Technology and society - contemporary regulatory challenges 3500-FAKL-TECHSPOL
During the classes, we will first deal with the basic problems and challenges related to the functioning of big tech enterprises in modern societies. Next, we will consider how public policy makers approach the regulation of these enterprises and specific technological solutions. We will be interested in an intersection of public regulation of the activities of private entities whose activities are considered by policy makers to be of genuine public importance. We will particularly focus on the regulatory strategies adopted by the European Union, which is highly active in the field of regulating new technologies.
The topics we will discuss are:
Regulatory capitalism and the growing importance of self-regulation by big tech
Black box society - the increasing role of non-transparent mechanisms related to the intensive use of algorithmic technologies by enterprises
Solutionism and the Silicon Valley ideology
Breaking and circumventing the law as a corporate strategy - "regulatory entrepreneurship"
Freedom of speech, dangerous online behavior (doxing, harassment) and the responsibility of social media platforms
Regulating privacy and anonymity - on the example of the GDPR
Regulation of competition - on the example of the Platform-to-Business Regulation and marketplace platforms (Amazon, Allegro, Ebay)
Regulating the operation of algorithms
Generative AI as a regulatory challenge - European Union regulatory strategy towards AI
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Has basic knowledge of major foreign, international and domestic sociological research
Has basic knowledge about institutions and organizations responsible for the transfer of norms and rules in society, such as educational, legal, moral and religious systems
Has basic knowledge about the functioning of the economy and its relations with other social institutions
Is aware of the processes occurring in Polish and global society and their consequences for social attitudes and institutions
Can independently find facts and materials needed to conduct simple sociological analyses, using various sources in both Polish and a foreign language, and using modern technologies
Can comprehend a scientific text and identify its main theses and the author’s arguments, as well as discuss them
Can find, gather and synthesize information about social phenomena
Can participate in a discussion
Assessment criteria
Participation in the discussion. Preparation and presentation in a group of a policy brief on a selected problem related to the regulation of new technologies.
Max numer of absences: 2
Second term pass rules: the same as in the first term
Bibliography
Hoofnagle, C. J., Van Der Sloot, B., & Borgesius, F. Z. (2019). The European Union general data protection regulation: what it is and what it means. Information & Communications Technology Law, 28(1), 65-98.
Levi-Faur, D. (2017). Regulatory capitalism. Regulatory theory: Foundations and applications, 289-302.
Moore, M., & Tambini, D. (Eds.). (2018). Digital dominance: the power of Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple. Oxford University Press.
Morozov, E. (2014). To Save Everything, Click Here.
Pasquale, F. (2015). The black box society: The secret algorithms that control money and information. Harvard University Press.
Pollman, E., & Barry, J. M. (2016). Regulatory entrepreneurship. Southern California Law Review 90, 383-448
Riemer, K., & Peter, S. (2021). Algorithmic audiencing: Why we need to rethink free speech on social media. Journal of Information Technology, 36(4), 409-426.
Ulnicane, I. (2022). Artificial Intelligence in the European Union: Policy, ethics and regulation. In The Routledge handbook of European integrations. Taylor & Francis.
Yeung, K. (2018). Algorithmic regulation: A critical interrogation. Regulation & Governance, 12(4), 505-523.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: