The course provides a critical understanding of the legal and regulatory framework governing the internet economy within today’s global geopolitical landscape.
In the first part of the course you will be introduced to the main legal instruments regulating e-commerce and online transactions (including online speech), with a special focus on the complex EU regulatory framework. You will explore the challenges of applying principles from private law and public law (e.g. competition law), human rights, informational privacy and data protection to the internet economy. This economy is nowadays characterized by the dominance of a few “big tech” corporations that utilize business and organizational models based on profiling, automated decision-making, surveillance, and increasingly, technical solutions powered by so-called “artificial intelligence” (AI).
In the second part of the course, we will apply these legal principles to real-world scenarios. This year, we will dedicate our focus to the role of internet and AI companies in profiting from, facilitating or even directly contributing to the ongoing mass-scale crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories and the Gaza Strip, as highlighted in the UN Special Rapporteur’s report “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide” (A/HRC/59/23 - 16 June 2025). In our discussion of selected case-studies we will not only analyse potential liability issues, but will also map out the practical legal tools that can be activated at the national, EU and international levels to hold wrongdoers accountable.
In the first part of the course you will be introduced to the main legal instruments regulating e-commerce and online transactions (including online speech), with a special focus on the complex EU regulatory framework. You will explore the challenges of applying principles from private law and public law (e.g. competition law), human rights, informational privacy and data protection to the internet economy. This economy is nowadays characterized by the dominance of a few “big tech” corporations that utilize business and organizational models based on profiling, automated decision-making, surveillance, and increasingly, technical solutions powered by so-called “artificial intelligence” (AI).
In the second part of the course, we will apply these legal principles to real-world scenarios. This year, we will dedicate our focus to the role of internet and AI companies in profiting from, facilitating or even directly contributing to the ongoing mass-scale crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories and the Gaza Strip, as highlighted in the UN Special Rapporteur’s report “From economy of occupation to economy of genocide” (A/HRC/59/23 - 16 June 2025). In our discussion of selected case-studies we will not only analyse potential liability issues, but will also map out the practical legal tools that can be activated at the national, EU and international levels to hold wrongdoers accountable.
- Teacher: Maurizio Borghi