Incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into mental health applications (apps) can help to personalise support, for example through signposting topic-specific resources based on content that app users interact with. However, there is limited research exploring the acceptability of AI within digital mental health for young people. The current study explored this in the context of an online peer support platform for young people. 12 young people were interviewed online using a think aloud approach; they were aged 16-23 (M 18.64, SD 2.23). Participants identified as White (n = 7), Chinese (n = 1), Mixed Race (n = 1), Indian (n = 1), Black African (n = 1) and Bangladeshi (n = 1). 10 participants identified as women, one as non-binary and one preferred not to say. Participants were users of Tellmi, a pre-moderated mental health peer support app aimed at young people. Participants were given a link to a prototype of the Tellmi app via their web browser in which it was shown how AI could generate suggestions of pre-defined resources based on the content of fictional posts. Users were encouraged to interact with it whilst thinking aloud. Three themes were developed using reflexive thematic analysis: (1) Fear of the unknown - getting to grips with artificial intelligence; (2) AI can help save time and effort by streamlining processes; and (3) The value of human connection, which included the sub-theme: AI isn't human and shouldn't pretend to be.
Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44206-025-00202-w.
{"title":"The Acceptability of AI-Driven Resource Signposting to Young People Using a Mental Health Peer Support App.","authors":"Bethany Cliffe, Lucy Biddle, Jessica Gore-Rodney, Myles-Jay Linton","doi":"10.1007/s44206-025-00202-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44206-025-00202-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into mental health applications (apps) can help to personalise support, for example through signposting topic-specific resources based on content that app users interact with. However, there is limited research exploring the acceptability of AI within digital mental health for young people. The current study explored this in the context of an online peer support platform for young people. 12 young people were interviewed online using a think aloud approach; they were aged 16-23 (M 18.64, SD 2.23). Participants identified as White (<i>n</i> = 7), Chinese (<i>n</i> = 1), Mixed Race (<i>n</i> = 1), Indian (<i>n</i> = 1), Black African (<i>n</i> = 1) and Bangladeshi (<i>n</i> = 1). 10 participants identified as women, one as non-binary and one preferred not to say. Participants were users of Tellmi, a pre-moderated mental health peer support app aimed at young people. Participants were given a link to a prototype of the Tellmi app via their web browser in which it was shown how AI could generate suggestions of pre-defined resources based on the content of fictional posts. Users were encouraged to interact with it whilst thinking aloud. Three themes were developed using reflexive thematic analysis: (1) Fear of the unknown - getting to grips with artificial intelligence; (2) AI can help save time and effort by streamlining processes; and (3) The value of human connection, which included the sub-theme: AI isn't human and shouldn't pretend to be.</p><p><strong>Supplementary information: </strong>The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44206-025-00202-w.</p>","PeriodicalId":72819,"journal":{"name":"Digital society : ethics, socio-legal and governance of digital technology","volume":"4 2","pages":"45"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12137474/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144251151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01Epub Date: 2025-11-14DOI: 10.1007/s44206-025-00234-2
William Gopal, Michael Quinn
Recently there has been a call to deploy AI technologies in secondary education. An accompanying worry is that if students became overly reliant on LLMs, they would become cognitively deskilled - and this would be an impediment to the growth of their cognitive character. One pedagogical approach aiming to offset this worry consists of teaching students how to critically evaluate the outputs of LLMs while they are using them - the Use-First Critical Thinking approach (UFCT). We argue that UFCT alone cannot assuage this worry insofar as it misses an important, prior step in equipping students with the skills to be aware of, and reflect upon, by what lights decisions whether to delegate tasks to LLMs are appropriate. We propose an alternative pedagogical approach involving film, specifically Memento, which allows students to identify delegative choice points and what (in)appropriate delegation looks like.
