La diffusione delle nuove tecnologie informatiche trasforma in modo dirompente la nostra vita individuale e collettiva. Cambia il campo della politica, dalle tecniche di costruzione del consenso alle modalità di gestione del policy making.
Call for Paper
Artificial education
L’integrazione dell’intelligenza artificiale (IA) nelle pratiche educative cambia e rilancia la didattica digitale. L’avvento delle tecnologie generative ha accelerato questo cambiamento, ponendo le basi per la trasformazione dell’istruzione superiore attraverso lo sviluppo di ambienti di apprendimento sempre più adattivi e personalizzati. Allo stesso tempo, la diffusione del loro uso consolida la promozione dell’educazione digitale su vasta scala. Le tecnologie IA stanno ridefinendo la modalità di erogazione e fruizione dell’istruzione, migliorando il design e l’interazione dell’apprendimento online, e adattando l’educazione alle esigenze individuali.
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Artificial education
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into educational practice is transforming and reinvigorating digital education. The emergence of generative technologies has accelerated this change, laying the foundations for the transformation of higher education through the development of increasingly adaptive and personalised learning environments. At the same time, their widespread use is consolidating the promotion of digital education at scale. AI technologies are redefining the way education is delivered and enjoyed, improving the design and interaction of online learning and adapting education to individual needs.
Oltre ai focus indicati, per tutte le call for paper verranno prese in considerazione submission (saggi o web reviews) sui diversi temi della digital politics.
Microtargeting
2/2024
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- Massimiliano Panarari, Droni, profilazione elettronica e guerra nella postmodernità digitale. Per una genealogia concettuale e storico-culturale
- Darren G. Lilleker, Microtargeting through interacting: the use of community groups for political campaigning
- Rossana Sampugnaro Hans-Joerg Trenz, Al cuore della election integrity: le elezioni europee e la difesa della sfera pubblica digitale
- Cristopher Cepernich, Antonio Martella, La politica da soggetto a oggetto della narrazione elettorale. Le elezioni politiche 2022 su Tik Tok in Italia
- Andrea Ceron, Sara Berloto, Does populist rhetoric boost user engagement? The case of the 2019 Italian European election
- Domenico Giordano, Dall’effetto bandwagon al follower’s instinct: le elezioni regionali in Sardegna e Abruzzo nei dati comportamentali dei follower
- Lavinia De Santis, Emozioni e valori nelle decisioni di voto: un’affinità elettiva?
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Droni, profilazione elettronica e guerra nella postmodernità digitale. Per una genealogia concettuale e storico-culturale
Massimiliano Panarari
Droni, profilazione elettronica e guerra nella postmodernità digitale. Per una genealogia concettuale e storico-culturale
One of the most pronounced trends in contemporary society, closely related to postmodern processes of individualization, coincides with «microtargeting». First developed in marketing and commercial advertisement circles, microtargeting is increasingly extending to other areas, such as electoral campaigning and warfare, with light weaponry (primarily drones) trained to strike precision targets from a distance. These are different sectors brought together by the opportunities offered by Artificial intelligence (Ai, in its various declinations) and big data, which disproportionately fuel the possibility of segmenting markets based on the traces left on the web. Microtargeting presents numerous risks and grey areas that further stimulate the debate on the effects of digital transformation and Ai on the public sphere and the legitimacy of representative democracies.This article aims to use the characteristics of microtargeting, on the one hand, and the social and cultural implications of profiling, on the other, as analytical keys to asymmetric warfare. There will be a specific reflection on how Lethal autonomous weapons systems (Laws) reshape narratives and political storytelling around warfare in Western liberal democracies. Since the First World War, what has been defined as the «home front of public opinion» has gained increasing importance in the management of wartime conflicts. The narrative of the last frontier of asymmetric warfare has, therefore, mainly focused on the notion of saving the lives of soldiers in combat on the one hand, and, on the other, the idea of precise profiling of target hits to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. According to a certain cultural genealogy, the dronisation of warfare finds its roots in the Enlightenment as well as in colonialism. Hence, the aim of this article is also to reconstruct this conceptual genealogy up to current postmodernity, showing how these principles constitute an expression of neo-liberal governmentality within the framework of military theory
KEYWORDS: Microtargeting, Dronification of War, Asymmetric Warfare, Political Communication and Profiling Neoliberal Governmentality, Ai.
