Disinformation and Digital Media as a Challenge for Democracy

This book is motivated, to a large extent, by some recent troubling developments in public discourse, namely the developments in information, misinformation and disinformation practices. From the beginning of history, various and diverse means or channels of communication have been used to inform, misinform (unintentionally) and disinform (deliberately). However, in recent decades, the emergence and development of new information and communications technologies (ICT), combined with the ever-increasing digitalisation and globalisation of almost every aspect of modern life, among others, have opened up new and uncharted avenues to that end. This book therefore focuses on disinformation practices occurring with the help of digital media as these practices bring to the fore profound negative ramifications for the functioning of a democratic polity. —from the Introduction by the editors

Dariusz (Darek) Kloza is researcher at the Research Group on Law, Science, Technology and Society (LSTS) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), where he is a founding member of the Brussels Laboratory for Data Protection & Privacy Impact Assessments (d.pia.lab). He also freelances at the Centre for Direct Democracy Studies (CDDS) at the University of Bialystok (Poland), where he is co-editor of the 'European Integration and Democracy' Series (Intersentia). His expertise concentrates on the governance of privacy and personal data, in particular on the tools for their protection. He has been involved in several collaborative research projects (co-)funded by the European Union. He earned a PhD in Law from the VUB (2019) with a thesis on the concept of impact assessment in European privacy and personal data protection law. He holds an LL.M. in Law and Technology (2010) from Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT) at Tilburg University (with distinction) and a master degree in law from the University of Bialystok (2008), including a student exchange at the University of Copenhagen (2007-08). Previously, he held in parallel a part-time research position at Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO; 2015-17) and visiting fellowships, among others, at Bond University (Australia; 2016).Elzbieta Kuzelewska is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Bialystok, Poland, where since October 2019 she holds a position of Vice-Dean for Science. She is a Chair of the Centre for Direct Democracy Studies (CDDS) at the Faculty of Law, University of Bialystok, she holds a master's degree in law and a PhD degree and a habilitation in political science. Her research fields include constitutional law, direct democracy, European integration and contemporary political systems. She has been teaching in several European universities within the Erasmus+ programme as well as other bilateral agreements, and she has held visiting positions at Michigan State University School of Law (September 2018), among others. She is Co-Editor-in-Chief of European Integration and Democracy Series, published by Intersentia Cambridge.