{"title":"Engaging with Film to Teach Students About Virtuous Outsourcing of Cognitive Tasks to LLMs.","authors":"William Gopal, Michael Quinn","doi":"10.1007/s44206-025-00234-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s44206-025-00234-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Recently there has been a call to deploy AI technologies in secondary education. An accompanying worry is that if students became overly reliant on LLMs, they would become cognitively deskilled - and this would be an impediment to the growth of their cognitive character. One pedagogical approach aiming to offset this worry consists of teaching students how to critically evaluate the outputs of LLMs while they are using them - the Use-First Critical Thinking approach (UFCT). We argue that UFCT alone cannot assuage this worry insofar as it misses an important, prior step in equipping students with the skills to be aware of, and reflect upon, by what lights decisions whether to delegate tasks to LLMs are appropriate. We propose an alternative pedagogical approach involving film, specifically <i>Memento</i>, which allows students to identify delegative choice points and what (in)appropriate delegation looks like.</p>","PeriodicalId":72819,"journal":{"name":"Digital society : ethics, socio-legal and governance of digital technology","volume":"4 3","pages":"79"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12618357/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145544253","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01Epub Date: 2025-05-02DOI: 10.1007/s44206-025-00190-x
Alexander Campolo
This commentary situates the epistemic values of machine learning's culture of benchmarking and evaluation within larger temporal structures. Beyond questions of validity, whether model comparisons are statistically valid or whether benchmarks adequately represent meaningful tasks or capabilities, it asks how benchmarks produce certain temporal values and expectations. It articulates two hypotheses in response: the first, termed normalizing research, seeks to characterize how benchmarking simultaneously serves a disciplining and motivating function in research, with the effect of minimizing conflict. The second, termed extrapolation, argues that the incremental, progressive rhythm of benchmarking is oriented less towards the future than towards a present state-of-the-art (SOTA). Together, these hypotheses inform a diagnosis of the presentist temporality of benchmarking and evaluation in machine learning.
{"title":"State-of-the-Art: The Temporal Order of Benchmarking Culture.","authors":"Alexander Campolo","doi":"10.1007/s44206-025-00190-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44206-025-00190-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This commentary situates the epistemic values of machine learning's culture of benchmarking and evaluation within larger temporal structures. Beyond questions of validity, whether model comparisons are statistically valid or whether benchmarks adequately represent meaningful tasks or capabilities, it asks how benchmarks produce certain temporal values and expectations. It articulates two hypotheses in response: the first, termed normalizing research, seeks to characterize how benchmarking simultaneously serves a disciplining and motivating function in research, with the effect of minimizing conflict. The second, termed extrapolation, argues that the incremental, progressive rhythm of benchmarking is oriented less towards the future than towards a present state-of-the-art (SOTA). Together, these hypotheses inform a diagnosis of the presentist temporality of benchmarking and evaluation in machine learning.</p>","PeriodicalId":72819,"journal":{"name":"Digital society : ethics, socio-legal and governance of digital technology","volume":"4 2","pages":"35"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12048445/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144047694","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-09DOI: 10.1007/s44206-023-00080-0
Maksymilian Michał Kuźmicz
Abstract This paper explores the concept of balancing interests within the context of Active Assisted Living (AAL). AAL technologies hold great promise for addressing the care and support needs of older adults. However, they also raise ethical and social considerations that necessitate a careful balance of interests among various stakeholders. The objective of this study is to comprehensively examine the notion of balance shedding light on its multifaceted dimensions and discuss practical implications for the AAL. Drawing on a thorough literature review and interdisciplinary insights, the research unfolds in three stages. First, it recognizes four key dimensions of balance: equilibrium, avoidance of extremes, proportion, and compromise. Subsequently, the study explores arguments both in favor of and against balancing, addressing issues such as absolute values, methodological concerns, benefits of imbalances, and alternative approaches. This examination offers a comprehensive perspective on the complexities surrounding the concept of balance. Finally, the paper investigates the implications of the conceptual framework within the AAL context, examining what the process of balancing interests could mean from this perspective.