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Microtargeting through interacting: the use of community groups for political campaigning
Darren G. Lilleker
Microtargeting through interacting: the use of community groups for political campaigning
Research on microtargeting is normally focused on advertising to specific demographics or interest groups and communities. However, political campaigning has begun to approach microtargeting using the spaces for interpersonal and community discussion facilitated by social media platforms and applications. Targeted messaging through conversations within community group spaces ensures greater resonance for the messages and enhanced proximity between the messenger and the targeted community. This strategy is explored through three case studies. First, we explore the activities of candidates and councillors representing the Green party of England and Wales who use Facebook neighbourhood community groups to promote their individual activities and campaigns, as well as linking local concerns to party policy, which evidences a co-created form of microtargeting. Secondly, we analyse the activities of supporters of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s neighbourhood and community groups, who increased the salience of issues that favoured their candidate. Thirdly, we focus on the dissemination of pro-Russian content to Orthodox Christian community groups in the Balkans on the Telegram platform, involving real people as well as some fake accounts and potential bots, inciting fears of the destructive liberal values of the European Union. Our data suggests the strategies and tactics adhere to the notion of microtargeting, and may be highly effective, but highlight ethical concerns and the challenges that these practices pose for democracy
KEYWORDS: Political Communication, Targeting, Social Media, Communication Strategy, Propaganda.
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Al cuore della election integrity: le elezioni europee e la difesa della sfera pubblica digitale
Rossana Sampugnaro, Hans-Joerg Trenz
Al cuore della election integrity: le elezioni europee e la difesa della sfera pubblica digitale
Over the last few years, the European Commission has put forward a package of measures to ensure free and fair elections, to establish a code of conduct for political parties’ campaigning and to strengthen the right of European citizens to vote at local, national and European level. These measures reflect a new concern with what is called integrity of elections. In this article, we reconstruct the complex and multi-level Eu approach to «secure democratic elections». As we will argue, the reference to election integrity has allowed the Commission to broaden its agenda from measures initially limited to ensuring voter turnout in European elections to a comprehensive regulatory framework for electoral campaigns, including a code of conduct for political parties, media and content regulation. Such an approach to electoral integrity is in line with recent attempts to make the democratic quality of elections measurable through complex indexes and the development of indicators of democratic performance. We show how electoral integrity is no longer limited to electoral rules and procedures, but also encompasses the control of the conditions that enable citizens to participate in free and fair elections. Under this latter aspect, the Commission has taken measures to ensure access to evidence-based information and to protect the rights of social media users, with far-reaching implications for promoting political participation beyond the electoral context. Such an expanded electoral integrity policy agenda targets not only national authorities and political parties, but also civil society at large and individual voters, whose rights to political participation are strengthened in relation to their rights to freedom of expression and information. In this sense, the Eu approach to election integrity is best understood as a promotion of citizenship, not only protecting existing standards in the form of monitoring free elections, but actively advancing the rights of European citizens.
KEYWORDS: Election-integrity, Disinformation, Microtargeting, European Elections, Public Sphere.
