12 October 2023
Ruling by Bullying?
On September 8th, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States partially upheld a decision that found several public officials had coerced social media companies into censoring speech protected by the First Amendment. Americans call this area of the law jawboning, in reference to the jawbone that is moved when we talk, which is the mechanism through which pressures of these sorts are exerted. It is an extremely complex area of law, in part because distinguishing when public officials cross that fuzzy legal line depends on assessing the nature actions that happen in private settings in light of vague and ambiguous criteria. In this piece, I explain why the occurrence of jawboning might be an inevitable feature of modern administrative governance, and outline both the unique challenge that underpins any attempt to legally regulate it as well as the urgency of doing so. Continue reading >>
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05 October 2023
Automated Decision-Making and the Challenge of Implementing Existing Laws
Who loves the latest shiny thing? Children maybe? Depends on the kid. Cats and dogs perhaps? Again, probably depends. What about funders, publishers, and researchers? Now that is an easier question to answer. Whether in talks provided by the tax-exempt ‘cult of TED’, or in open letters calling for a moratorium, the attention digital technologies receive today is extensive, especially those that are labelled ‘artificial intelligence’. This noise comes with calls for a new ad hoc human right against being subject to automated decision-making (ADM). While there is merit in adopting new laws dedicated to so-called AI, the procedural mechanisms that can implement existing law require strengthening. The perceived need for new substantive rules to govern new technology is questionable at best, and distracting at worst. Here we would like to emphasise the importance of implementing existing law more effectively in order to better regulate ADM. Improving procedural capacities across the legal frameworks on data protection, non-discrimination, and human rights is imperative in this regard. Continue reading >>
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10 November 2021
Biden’s Vaccine-or-Test Mandate in Legal Limbo
COVID-19 vaccine, a medical marvel of the first order, has in due course become the subject first of political and then legal controversy. Several states and businesses brought suit against the Biden administration’s mandate that large employers require vaccinations or weekly testing, and a federal appeals court has issued a stay blocking the mandate. As if the stakes in this litigation weren’t high enough, the case could turn into a showdown not only over vaccination, but over the power of regulatory agencies in the United States more generally. Continue reading >>
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04 April 2017