Blog

As part of ongoing international research cooperation, Professor Elżbieta Kużelewska (University of Białystok, Poland), leader of the Observatory: The Right to (Not) Use the Internet, held the position of Visiting Professor at the University of Macerata (UNIMC) within the PhD Programme Law and Innovation (academic year 2024/2025).

The visiting professorship took place from 23 to 29 March 2025.

During her visit, Professor Kużelewska delivered a series of doctoral-level seminars entitled:
"The Use of the Internet and Social Networks as a Vulnerability of a Democratic System."

The lectures addressed key research themes related to contemporary challenges of democracy in the digital environment, including:

• the conceptualisation of the right to use and not to use the Internet,

• the legal status of non-use of digital technologies in human rights law,

• jurisprudence and legislative approaches concerning digital obligations,

• the protection of vulnerable groups and children in the context of digital exclusion and overexposure,

• constitutional and democratic implications of digital dependency.

The visiting professorship was implemented within the framework of the Dipartimento di Eccellenza initiative and conducted in synergy with the research project "The New Challenges to Democracy in the Digital Ecosystem", funded under the University of Macerata's Costellazioni Collaborative di Ricerca call.

This activity contributed to strengthening international academic collaboration and advancing comparative research on digital rights, democratic resilience, and governance in the digital age.