{"title":"A Concept of Balance of Interest in the Context of Active Assisted Living","authors":"Maksymilian Michał Kuźmicz","doi":"10.1007/s44206-023-00080-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44206-023-00080-0","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper explores the concept of balancing interests within the context of Active Assisted Living (AAL). AAL technologies hold great promise for addressing the care and support needs of older adults. However, they also raise ethical and social considerations that necessitate a careful balance of interests among various stakeholders. The objective of this study is to comprehensively examine the notion of balance shedding light on its multifaceted dimensions and discuss practical implications for the AAL. Drawing on a thorough literature review and interdisciplinary insights, the research unfolds in three stages. First, it recognizes four key dimensions of balance: equilibrium, avoidance of extremes, proportion, and compromise. Subsequently, the study explores arguments both in favor of and against balancing, addressing issues such as absolute values, methodological concerns, benefits of imbalances, and alternative approaches. This examination offers a comprehensive perspective on the complexities surrounding the concept of balance. Finally, the paper investigates the implications of the conceptual framework within the AAL context, examining what the process of balancing interests could mean from this perspective.","PeriodicalId":72819,"journal":{"name":"Digital society : ethics, socio-legal and governance of digital technology","volume":" 2","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135244529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-08DOI: 10.1007/s44206-023-00074-y
Jakob Mökander
Abstract AI auditing is a rapidly growing field of research and practice. This review article, which doubles as an editorial to Digital Society’s topical collection on ‘Auditing of AI’, provides an overview of previous work in the field. Three key points emerge from the review. First, contemporary attempts to audit AI systems have much to learn from how audits have historically been structured and conducted in areas like financial accounting, safety engineering and the social sciences. Second, both policymakers and technology providers have an interest in promoting auditing as an AI governance mechanism. Academic researchers can thus fill an important role by studying the feasibility and effectiveness of different AI auditing procedures. Third, AI auditing is an inherently multidisciplinary undertaking, to which substantial contributions have been made by computer scientists and engineers as well as social scientists, philosophers, legal scholars and industry practitioners. Reflecting this diversity of perspectives, different approaches to AI auditing have different affordances and constraints. Specifically, a distinction can be made between technology-oriented audits, which focus on the properties and capabilities of AI systems, and process-oriented audits, which focus on technology providers’ governance structures and quality management systems. The next step in the evolution of auditing as an AI governance mechanism, this article concludes, should be the interlinking of these available—and complementary—approaches into structured and holistic procedures to audit not only how AI systems are designed and used but also how they impact users, societies and the natural environment in applied settings over time.
{"title":"Auditing of AI: Legal, Ethical and Technical Approaches","authors":"Jakob Mökander","doi":"10.1007/s44206-023-00074-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44206-023-00074-y","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract AI auditing is a rapidly growing field of research and practice. This review article, which doubles as an editorial to Digital Society’s topical collection on ‘Auditing of AI’, provides an overview of previous work in the field. Three key points emerge from the review. First, contemporary attempts to audit AI systems have much to learn from how audits have historically been structured and conducted in areas like financial accounting, safety engineering and the social sciences. Second, both policymakers and technology providers have an interest in promoting auditing as an AI governance mechanism. Academic researchers can thus fill an important role by studying the feasibility and effectiveness of different AI auditing procedures. Third, AI auditing is an inherently multidisciplinary undertaking, to which substantial contributions have been made by computer scientists and engineers as well as social scientists, philosophers, legal scholars and industry practitioners. Reflecting this diversity of perspectives, different approaches to AI auditing have different affordances and constraints. Specifically, a distinction can be made between technology-oriented audits, which focus on the properties and capabilities of AI systems, and process-oriented audits, which focus on technology providers’ governance structures and quality management systems. The next step in the evolution of auditing as an AI governance mechanism, this article concludes, should be the interlinking of these available—and complementary—approaches into structured and holistic procedures to audit not only how AI systems are designed and used but also how they impact users, societies and the natural environment in applied settings over time.","PeriodicalId":72819,"journal":{"name":"Digital society : ethics, socio-legal and governance of digital technology","volume":"28 29","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135390755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-08DOI: 10.1007/s44206-023-00082-y
