLED ----
We regret to inform you that the seminar with Prof. Wolfram Schaffar has been cancelled due to an unforeseen emergency involving the speaker. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding. From the Research Network on Digital AuthoritarianismAs part of "The Many Faces of Digital Authoritarianism" Lecture Series by the ECPR Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism "Naming the Beast: The Question of Agency in Social Media and Platformization Studies on Authoritarianism" by Prof. Dr. Wolfram Schaffar (University of Passau) Date and time: 20 May 2025, Tuesday 15:00 - 16:30 CET Moderator: Dr. Ülker Sözen (University of Passau & Leipzig University) Zoom link: https://ecpr-eu.zoom.us/j/82507059092?pwd=CA5VidnXza79M0jARdUooaoXuqHNKZ.1 Meeting ID: 825 0705 9092 Meeting passcode: 550859
Abstract It is evident that platforms and social media play a central role in the rise of authoritarian forms of rule. The election of Trump in the USA in 2016 and 2024, the success of Duterte in the Philippines in 2016, the continued success of right-wing movements in Japan, and the rise of the AfD in Germany are each associated with specific platforms or social media.
However, these analyses raise the fundamental question of agency: Can these successes be attributed to the fact that certain actors use platforms to spread their political agendas? Or do the technical specifications and economic rationality of the respective platforms themselves contribute to polarization and authoritarian developments?
There is an ongoing debate on this in the literature (Grohmann and Ong, 2024, special issue on Disinformation-for-Hire as Everyday Digital Labour). In my presentation, I will outline this debate and illustrate it with examples from Thailand, Myanmar, and China. I will argue that, contrary to many analyses which emphasize structural and technical determinism, surprising turns of events in political developments suggest that we should not underestimate the agency of political actors.
Bio Wolfram Schaffar holds the Chair of Development Policy at the University of Passau, Germany, and was previously Professor of Political Science and Development Studies at the University of Vienna (Austria), Acting Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Tübingen (Germany) and Lecturer at Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), the University of Yangon (Myanmar) and JSW Law School (Bhutan). Dr Schaffar's research focuses on social media platforms, processes of democratisation and de-democratisation, and state theory in the global South. He focuses particularly on East and Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Myanmar, Japan and China.
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