Lawless
The Secret Rules That Govern our Digital Lives

Because social media and technology companies rule the Internet, only a digital constitution can protect our rights online.

Nicolas P. Suzor (Author)

9781108481229, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 July 2019

218 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.5 cm, 0.49 kg

'This affordable title will appeal to law students and faculty members researching the topic for a seminar or article touching on Internet law, women and law, harassment, international law, copyright, and more. Recommended for academic law libraries.' Andrea Alexander, Law Library Journal

Rampant abuse, hate speech, censorship, bias, and disinformation - our Internet has problems. It is governed by technology companies - search engines, social media platforms, and infrastructure providers - whose hidden rules influence what we are allowed to see and say. In Lawless, Nicolas P. Suzor presents gripping examples of exactly how tech companies govern our digital environment and how they bend to pressure from governments and other powerful actors to censor and control the flow of information online. We are at a constitutional moment - an opportunity to rethink the basic rules of how the Internet is governed. Suzor offers a vision of a vibrant, diverse, and flourishing internet that can protect our fundamental rights from the lawless rule of tech. The culmination of more than ten years of original research, this groundbreaking work should be read by anyone who cares about the internet and the future of our shared social spaces.

Part I. A Lawless Internet: 1. The hidden rules of the Internet
2. Who makes the rules? 3. The Internet's abuse problem
4. Legal immunity
5. How copyright shaped the Internet
6. Censorship
7. Lawless
Part II. A New Social Contract – Constitutionalizing Internet Governance: 8. Constitutionalizing Internet governance
9. Constitutionalizing intermediaries
10. What should we expect of intermediaries? 11. The role of states and binding law
12. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Ethical & social aspects of IT [UBJ], Intellectual property law [LNR], Human rights [JPVH], Ethical issues: scientific & technological developments [JFMG], Ethical issues: censorship [JFMD]