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La politica da soggetto a oggetto della narrazione elettorale. Le elezioni politiche 2022 su TikTok in Italia
Cristopher Cepernich Antonio Martella
La politica da soggetto a oggetto della narrazione elettorale. Le elezioni politiche 2022 su TikTok in Italia
TikTok is not just another app added to the existing social networking platform ecosystem. Rather, it is a heavy factor of innovation that is transforming political communication at the roots. As a content driven platform, it generates a multitude of personal micro-programs, leading to the hypothesis of a widespread return to a peculiar form of individualized broadcasting on a large scale. This study examines the impact of TikTok’s algorithm-driven media logic on political communication, particularly during the 2022 Italian general elections; which represented the first widespread use of TikTok for political campaigning in Italy. To understand who were the most influential actors in the TikTok debate surrounding the 2022 elections and what topics were most discussed, we collected 14.308 videos posted between September 1 and September 25, 2022, analyzing the videos from the 390 accounts that gained 100.000 views with at least one post. Findings show the centrality of the intermediation function carried out by ordinary users and influencers with varying degrees of popularity in political communication. Common citizens and social media celebrities were among the most popular creators in the electoral debate, while media outlets and political actors occupied lower influence categories, typically classified as micro-influencers. Celebrities and civil society were the most effective at generating contents that reached over one million views. In contrast, political and media content tended to have lower engagement.
KEYWORDS: TikTok, Electoral Campaign, Influencer, Celebrity, Algorithms.
LEGGI QUI: https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.53227/113721
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Does populist rhetoric boost user engagement? The case of the 2019 Italian European elections
Andrea Ceron Sara Berloto
Does populist rhetoric boost user engagement? The case of the 2019 Italian European elections
Populist rhetoric is commonly linked to an effective and straightforward mode of communication with supporters and the broader electorate. This study aims to investigate whether the use of a populist style of communication on Facebook social media is associated with higher levels of engagement by examining distinctive elements: reactions, comments and shares. Additionally, the study examines whether there are significant differences depending on the type of political party considered. By analysing 4,586 posts published by the major Italian parties (Lega, Pd, M5s, Fi, and FdI) during the campaign for the 2019 European elections, the study reveals that adopting a populist communication strategy proves advantageous for all parties. In fact, it is associated with higher levels of engagement, both in terms of positive and total reactions. Interestingly, the benefits that parties derive from embracing populist rhetoric appear to vary. While the electorates of traditional populist parties (Lega, M5s, and FdI) show greater receptiveness to this style of communication, such effect is lower for mainstream parties such as Pd and Fi.
KEYWORDS: Populism, Communication, User Engagement, Italy, European Elections.
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Dall’effetto bandwagon al follower’s instinct: le elezioni regionali in Sardegna e Abruzzo nei dati comportamentali dei follower
Domenico Giordano
Dall’effetto bandwagon al follower’s instinct: le elezioni regionali in Sardegna e Abruzzo nei dati comportamentali dei follower
In light of the literature on the extended role of social campaigns in the context of regional elections in Italy, and based on an analysis of social network data related to the 2024 regional electoral campaigns in Sardinia and Abruzzo, this paper aims to analyze the impact of microtargeting strategies. Particular attention is given in the analysis to the role of social media in building a credible political leadership and consolidating electoral consensus. The empirical dimension of the research conducted on the two regional electoral campaigns on social networks is based on the analysis of social Kpi (Key performance indicators) of the candidates for the position of Regional President, focusing on engagement, post interactions, and follower growth on the main social network platforms. The case study of Alessandra Todde in Sardinia highlights how the use of emotional and personal content in reel format has significantly improved her ability to engage the electorate, positively influencing electoral outcomes. Similarly, the analysis of the elections in Abruzzo revealed an interesting dynamic in which Todde’s success initially had a positive impact on the campaign of the center-left candidate, Luciano D’Amico, through an “agenda effect,µ but ultimately strengthened the position of the incumbent president, Marco Marsilio. The exploratory research conducted in the two regional electoral campaigns in light of social networks allows to understand the growing importance of integrating digital strategies in political campaigns and shows how the use of social platforms can be crucial in predicting citizens’ electoral decisions even in the regional context.
KEYWORDS: Social Network, Kpi, Follower’s Instinct, Regional Election 2024, Sardinia, Abruzzo.
