My article on the role of mutual consent justifications in agency law now out in the OJLS, available open access! academic.oup.com/ojls/article...

No great surprise but it seems officially that the AI Liability Directive is now about as lively as Mr Praline's Norwegian Blue.

Which of these is "Silicon Valley"? (NB! This is only internet/Web technology)

Some of the arguments here around AI are remarkably similar to the ones around cognitive enhancers discussed by Goold & Maslen in this classic Modern Law Review paper - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

The AI Opportunities Action Plan is what I expect of a government chasing public sector savings and economic growth. But, I wrote last year why adopting AI in public services without guardrails was dangerous and suggested a simple set of safeguards to be adopted. ppr.lse.ac.uk/articles/10....

But remember as the government said the "Online Safety Act makes the UK the safest place in the world to be online". We will be safe from discussions on fixed gear cycling. Really though it is LFGSS's own fault - they do have a section on "bike porn" so it clearly needed to be regulated.

When the Online Safety Act was proposed, @cps.org.uk and others warned about the potential chilling effects, reaching way beyond the big tech companies. Cue random cycling forum shutting down (and investors steering clear of UK...) www.lfgss.com/conversation...

And so it begins. 24950 (give or take a few) UK providers who are not big tech, do not run on algorithms, and were ignored by the legislators who rammed this through. Someone once said, if you legislate as if everyone is big tech, big tech is all you will end up with. #OnlineSafetyAct

Fascinating interview with Anthropic’s Dario Amodei which gets into where we are on agentic AI, if we’ll run out of data to train models on, and the relationship of AI to the defence industry on.ft.com/4fYFhYe

This morning brings the first sighting of a suggestion by one of its supporters that the #OnlineSafetyAct may not be “fit for purpose”. Who’d have thought it? www.cleanuptheinternet.org.uk/post/is-ofco...

Seeing as people seem to be starting to celebrate (sic) the first birthday of the #OnlineSafetyAct a day early, a short thread.🧵

It took a while for me to report on our work at #COP16 and how the 'LSE Model' came to be at the heart of the Cali Fund - which potentially ushers in a new era in Global Biodiversity Finance. www.lse.ac.uk/law/news/202...

We (the LSE Law School) now have a Bluesky account. Give us a follow at @lselaw.bsky.social.

Okay let's go! Here's a thread of key moments and takeaways from IAPP's Data Protection Congress in Brussels! (As they happen and so long as I can remember to post!) It's actually sunny in Brussels today 😲

My first substantive post on Bluesky! The deadline for abstracts for the Socio-Legal Studies Association annual conference (15-17 April 2025) at Liverpool Law School is *18 December*. A fantastic opportunity to share one's research slsauk.bsky.social www.liverpool.ac.uk/law/slsa-202...

Beyond the headline threatening a #socialmedia ban, there are some powerful messages - for tech platforms and for @ofcom.bsky.social - in this interview with #DSIT Secretary of State. 👏 #OnlineSafetyAct www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11...

NEW: MPs to probe links between social media algorithms and spread of harmful content The science, innovation and technology committee will consider the role of false claims, spread via profit-driven social media algorithms, in triggering the recent riots Story 👇 www.politics.co.uk/news/2024/11...

At Knight, we’ve been closely watching the shift in how Americans get information. The latest Pew-Knight Initiative report reveals that almost 1 in 5 adults regularly get news from news influencers on social media. Swipe for key 🗝️ findings and read more here: kf.org/3CrnwlB @pewresearch.org

With several government ministers at the time of the initial candidate search pushing for a manifesto commitment that the Conservative party would withdraw from the ECHR it is unsurprising that people didn't put themselves forward. Hopefully a the new government will produce better candidates.

Some things that have taken place since I last updated everyone...No.5 (the last for now). I have been elected by my colleagues (to whom I am grateful) to be the Dean of the LSE Law School from 1 September 2025. I will take over from David Kershaw who will leave incredibly large shoes to fill.

Some things that have taken place since I last updated everyone...No.4. Also a great inaugural lecture on "Truth as a constitutional value: liberal constitutionalism, private capital and media regulation" from Tarun Khaitan.

