Online platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia and Amazon have shaped economic and social developments over the past decade to such an extent that some people are already talking about a platform society. One of the reasons for their success in two- or multi-page markets is that their functions are highly automated. However, the increasing spread of Internet platforms and the trend towards automation are accompanied by a variety of risks. The business models of the platform operators are based on the massive processing and exploitation of user data and are often in conflict with data protection. Content providers are problematising the dependence on platform operators in the attention economy. Algorithms enhance the distribution of unwanted content such as hate speech. Communication and transactions on platforms are susceptible to misleading through intransparency, manipulation and distortion. Online platforms are therefore also the subject of intense regulatory debate. This affects a number of legal matters such as data protection, competition, copyright protection, protection of minors, fundamental rights, personal rights and liability issues.
The interdisciplinary conference "Internet Platforms and Algorithms: Automated Online Communication as a Challenge for Regulation" therefore examines the question of which risks currently emanate from Internet platforms, and which regulatory reactions are necessary to counter problematic effects.
Programme
5 and 6 October 2018
University of Vienna - Sky Lounge
Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1
1090 Vienna
Organised by
Institute for Innovation and Digitalization in Law at the University of Vienna
Nikolaus Forgó | Žiga Škorjanc | Felix Zopf
Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Alpen-Adria University
Matthias Karmasin | Tobias Eberwein | Florian Saurwein
Contact, questions and registration:
florian.saurwein(at)oeaw.ac.at
