Can our democratic rule of law survive Big Tech?
image: Mika Baumeister on Unsplash
Reijer Passchier, Professor of Digitalisation and the Democratic Constitutional State (OU) and assistant professor in constitutional law, is not convinced. In an interview in Mr., he warns that legal professionals are embracing AI at an unprecedented rate but underestimate the risks.
Technological developments are reshaping not only society but also the law. Digital systems increasingly influence the information people are exposed to, the decisions that are made, and the way rules are interpreted and applied. Lawyers, however, appear to be more focused on the efficiency gains offered by digitalisation than on its implications for the democratic rule of law. ‘That is something they should really be losing sleep over.’ In reality, a considerable share of power is being concentrated in the hands of computer programmers and, more worryingly, a small number of dominant tech companies.
According to Passchier, the time has come to regulate the power of computer programmers and move towards an ‘agile legislative process’, where programmers and implementers are directly involved in the design of legislation, ensuring that the underlying computer code is also consistent with legal and regulatory requirements.
We must guard against the emergence in Europe of Big Tech companies that dictate the algorithms and decide which users and organisations can access digital services, and under what conditions. Instead, Passchier argues for a different model: a digital economy that is consistent with the principles of the democratic rule of law. There should be greater scope for smaller technology companies that are more closely connected to society and committed to serving human values, rather than publicly traded corporations driven by profit and the pursuit of power. This, Passchier argues, is how legal professionals can safeguard their sovereignty, autonomy, and ultimately the rule of law.
Read a summary of the interview in Mr. here or the full text here (€) (both in Dutch).