Federica Russo
{"title":"Automated Content Writing Tools and the Question of Objectivity","authors":"Federica Russo","doi":"10.1007/s44206-023-00082-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44206-023-00082-y","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72819,"journal":{"name":"Digital society : ethics, socio-legal and governance of digital technology","volume":"28 30","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135392047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-02DOI: 10.1007/s44206-023-00079-7
Simon Friederich, Jonathan Symons
Abstract If and when artificial intelligence systems become superhuman in more aspects of analytic reasoning, this will inevitably have a strong impact on the social organisation of science, including academic writing, reviewing, and publishing. We consider how norms of academic publishing should be adjusted as this happens. To do so, we propose four intuitively plausible desiderata that norms of academic publishing should fulfil in the age of increasingly advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and argue that there are no “quick fixes” to current norms that fulfil these desiderata. To indicate the scale of change needed to prepare academic publishing for the era of increasingly advanced AI, we tentatively sketch a more promising novel system of norms. Our proposal centres around the idea that AI systems should “sign off’’ on statements that outline the human and AI contributions to academic research. We discuss possible challenges for this proposal and highlight the type of technological and regulatory infrastructure that would be needed to enable it.
{"title":"Norms for Academic Writing in the Era of Advanced Artificial Intelligence","authors":"Simon Friederich, Jonathan Symons","doi":"10.1007/s44206-023-00079-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44206-023-00079-7","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract If and when artificial intelligence systems become superhuman in more aspects of analytic reasoning, this will inevitably have a strong impact on the social organisation of science, including academic writing, reviewing, and publishing. We consider how norms of academic publishing should be adjusted as this happens. To do so, we propose four intuitively plausible desiderata that norms of academic publishing should fulfil in the age of increasingly advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and argue that there are no “quick fixes” to current norms that fulfil these desiderata. To indicate the scale of change needed to prepare academic publishing for the era of increasingly advanced AI, we tentatively sketch a more promising novel system of norms. Our proposal centres around the idea that AI systems should “sign off’’ on statements that outline the human and AI contributions to academic research. We discuss possible challenges for this proposal and highlight the type of technological and regulatory infrastructure that would be needed to enable it.","PeriodicalId":72819,"journal":{"name":"Digital society : ethics, socio-legal and governance of digital technology","volume":"7 7","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135973730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-27DOI: 10.1007/s44206-023-00072-0
Megan M. Milota, Jojanneke M. T. M. Drogt, Karin R. Jongsma
Abstract The field of pathology is currently undergoing fundamental changes, including the transition from analog to digital workspaces and the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into digital diagnostic workflows. Discussing the ethical implications of these changes is complicated by the fact that both laypersons and medical professionals know relatively little about the ways pathologists conduct their daily work. To reveal the largely ‘invisible’ daily practices of pathology departments and better understand the ongoing processes of innovation within the field, we employed a variety of ethnographic methods: interviews, participant observations, and ethnographic filming. Approaching AI in pathology through three different angles helped us to gain rich knowledge and meaningful insights about the ways AI should impact pathologists’ and lab technicians’ roles and responsibilities. In this article, we describe the benefits and downsides of our ‘slow approach’ to data collection and invite those working on similar topics involving the complex dynamics of digital transitions to reflect on whether such methods might also benefit their research.
