Tackling Threats to Academic Freedom Beyond the State: The Potential of Societal Constitutionalism in Protecting the Autonomy of Science in the Digital Era

• Published in: Indiana journal of global legal studies Vol. 30; no. 2; p. COV10
• Main Author: Kunz, Raffaela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Indiana University Press 22-06-2023
• Subjects: Academic freedom; Constitutional law; Data entry; Data security; Evaluation; Freedom of information; High technology industry; Internet access; Knowledge; Laws, regulations and rules; Privacy, Right of; Protection and preservation; Sciences education; Teaching, Freedom of
• ISSN: 1080-0727

While in the early days of the internet, there was great enthusiasm about the wealth of new possibilities for science, in recent years, awareness about the darker sides of digital technologies has been rising. It is known today that the leading academic publishers have tapped into the data analytics business. The resulting massive collection of user traces not only threatens privacy rights but also increases concerns about the consolidation of the oligopoly in the global academic publishing industry and large-scale corporate influence on science. This paper explores the consequences of this development for the constitutional protection of science. It argues that while classic accounts of constitutionalism are not entirely blind to constitutional challenges transcending the state-individual relationship, they struggle to capture the subtle yet systemic risks that the science system faces in the digital age. Societal constitutionalism is not only a useful lens to better understand these threats, but also to respond to them, providing valuable lessons for debates about digital constitutionalism and the effective protection of fundamental rights in the digital age.