Lecture
Disinformation and the law
- Date
- Thursday 30 June 2022
- Time
- Location
- Kamerling Onnes Building
Steenschuur 25
2311 ES Leiden - Room
- A144
Overview
Disinformation is not necessarily illegal or unlawful. Nevertheless, almost all major online platforms have community guidelines in place to counter categories of disinformation. In the Code of Practice on Disinformation (2018), the European Commission and some very large online platforms agreed on (not legally enforceable) rules for tackling disinformation. While the Code of Practice had a strong focus on election disinformation, during the corona pandemic very large online platforms were again called upon to tackle disinformation about Covid-19.
In this seminar, the (legal) instruments, means and remedies to counter Covid-19 disinformation in light of the right to freedom of expression are discussed and placed in a broader context of internet intermediary service provider (including Google, Meta, and Microsoft) liability. Do the (unenforceable) obligations for online platforms lead to the over-removal of user-provided information as misinformation or disinformation while its content would normally be protected under the right to freedom of expression? How does the Dutch judiciary handle conflicts that may arise from such moderation practices?
The session will be delivered in a hybrid format (online and in-person, where feasible). If you plan to attend in person, please confirm your attendance by emailing Asmaa Khadim at a.n.khadim@law.leidenuniv.nl.
Presenter Bio
Michael Klos studied Public Administration and Law at Leiden University, and obtained his LLM degree in Laws (specialisation: Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law) in 2017. Since December 2017, Klos is active as a Researcher at the Department of Jurisprudence. Klos is currently working on a dissertation on freedom of expression on the internet.
About Conflict Resolution @Leiden
Institutions for Conflict Resolution / Conflictoplossende Instituties (COI) is one of the two legal science themes of the Dutch National Sector Plan for Law at Leiden Law School, the other being Empirical Legal Studies. As part of its activities, the COI research group organises a monthly seminar series, Conflict Resolution Seminars @Leiden, for researchers interested in institutions for conflict resolution. The research seminars are intended to explore judicial approaches to resolving difficult and contentious societal problems, ranging from climate protection to race relations. Judicial decision-making at the local, national and supranational levels, as well as alternative dispute resolution approaches, are considered.
Researchers across Leiden University are invited to present their work, and we welcome interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research on any topic that aligns with the theme of the seminar series. These seminars are intended to bring together academics from across the university to share ideas and collaborate on mechanisms and strategies that best promote effective and inclusive conflict resolution. If you are interested in becoming a presenter, please contact Asmaa Khadim at a.n.khadim@law.leidenuniv.nl.