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Emozioni e valori nelle decisioni di voto: un’affinità elettiva?
Lavinia De Santis
Emozioni e valori nelle decisioni di voto: un’affinità elettiva?
Is it possible to consider values as the catalysts for specific emotions, or are they two separate spheres, devoid of any connection to each other? To answer this question and based on the literature in the field, this article illustrates the simulation of an imaginary election campaign centered around the choice between two mayoral candidates: one conservative and the other progressive. Through the presentation of a series of political messages to a sample of 1199 Italians, we examine whether different emotional stimuli produce differentiated effects on voters with specific value priorities. Our research shows how certain value predispositions interact with the emotional sphere of individuals and play a decisive (and heterogeneous) role in the electoral choice.
KEYWORDS: Elections, Political Communication, Values, Emotions, Italy.
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External strategies for improving national education systems: policies and implementation practices by which The digital school is achieving scale
Chris Dede
External strategies for improving national education systems: policies and implementation practices by which The digital school is achieving scale
This article describes a digital educational system and its impacts in various countries. For a nation to enhance its education system, ideas, strategies, and models from outside the country are important. Also, as countries become more diverse through other ethnic groups immigrating, an educational system may become less effective unless adaptations are made. However, because education is a means of ideological transmission and socialization into a country’s beliefs and values, typically nations are wary of outsiders seeking to serve their students. The Digital School (Tds) is a nonprofit initiative in its fourth year, sponsored by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives from the United Arab Emirates (Uae). Tds is developing, implementing, and refining a model for digital education for marginalised communities around the world. Tds partners with countries attempting to enrich their national education curriculum for currently underserved marginalised students and to enable those students to learn digital skills. Frameworks from the scholarly literature are discussed to illustrate the challenges of an external group offering to enrich a country’s education system. The Tds model is articulated: vision, mission, and values; a digital ecosystem for learning; educators’ professional development; partnerships already attained with a variety of countries; and strategic outreach. The article then discusses findings from evaluative interviews of stakeholders about Tds operations in four countries. Evidence supports two hypotheses: 1) Tds is seen as an agent for delivering each country’s national curriculum to underserved and marginalized groups with fidelity, as well as for equipping students with digital skills that prepare them for future life and work, and 2) Tds’ adoption policies and implementation practices are based on Trust, Coordination, Co-learning, and Co-invention, consistent with the research literature on this topic.
KEYWORDS: National Educational Systems, Marginalised Students, Digital Skills, Adoption, Implementation.
LEGGI QUI: https://https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.53227/115057
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Between digital surveillance and individual protection: a juridical and comparative history of the Cyberspace Administration of China
Davide Clementi
Between digital surveillance and individual protection: a juridical and comparative history of the Cyberspace Administration of China
With the advent of Internet technologies, as well as new opportunities and risks, the issue of national sovereignty within cyberspace – or cyber-sovereignty – has always been sensitive for Chinese official outlets and policymakers. Even before the promulgation of the cyberspace security law, which serves as the basic law of the Internet in China and digital infrastructures, with decree no. 33/2014, the government decided to reorganize its existing offices with Internetrelated responsibilities and created the Cyberspace administration of China (Cac). The Cac functions as the highest governmental authority and the Communist party’s office, given its nature as a «one institution with two names» This paper examines the history of the Cyberspace administration of China, comparing it to the Us and its role as a non-independent administrative authority. It will also explore the new powers granted to it under the cybersecurity law, the data security law, and the personal information protection law. Additionally, the Cac’s role in controlling and monitoring citizens while also protecting and preserving individual rights in the context of establishing a digital socialist rule of law will be evaluated
KEYWORDS: People’s Republic of China, Cyberlaw, Cyberspace Administration of China, Individual Protection, Digital Surveillance.
