Matthias C. Kettemann discusses the role of courts in the Internet and network policy at the workshop of the Institute for International Affairs at Universität Hamburg.
Courts are underestimated, says Kettemann. Courts are often the ones that strike a balance between protecting individual freedom and ensuring social cohesion. German courts in particular achieve this by providing progressive "private" online spaces with public legal protection - by applying the third-party effect principle. This means that fundamental rights such as the principle of equality also apply between private individuals in private spaces.
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About the Event
The workshop addresses challenges that the digital age poses for democracies. Technical progress, such as the rise of industrialization or the rise of new modes of communication such as radio and television, have influenced societies and legal orders in the past centuries. Digitalization represents the most recent major change in the information and communications spheres that societies and legal orders worldwide are facing. Are the challenges the digital era poses for democracy similar to prior technological changes or does digitalization raise entirely new and more troubling challenges for democracy? What are the most appropriate legal and regulatory approaches for dealing with the challenges of the digital era? How is the internet changing democracies and democratic institutions? During the workshop, these challenges will be addressed from national and international perspectives and from different disciplines, such as law, history and political science.