Some things that have taken place since I last updated everyone...No.3. Two interesting events on AI and Democracy were hosted by the LSE. The first was a talk by @lessig.bsky.social on "What AI is doing to America's democracy"

Some things that have taken place since I last updated everyone...No.2. I took part in the launch event for the @lsepress.bsky.social Public Policy review Special Issue where I spoke alongside Ken Benoit, Dori Sallai, Chloe Smith and Helen Margetts.

Some things that have taken place since I last updated everyone...No.1. I have published a paper in the @lsepress.bsky.social Public Policy Review on Automated Public Decision Making and the Need for Regulation.

Job Posting: One week to go. You can apply for our Assistant Professorship in Law (Data, AI and/or Technology Law) until midnight on the 24th of November. Full details at: jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

Okay after being inactive both here and on the other place for about 8 months I've finally decided that there is now a critical mass of engagement here and I'm reawakening my dormant Bluesky account. I'll now be active here.

Also today EU digital rights orgs seek invalidation of the Regulation on addressing the dissemination of terrorist content online (also known as “TERREG”).

A big day in Europe "Such a national approach [to regulation] is contrary to EU law, which ensures the free movement of information society services through the principle of control in the Member State of origin of the service concerned". Important CJEU ruling on tech regulation.

Well they have done it. Welcome (after about three years of politicking) to the Online Safety Act 2023. www.gov.uk/government/n...

I know the Daily Mail is not great at reporting facts but surely even they can remember Euro 2020 - it has only been just over 2 years since it was held.

#EU’s #AIAct enters final negotiations. The European Union is just months away from passing sweeping regulation of #artificialintelligence. Listen as #podcast or read this #interview: techpolicy.press/the-eu-ai-ac...

Danish Data Protection Authority launched its guidelines on AI and GDPR for the public sector. The two documents are here: lnkd.in/eQeyfKGq.

New paper "Legitimate Interest is the New Consent -- Large-Scale Measurement and Legal Compliance of IAB Europe TCF Paywalls" co-authored by @cristianapt @vctrmrl, Fredholm, Thunberg.🔗 arxiv.org/abs/2309.11625 #darkpatterns #deceptivedesign

This seems like a great money laundering scheme. Buy the car with dirty money. Let police seize it. At auction bid for and win it (cleaning title). Sell car and hey presto clean money.

45million faces in the UK passport database. UK law, however, is developing safeguards before FaRT technology is deployed, suggesting "pressing social need" before deployed to help prevent minor offences like shoplifting, car and bike thievery. www.thetimes.co.uk/article/poli...

Tomorrow, join us for a talk by Daniel Solove (George Washington Law) on "Murky Consent: An Approach to the Fictions of Consent in Privacy Law" Tuesday, October 3, 2023 at 12:10pm ET Email [email protected] for zoom details co-sponsored by Yale Journal of Law and Technology

As we enter the trial, and you see the endless reporting referring to the "boy genius" "crypto whiz kid", remember: Sam Bankman-Fried is not a child. newsletter.mollywhite.net/p/sam-bankma...

Nosebleed seats for Falcons @ Jags. Wembley Stadium for NFL London Games.

My colleague Dr Silvia de Conca has written a wonderful article on #deceptivedesign #darkpatterns in the #InternetofThings #IoT. www.linkedin.com/posts/silvia...

Alongside the First Deputy Minister of Spain, I'll be speaking on #deceptivedesign in Madrid for #EuropeanConsumerProtectionDay on Monday 9 October. Topics include #darkpatterns in cross-selling financial products; it's a closed event, but slides and talk posted here afterwards.

Dr. Mark Leiser arrives on Bluesky. bsky.app/profile/lawb...

An interesting concise report here from my former LSE colleague Giulia Gentile and Marta Cantero "Some reflections on AI and justice systems" based on a workshop they organised in Tartu.

This feels quite familiar. I like this place and the UX is much more useful than Threads which I never quite got on with and the stability (at least for me) is better than Mastodon. I think I've found my new home (pity the old one was vandalised).

🚨 Join the ISP 🚨 Are you looking for a postdoc to work on issues at the intersection of law, technology and society? Applications are now open for ISP resident fellowships for 2024-25! Deadline: December 15, 2023 law.yale.edu/isp/join-us

I have finally made the jump across from the dying hellsite to the brave new blue world. Any tips on who to follow etc gratefully received. Looking forward to rediscovering a functional micro-blogging site.