Greening Digital Sovereignty: uncovering the links between green and digital policies in the EU
24 January 2023
[REVIEW] A look back at the Conference “ Content Moderation in the Age of DSA”
14 February 2023
The new European Digital Services Act provides an ambitious regulatory framework to face the digital transformation of the public space. The Act defines new obligations for digital platforms and aims to make the moderation policies of large online platforms more transparent and accountable.
Is this new regulatory framework appropriate to solve the digital information disorder? The circulation of fake news, hate speech and the algorithmic amplification of unreliable content have deeply damaged the quality of public discussion. On the 12th and 13th January, “Content Moderation in the Age of DSA” event was held at Sciences Po to discuss the many features of this new regulation by inviting several actors that made this regulation a reality : European and national regulators, digital platforms representatives, digital experts and citizens. The aim was to put into perspective the new environment the DSA is about to set up in the European context by bringing together researchers, regulatory actors and representatives of digital platforms.
The event was organised by the Good in Tech research network, in partnership with the Sciences Po Chair Digital, Governance and Sovereignty, the McCourt Institute, and the MSH Paris-Saclay with the support of ARCOM, the DE FACTO project, Institut Mines-Télécom Business School and the Sciences Po médialab
Replays of the 2 day event is available below.
January 12th, 2023 – The first day of the conference focused on questions currently affecting online communication, the new rules, techniques and practices underlying content moderation.
Introductory remarks by Christine Balagué (Professor of Management at Institut Mines Telecom Business School, Founder of the Good in Tech research network), Sylvain Parasie (Professor of Sociology at Sciences Po, Interim Director at medialab), Florence G’sell (Professor of Law at Université de Lorraine and Head of the Digital Governance and Sovereignty Chair).
Session 1: Freedom of speech and internet
The first panel was on freedom of expression, which looked at its evolution as well as its many limitations. Sarah Nicole (McCourt Institute) moderated the session. She was joined by Charles Girard (Associate professor of Philosophy at Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University), Nate Persily (Professor of law at Stanford Law School, Co-Director, Stanford Cyber Policy Center) and Joris Van Hoboken (Professor of Law at University of Amsterdam and the Vrije Universiteit Brussels)
Session 2: Information disorders: disinformation and hate speech
This panel explored the technical aspects of disinformation and hate speech in detail. Inna Lyubareva moderated the session (Professor in economy, Institut Mines Telecom Atlantique). She was joined by Manon Berriche (PhD Student, SciencesPo Médialab), Kevin Limonier (Professor of Geopolitics, Université Paris 8) and Valentine Crosset(Lecturer, Université de Genève and Researcher,SciencesPo Médialab).
Session 3: Fact checking and moderation
The third panel discussed moderation of disinformation and fake news and its impact, which is a key aspect of the framework of the DSA. Sylvain Parasie (Professor of Sociology, Sciences Po) moderated the panel and was joined by Romain Badouard (Professor in Information and Communication sciences, Panthéon-Assas University) and Paolo Papotti (MT, EURECOM, Campus SophiaTech).
Session 4: Algorithms and content moderation
The final session of the first day was dedicated to investigating the links between algorithms within content moderation. The session was moderated by Christine Balagué (Professor of Management, Institut Mines-Télécom, Business School, Founder, Good in Tech Network). She was joined by Patrick Maillé (Professor of Computer Science, IMT Atlantique), Grazia Cecere (Professor of Economics, Institut Mines-Télécom Business School, Scientific expert, Arcom) and Robert Gorwa (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, WZB Berlin Social Science Center).
January 13th, 2023 -The second day was focused on the issues of platform regulation and the new European DSA, with differents actors. It began with Odile Gauthier (Executive Director, Institut Mines Telecom)introducing the France’s Minister in charge of the Digital Transition and Telecommunications, Jean-Noël Barrot.
Session 1 : A European-American view of platform regulation
This panel discussed the effects of the new regulation by experts from both sides of the Atlantic. It was moderted by Dominique Boullier (Centre For European Studies and Comparative Politics, Sciences Po), Rachel Griffin (PhD Student, Sciences Po Law School), Leïla Mörch (Program Manager Europe, Project Liberty) and Daphné Keller (Director of Program on Platform Regulation, Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center and Lecturer of law, Stanford University).
Round Table 1: DSA and platforms regulation / European dynamics of DSA
This roundtable consisted of Regulation experts as well as representives from the Platforms. It was moderated by Séverine Dussolier (Professor of law, Sciences Po). She was joined y Prabhat Agarwal (Head Of Uni, European Commission), Celene Craig (Chief Executive, Broadcasting Authority of Ireland ), Jan Gerlach (Public Policy Director, Wikimedia Foundation), Frédéric Bokobza (Deputy Director General, Arcom) and Clément Wolf (Head of Information Quality Policy, Google).
Keynote speech was given by Rebekah Tromble (Director of the Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics and Professor, George Washington University).
Round Table 2: Research, civil society and the audit of platforms
The second round table focusing on the aspects of independent auditing of platforms brought together many civil society actors. It was moderated by Inna Lyubareva (Professor of Economy, Institut Mines Telecom Atlantique). She was joined by Serge Abiteboul (Executive board member, ARCEP and Researcher at INRIA, PARIS, Valda team, DI, ENS, CNRS, PSL University), Chris Gray (Author and activist, writer of the book “The Moderator” ), Jan Penfrat (Senior Policy Advisor, European Digital Rights Initiative), Nate Persily (Professor of law, Stanford Law School, Co-Director, Stanford Cyber Policy Centre) and Shaden Shabayek (post-doctoral researcher,Université Paris-Saclay and associate researcher, SciencesPo médialab).
Round Table 3: DSA and platforms regulation/ national dynamics of DSA
The final round table looked at the national implications as a result of the subjects discussed throughout the conference. Christine Balagué (Professor of Management at Institut Mines Telecom Business School, Founder of the Good in Tech research network) moderated the panel. She was joined by Benoît Loutrel (Member of Arcom College), Sergeï Guriev ( Provost and Professor of Economics, Sciences Po), Anne-Sophie Taillandier (Institut Mines-Télécom, Data & AI TeraLab Platform Director), Bertrand du Marais (Commissioner, CNIL) and Jean Cattan (General Secretary, Digital National Council).