Social media are increasingly used as a tool of communication, cultural and political interaction as well as a leading source of information. Early years discussions showed a great deal of optimism and enthusiasm towards their use, seen as a great opportunity to political literacy and the establishment of a well-aware public opinion. They have an outstanding outreach capacity, and some empirical studies show that they can enhance trust, transparency, accountability and involvement in public life. Nevertheless, today major challenges have to be addressed, such as the misuse of digital communication instruments for triggering fake, misrepresenting or emotion-led news; the manipulation of the public credibility by uncontrolled hate speech, main entryway for anti-democratic trends; an unregulated use of the digital sphere, creating ever-new threats to democracy and fundamental rights; the rising power of tech giants, big data and the risks caused by algorithm-driven public decisions. These intertwined matters are receiving undeniable interest by the regulatory authorities at national and supranational level. This proposal aims at analyzing the European approach to digital transformations and digital challenges by focusing mainly on the existing and proposed laws and bylaws, as well as case studies.
Fr 18 Feb 2022 | 14:30–15:30
Social Media, Fundamental Rights and Threats to Democracy in Europe
Fellow Talk by Ylenia Maria Citino (LUISS/European Commission), chaired by Susana Coroado (University of Lisbon/Democracy Reporting International)
Ylenia Maria Citino is currently Visiting Researcher at the European Commission, DG CONNECT. She is Post Doctoral Research Fellow at CESP - Luiss Guido Carli and serves as Professor Assistant in Public Law at the University of Roma Tre and in Constitutional Law at the Marconi University of Rome. She is Adviser for Political Affairs for the Italy-USA Foundation. Graduate in Law of Luiss Guido Carli University (110/110 cum laude), Ylenia has a Master’s degree in Diplomatic Studies at SIOI, a Postgraduate Diploma on Public Administration Studies from the French Ecole Nationale d’Administration. Among other things, she worked as legal adviser for the President of the Defence Committee of the Italian “Senato della Repubblica” (2010-11), two former Italian Ministers (2011-12), the Legal Service of the Council of the European Union (2013) and the Prefect of Paris (2013-14). She also taught for the workshops of the International Republican Institute. Ylenia is member of the Editorial Board of the top-tier journals “Nomos – Le attualità del diritto” and “PasSaggi Costituzionali”. She is also member of ICON’S, IACL-AIDC, AAEENA and “Gruppo di Pisa” Associations. In 2019 Ylenia’s work was conferred a prize for the Best Doctoral Dissertation on Public Law, awarded by the Book Series “Sovranità, Federalismo, Diritti”, University of Insubria.