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- Valentina Reda, “Geopolitica dell’intelligenza artificiale”. Conversazione con Alessandro Aresu
- Nicola Barbuzzi, Gino Fontana,La responsabilità da trattamento algoritmico dei dati alla luce della normativa europea e della giurisprudenza comunitaria e italiana
- Giuseppe Galetta, L’utilizzo dell’Ia come supporto decisionale in ambito militare: dal Mission al Network command fino ai sistemi Ai Dss
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«Geopolitica dell’Intelligenza artificiale». Conversazione con Alessandro Aresu
Valentina Reda
«Geopolitica dell’Intelligenza artificiale». Conversazione con Alessandro Aresu
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La responsabilità da trattamento algoritmico dei dati alla luce della normativa europea e della giurisprudenza comunitaria e italiana
Nicola Barbuzzi Gino Fontana
La responsabilità da trattamento algoritmico dei dati alla luce della normativa europea e della giurisprudenza comunitaria e italiana
Artificial intelligence (Ai) systems unquestionably influence the daily life of contemporary society, thanks to a symbiotic, yet necessary, interaction with the external environment. The training methods of intelligent machines, which include self-learning based on continuous data collection, however, open up important issues of a technical-legal nature: from the onset of new risk configurations, related to the use of systems based on the Ai, to civil liability for the damage caused by them. In fact, the interaction of Ai systems with the environment allows the system not only to influence it, but also and above all to modify it and make it new, while the system, in turn, evolves on the basis of these interactions; a problem that concerns not only the legislative and legal spheres but also the social and political ones. The hypothesis of generating damage, deriving from the interaction of the two environments, virtual and natural, is of fundamental speculative interest in the future scenario of law, where the right balance between ius condendum and massive growth of the phenomenon presupposes new interpretative canons capable of mediating between stringent regulatory needs and the speed with which technology evolves.
KEYWORDS: Artificial intelligence, Algorithmic Responsibility, Gdpr, New Damages, Civil Liability.
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L’utilizzo dell’Ia come supporto decisionale in ambito militare: dal Mission al Network command fino ai sistemi Ai Dss
Giuseppe Galetta
L’utilizzo dell’Ia come supporto decisionale in ambito militare: dal Mission al Network command fino ai sistemi Ai Dss
The weaponization of Artificial intelligence (Ai) is rapidly transforming the logic of today’s conflicts: in fact, the integration of Ai into the decision activities of military commands is leading to a change in decision-making processes. Whereas until a few years ago, mission command was supported by human capabilities, qualities, feelings, judgements and values, such as leadership, troop motivation, mutual trust, clear understanding of commanders’ orders, threat assessment, timeliness of decisions, today Aiposes new challenges to traditional decision-making models and to the leadership of the chains of command, by supporting human decision-making capability (also made up of instinct and intuition) with predictive models and algorithms capable of taking control of the situation without the need for human intervention, enabling fast understanding of scenarios and the processing of quick and effective decisions. It is still too early to talk about replacing humans with Ai agents on the battlefield, but the fast advances in artificial intelligence and the increased use of autonomous weapon systems (Laws), combined with the fears raised by much of the scientific community (including the Ai creators themselves), suggest worrying prospects that lead to a crucial question: could a human army ever rely on the command of a machine? This paper will present a possible alternative to the risks of the advent of technological singularity in the military: in the context of the debate on human enhancement, it will describe the development of a new model of human-machine relationship, which does not subject the human being to the control of Ai, but offers a new cooperative framework, in which the human factor does not disappear completely behind the artificial decisions of a machine. As part of an evolutionary analysis of military command models, the transition to a different logic of Ai-assisted military command will be described, which requires the practice of collaborative network command and a governance framework of ‘cyborg ethics’ able to ensure meaningful human control and accountability in conducting military operations, incorporating military rules and doctrines into the Ai reasoning process with the aim of creating a truly adaptive system, in order to reduce the risks of intrinsic Ai instability in warfare scenarios.
KEYWORDS: Decision-Making, Artificial Intelligence, Mission Command, Network Command, Network-Centric Warfare.