{"title":"Making AI’s Impact on Pathology Visible: Using Ethnographic Methods for Ethical and Epistemological Insights","authors":"Megan M. Milota, Jojanneke M. T. M. Drogt, Karin R. Jongsma","doi":"10.1007/s44206-023-00072-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44206-023-00072-0","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The field of pathology is currently undergoing fundamental changes, including the transition from analog to digital workspaces and the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into digital diagnostic workflows. Discussing the ethical implications of these changes is complicated by the fact that both laypersons and medical professionals know relatively little about the ways pathologists conduct their daily work. To reveal the largely ‘invisible’ daily practices of pathology departments and better understand the ongoing processes of innovation within the field, we employed a variety of ethnographic methods: interviews, participant observations, and ethnographic filming. Approaching AI in pathology through three different angles helped us to gain rich knowledge and meaningful insights about the ways AI should impact pathologists’ and lab technicians’ roles and responsibilities. In this article, we describe the benefits and downsides of our ‘slow approach’ to data collection and invite those working on similar topics involving the complex dynamics of digital transitions to reflect on whether such methods might also benefit their research.","PeriodicalId":72819,"journal":{"name":"Digital society : ethics, socio-legal and governance of digital technology","volume":"56 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136318442","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-19DOI: 10.1007/s44206-023-00076-w
Magnus Boman
Abstract Validation of machine learning algorithms that take health data as input is analysed, leveraging on an example from radiology. A 2-year study of AI use in a university hospital and a connected medical university indicated what was often forgotten by human decision makers in the clinic and by medical researchers. A nine-item laundry list that does not require machine learning expertise to use resulted. The list items guide stakeholders toward complete validation processes and clinical routines for bias-aware, sound, energy-aware and efficient data-driven reasoning for health. The list can also prove useful to machine learning developers, as a list of minimal requirements for successful implementation in the clinic.
{"title":"Human-Curated Validation of Machine Learning Algorithms for Health Data","authors":"Magnus Boman","doi":"10.1007/s44206-023-00076-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44206-023-00076-w","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Validation of machine learning algorithms that take health data as input is analysed, leveraging on an example from radiology. A 2-year study of AI use in a university hospital and a connected medical university indicated what was often forgotten by human decision makers in the clinic and by medical researchers. A nine-item laundry list that does not require machine learning expertise to use resulted. The list items guide stakeholders toward complete validation processes and clinical routines for bias-aware, sound, energy-aware and efficient data-driven reasoning for health. The list can also prove useful to machine learning developers, as a list of minimal requirements for successful implementation in the clinic.","PeriodicalId":72819,"journal":{"name":"Digital society : ethics, socio-legal and governance of digital technology","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135667499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-18DOI: 10.1007/s44206-023-00067-x
Alesia Zhuk
Abstract This paper examines the legal status of micronations claiming virtual sovereignty in cyberspace, using the case of the Republic of Errant Menda Lerenda (REML) as an example. The REML is a micronation that claims to have virtual sovereignty over a network of individuals who share its values and beliefs. Through an in-depth analysis of existing literature and sources, this paper explores the legal implications of virtual sovereignty and the challenges that micronations face in establishing legitimacy in the international community. The paper concludes that while the lack of recognition of virtual states by the international community limits their ability to engage in formal relations with other states, virtual sovereignty raises important questions about the concept of statehood in the digital age. This paper suggests that further research is needed to explore the legal and practical implications of virtual sovereignty and to develop new frameworks for determining the legitimacy of virtual states.
{"title":"Virtual Sovereignty: Examining the Legal Status of Micronations in Cyberspace Through the Case of the Republic of Errant Menda Lerenda","authors":"Alesia Zhuk","doi":"10.1007/s44206-023-00067-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44206-023-00067-x","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper examines the legal status of micronations claiming virtual sovereignty in cyberspace, using the case of the Republic of Errant Menda Lerenda (REML) as an example. The REML is a micronation that claims to have virtual sovereignty over a network of individuals who share its values and beliefs. Through an in-depth analysis of existing literature and sources, this paper explores the legal implications of virtual sovereignty and the challenges that micronations face in establishing legitimacy in the international community. The paper concludes that while the lack of recognition of virtual states by the international community limits their ability to engage in formal relations with other states, virtual sovereignty raises important questions about the concept of statehood in the digital age. This paper suggests that further research is needed to explore the legal and practical implications of virtual sovereignty and to develop new frameworks for determining the legitimacy of virtual states.","PeriodicalId":72819,"journal":{"name":"Digital society : ethics, socio-legal and governance of digital technology","volume":"251 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135883448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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