Law and Society in a Digital World
This cluster brings together academics, students, policymakers and practitioners to study contemporary issues in global AI, technology and media law and policy. We have a particular interest in how socio-legal approaches, grounded in empirical research and attentive to social, political and historical contexts, can bring new perspectives to debates about technological change and the law.
Drawing on the Centre's longstanding tradition of studying law from the bottom up, our research looks beyond formal legal frameworks to consider how technologies are experienced, governed and contested in practice. This includes examining how different communities encounter and respond to new technologies, whose interests and perspectives shape emerging regulatory approaches, and how existing inequalities and relations of power influence their development and use.
Research Focus
Researchers in the cluster are working on a wide range of pressing issues, including shifting modes of censorship and internet regulation; technology, migration and transnational customary law; disinformation and hate speech; the regulation of AI and digital platforms; and the implications of emerging technologies for justice, legal institutions and access to rights.
Research also explores virtual legal worlds, online dispute resolution, data governance, decentralised finance and the potential of AI for social good.
The cluster brings together a diversity of approaches, from empirical studies of how technologies are used and experienced in different communities to more theoretical, comparative and policy-oriented work on legal and regulatory change. Many of those involved have a strong interest in governance and institutions in the Global South, while the cluster's broader work engages with questions about the relationship between technology, law and society across different jurisdictions and contexts.
Programmes and Initiatives
This cluster builds on the work of the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP), which was established over thirty years ago.
PCMLP has a large community of alumni and friends who remain associated with the programme and has given rise to a number of initiatives over the decades, including the Oxford AI and Media Policy Summer Institute, a leading annual event that continues to bring together cluster members and associates from around the world; the Monroe E. Price Media Law Moot Court Programme; and InfoLead, a programme focused on media and information literacy for judges and policymakers.
These initiatives reflect the cluster's longstanding commitment to bringing research into conversation with policy and practice, and to fostering exchanges across different disciplines, regions and professional communities.
Research Funding and Collaborations
Research in this cluster is, and has been, supported by a range of grants, including from the European Research Council (ConflictNet), EU Horizon grants including MeCoDem and ReMeD, the ESRC, Wikimedia, the UK FCDO, the United Nations, Open Society Foundations and the British Academy, among others.
These projects have supported international research collaborations on issues ranging from media and democracy to social media and conflict, internet shutdowns, and the changing relationship between technologies, institutions and public authority.
Visiting Researchers
We regularly host a vibrant cohort of Recognised Students and Academic Visitors interested in law and society in a digital world. They bring a diversity of academic, professional and geographical perspectives that enrich our research community and contribute to new collaborations and exchanges across research and practice.
MPhil and DPhil Research Projects
Examples of MPhil and DPhil projects associated with the Digital World cluster include:
| Researcher | Research focus |
|---|---|
| Abdullahi Ali Hassan | Social media and transnational dispute mediation |
| Mohammad Zayaan Asmi | Digital sovereignty, internet shutdowns and technology regulation |
| Flora De Castro Santana | ICANN |
| Luise Eder | AI regulation |
| Ekin Genç | Decentralised finance and legal regulation |
| Sothie Keo | Technology and privacy in Cambodia |
| Fidelis Leite Magalhães | Social media, digital technology and transitional justice |
| Keertana Kannabiran Tella | Technology and justice in India |
| Lisa Völzmann | Data access and use in the public interest |