Accueil>Taking Chaos Seriously: From Analog to Digital Constitutionalism(s)

08.03.2023

Taking Chaos Seriously: From Analog to Digital Constitutionalism(s)

À propos de cet événement

Le 08 mars 2023 de 13:00 à 14:30

On Wednesday 8 March, the Law&Tech Working Group will host a thrilling session on digital constitutionalism.

Guillaume Tusseau, Professor of Public Law at Sciences Po, will discuss efforts to protect fundamental rights and limiting power online, and guide us in a deconstructive exercise to read the shift from the analog to the digital sphere.

Abstract

In 1999, the Constitution of the "Republic of Chaos" recognised as a citizen "any biological or digital entity capable of thinking and desiring,>" as well as cyborgs and androids. They must respect the principles of national sovereignty and democracy "which apply not just within the Abode of Chaos, an analog enclave super-imposed on the national territory of France and a gateway into Cyberspace, but also within the digital territory of the Republic of Chaos." As the topic of digital constitutionalism is gaining momentum, what could be read as a kind of joke should be taken seriously. Reviewing concrete examples, I propose to offer a cartography of the current uses of the grammar of constitutionalism to address technological evolutions and their impact on basic rights and contemporary governance.

"Thin" digital constitutionalism emerges as an expansion of analog constitutionalism. It manifests itself in the private Charter of human rights and principles for the internet, the Brazilian 2014 Marco Civil da Internet [Loi 12.965/2014], or the Digital Rights Charter presented by the President of the Spanish Government in 2021. It consists in adapting notions such as free speech, equality, privacy, participation, or pluralism to the new tools the rights holders use and to the new threats that result from using them (mass surveillance, personal profiling, influencing elections, lack of literacy, etc.). "Thick" digital constitutionalism more originally corresponds to what Teubner presents as the self-constitutionalisation of social spheres. A hierarchy of norms, basic values, procedures for dispute resolution, etc. progressively develop. The creation of Bitnation in 2014 testifies to the relevance of social contract theory. Meta’s Oversight Board, to which people can appeal if they disagree with decisions made about content on Facebook or Instagram mimics a constitutional court.

Both perspectives allow to account for the efforts digital constitutionalists make to ensure the two basic functions of constitutions, protecting fundamental rights and limiting power. From an epistemological perspective, constitutionalism appears as a specific way to frame social, political or moral issues. Three main readings allow deconstructing the possible ideological rationales for a conceptual transfer from the analog to the digital sphere . One is a discourse of hope, where the values of the XVIIIth century Revolutions are preserved. Another is a discourse of scepticism, where constitutionalism mostly appears as an insurance-policy for public and private powers in search of legitimation. The last one is a discourse of hopelessness, based on Lassalle’s thesis according to which whenever one party invokes a constitution as its battle cry, it is as if this power structure was already dead.

MORE INFORMATION

This event will be held in person and online.

To participate online, get in touch with Prof. Beatriz Botero Arcila (beatriz.boteroarcila@ sciencespo.fr) and PhD Candidate Marta Arisi (marta.arisi@sciencespo.fr).

À propos de cet événement

Le 08 mars 2023 de 13:00 à 14:30