Visegrad Alliance for Digital Rights and Disinformation Defense

Visegrad Alliance for Digital Rights and Disinformation Defense

The project is built on a strong alliance of research institutions from the V4 countries, united by a shared commitment to tackle disinformation and protect digital rights. Visegrad Alliance for Digital Rights and Disinformation Defense fosters close cooperation, allowing each partner to contribute its unique expertise, creating a collaborative network that is greater than the sum of its parts.

 

Main goal:

Fighting illegal content on the Internet, such as illegal drug sales, gambling, and disinformation, is a major 21st-century issue for politicians and lawyers. The recent surge in disinformation, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine, has exacerbated these challenges. Most debates focus on what to fight rather than how to fight it. Internet content regulation is one method, considered the most invasive regarding fundamental rights. In the Visegrad countries, with about 90% household internet connectivity (Eurostat, 2023), internet content regulation impacts everyone’s rights to information and freedom of expression. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) emphasizes the internet's role in these rights. Visegrad states lack a uniform approach to blocking methods and standards. This project examines these regulations, contrasting them with ECtHR case law, which demands thorough legal frameworks with sufficient defense means. It addresses who can challenge unjustified blocking and explores procedural and substantial uniformity amid varying definitions of disinformation. Beyond ECtHR case law, the project incorporates soft-law contexts and explores the European dimension. The goal is to propose a legal framework for the Visegrad states that aligns with CJEU and ECtHR standards, considering their similar historical contexts and institutional memberships. This framework aims to balance combating illegal content and protecting fundamental human rights while countering disinformation and misinformation and enhancing societal resilience.

 

Project Partners:

Charles University

The Faculty of Law at Charles University in Prague is the largest accredited law faculty in the Czech Republic. Many of its alumni hold prominent positions in judiciary, public administration, and advocacy. Charles University is the leading research university in Czechia. The responsible unit for the proposed project is the Department of Constitutional Law, which has a long-standing involvement in national research projects, such as: - Projects funded by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, the primary national agency for basic research - Projects funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, the primary national agency for applied research - Specific Higher Education Research Projects funded by the Ministry of Education - The SYRI project (National Institute for Research on Socioeconomic Impacts of Diseases and Systemic Risks), funded by NextGenerationEU Members of the department have also participated in international collaborations, incl. the Visegrad Fund project „Democracy in the Shadow of Pandemic within the V4 Region“ (No. #22120065), which was largely carried out with the same partners involved in this project. At the moment, the department is engaged also in other international initiatives, such as the pan-European project „Parliament and the Notion of Time“, led by the University of Lille. The project partners consist of universities and research institutions that are highly active in their respective countries and possess extensive experience in executing projects funded by various sources, including the European Commission and the Visegrad Fund.

 

University of Szczecin

The Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Szczecin is an important partner in the project due to its extensive experience in legal research. The Faculty is a leading academic institution in Poland, with a history of participating in significant research projects in the field of law, such as V4 GenMini-Grants: “Common Identity and Common Future”. The research team will be led by Dr. Ewa Milczarek, an expert in the field of internet law and human rights. Dr. Milczarek is the author of numerous publications, such as: Preventive content blocking and freedom of expression in European law – conflict or symbiosis? or Legal boundaries of digital identity creation. The Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Law and Administration, specializing in the interference of human rights in the virtual world, Dr. Ewa Michałkiewicz Kądziela, will also be a member of the research team.

 

Centre for Social Sciences

The Institute for Legal Studies, integrated into the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre for Social Sciences in 2012, is renowned for its significant contributions to Hungarian jurisprudence. The Institute is recognized for producing impactful research that resonates internationally, advancing both global and domestic scientific discourse and societal understanding. We selected this partner due to their outstanding expertise, and the strength of their academic contributions. Our collaboration will include Fruzsina Gárdos-Orosz, the head of the Institute, whose work on topics such as the role of populist NGOs in establishing populist democracy in Hungary is particularly notable. Additionally, Gábor Polyák and Boldizsár Szentgáli-Tóth, both of whom bring significant expertise in their respective areas, will be part of the team, ensuring a highly qualified group of contributors.

 

Institute of State and Law of the Slovak Academy of Sciences

Justification of involvement: Institute of State and Law of the Slovak Academy of Sciences was founded in 1953. During its existence, the Institute has gained a high reputation in the fields of its scientific activities and its results are widely used in legal practice, not only in Slovak Republic, but also abroad. The involvement of this team is justified by the exceptional expertise of its members in the field of internet content regulation. Led by Prof. JUDr. PhDr. Tomáš Gábriš, PhD., LLM, MA, who has been part of collectives responsible for texts such as Pandemics in Cyberspace - Empire in Search of a Sovereign? and “This content is not available in your country”, a comprehensive summary on geo-blocking, the team brings valuable insights on how digital spaces intersect with law and sovereignty. JUDr. Ľubomír Zlocha, PhD., further strengthens the team with his expertise, making them great part of our Alliance.

 

 

The project is supported by the International Visegrad Fund.

 

 

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