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The Digital Rights Delusion

This book examines the ever-increasing impact of technology on our lives and explores a range of legal and constitutional questions that this raises.

It considers the extent to which concepts such as ‘cyberspace’ and ‘digital rights’ advance or undermine our understanding of this development and proposes a number of novel approaches to the effective protection of our rights in this rapidly evolving environment.

Finally, it shows how the abuse of the adjective digital has demoted legal rights into subjective and individual claims.

The work will be of particular interest to scholars of privacy, artificial intelligence and free speech, as well as policymakers and the general reader.

Available on Routledge Website, Amazon.com and all other major online bookstores.

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The self-censorship of generative AI now surpasses Orwellian Newspeak

In 2003, commenting on the proceedings of the “Open-Source Commission” established by the then government, I wrote in the glorious (and alas, now defunct) Linux&C magazine: “We are creating generations of functional illiterates subservient to the uncritical use of a single platform. People are already using systems with no awareness of their actions. Thus, when the spell-checker suggests that ‘democracy’ is not in the dictionary, they will, without question, simply cease to use the word -and forget about its existence. Twenty years on, these words retain extraordinary relevance when applied to the current developments in generative AI, which unfold under the collective gaze of a substantially indifferent populace –  by Andrea Monti – Initially published in Italian by Italian Tech – La Repubblica and in English by Inforrm Continue reading “The self-censorship of generative AI now surpasses Orwellian Newspeak”

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Breton’s letter to Elon Musk exposes a serious problem (but it is the EU, not X)

In a letter dated 10 October, Commissioner Breton informed Elon Musk that X is used for disseminating illegal content and disinformation within the EU. He reminded Musk of the regulations imposed by the Digital Service Act in terms of content moderation, and warned that he had received information from “qualified sources” about the circulation of—quoting verbatim—”potentially illegal content” that remains available despite notification from relevant authorities. Lastly, Breton states that it is obligatory (“you need to have in place” reads the letter) to have implemented effective measures to reduce risks to public order and safety arising from the spread of disinformation. He expects — expects, not hopes— immediate compliance with requests from police authorities and Europol. by Andrea Monti – Initially published in Italian by Strategikon – an Italian Tech blog Continue reading “Breton’s letter to Elon Musk exposes a serious problem (but it is the EU, not X)”

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From mass surveillance to individual control, the path goes through videgames and exposes the GDPR

A peculiar feature of the third iteration of Call of Duty Modern Warfare has gone almost unnoticed by the media: it will increase the use of AI to block – ‘filter’, as marketing experts would euphemistically say – ‘toxic’ conversations. In other words, an AI will analyse what players are saying in real time, and ‘toxic’ language – whatever that means – will be reported to the moderation team by Andrea Monti – initially published in Italian by Strategikon – an Italian Tech Blog Continue reading “From mass surveillance to individual control, the path goes through videgames and exposes the GDPR”