Clara Iglesias Keller

About me

I am a legal scholar specialized in information technology and media regulation. I am particularly interested in the relationship between technologies and democratic institutions, looking at both how technological transformation challenges law and regulation and at its long term implications for how these institutions are shaped to meet their ends.

I pursued my legal education in Brazil and in the United Kingdom, and I have been living in Germany since 2018, carrying out research in cutting-edge institutions. In this page, you can find some of the work I develop both in Brazil and in Europe.

My research

I am a Research Leader for the group “Technology, Power and Domination” at the Weizenbaum Institute; this research group is affiliated with the Politics of Digitalization at the WZB Berlin Social Sciences Center, where I have been with since 2020. Before that, I coordinated the Digital Disinformation Hub at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institute and pursued different research projects as an associated researcher to the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society.

My recent work approaches different aspects of platform governance, disinformation countermeasures and the consequences of the expansion of artificial intelligence for political participation.

I hold a Doctorate of Public Law (equivalent to summa cum laude in the German system) from the Rio de Janeiro State University (2019), having developed in my thesis a regulatory legitimacy framework based on Internet governance and technology regulation theories. Before that, I completed a Masters of Public Law in the same University (2011) and an L.LM in Information Technology and Media Law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (2012).

Teaching

In the last years, I have held different lecturer positions. Currently, I am a guest lecturer at the Masters and Postgraduation programs of the Instituto Brasileiro de Ensino, Desenvolvimento e Pesquisa – IDP (Brasília), and I teach a course on data protection enforcement at the Associação de Pesquisa e Ensino Data Privacy Brazil (São Paulo). Before that, I taught Constitutional Law I at the Rio de Janeiro State University Law School and a seminar on Technology Regulation at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (this one fully taught in English).

Institutional contributions

Member of the Committee for Electoral Integrity Studies appointed by the Brazilian Superior Electoral Court, responsible for consulting on the topics of digital integrity and transparency on Internet platforms during the Electoral Process. 2023-2024.

Member of the Legal Experts Commission appointed by the Brazilian Federal Senate, proposing a national regulatory framework for artificial intelligence technologies (Bill of Law 2338/2023). 2022.

Expert input at the House of Representatives Public Hearing on Bill 2.630/2020 (aka “The Law for Freedom, Responsibility and Transparency on the Internet”). 2021.

Lead author on the contribution presented by Data Privacy Brasil to the Brazilian Data Protection Authority on the regulation of data protection enforcement and sanctioning. 2021. Co-authored with the Data Privacy Brasil team of researchers.

Collaborations

Platform Governance Research Network, Member of the Executive Committee and the Steering Committee

DEMOS – Observatory for Risk Monitoring during Brazilian Elections, Member

Digital Constitutionalism Network, Member

Working group on Data Protection and Elections, Member

Member

Editorial Team and Advisory Board, Weizenbaum Journal of Digital Society

International Scientific Board, Revista da AJURIS – Law Journal

Books

Iglesias Keller, Clara, Dagoberto Chaves. 2022. Media Law in Brazil, International Encyclopaedia of Laws, Wolters Kluwer.

Celeste, Edoardo, Amélie Heldt, Clara Iglesias Keller. 2022. Constitutionalising Social Media, Oxford: Hart Publications.

Iglesias Keller, Clara. 2019. National Regulation of Internet Based Services: Exception, Legitimacy and the Role of States. Rio de Janeiro: Lumen Juris. [Originally published in Portuguese as: Regulação nacional de serviços na Internet: Exceção, Legitimidade e o papel do Estado.]

Journal articles

Iglesias Keller, Clara, Laura Schertel Mendes, Victor Fernandes. 2023. Content moderation in digital platforms: paths for regulation in Brazil. In: Cadernos Adenauer – Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, 1/2023. [Originally published in Portuguese: Moderação de conteúdo em plataformas digitais: caminhos para a regulação no Brasil]

Reis, Jane, Clara Iglesias Keller. 2022. Digital Constitutionalism: contradictions of a loose concept. In: Revista Direito e Praxis, v. 3, n. 4. [Also published in Portuguese as: Constitucionalismo Digital: contradições de um conceito impreciso.]

Iglesias Keller, Clara. 2021. Don’t Shoot the Message: Regulating Disinformation Beyond Content. In: Revista Direito Público, vol. 18, issue 99, pp. 486–515.

Haggart, Blayne, Clara Iglesias Keller. 2021. Democratic legitimacy in global platform governance. In: Telecommunications Policy, vol. 45, issue 6.

Iglesias Keller, Clara, Bruno Bioni, Rafael Zanatta, Iasmine Favaro. 2020. Data and the virus: legal tensions around the adoption of technologies to fight Covid-19, Revista Brasileira de Direitos Fundamentais e Justiça, vol. 14, issue 1. [Originally published in Portuguese as: Os dados e o vírus: tensões jurídicas em torno da adoção de tecnologias de combate à Covid-19]

Iglesias Keller, Clara. 2020. Policy by Judicial Review: the Institutional Framework for Intermediary Liability in Brazil. In: International Review of Law, Computers and Technology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13600869.2020.1792035.

Iglesias Keller, Clara, Edoardo Celeste (guest editors). 2019. Future Visions for a Democratic Internet: Actors, Norms, Institutions. Special issue of Publicum Law Journal. 

Iglesias Keller, Clara. 2019. Between Exception and Harmonization: The Theoretical Debates on Internet Regulation. In: Publicum Law Journal, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 137–66. [Originally published in Portuguese as: Entre exceção e harmonização: o debate teórico sobre regulação da Internet. A version in English was published in the HIIG Discussion Paper Series, 2020(02)].

Baptista, Patrícia Ferreira, Clara Iglesias Keller. 2016. ‘Why, When and How to Regulate New Technologies? The Challenges Brought by Disruptive Innovations’. In: Revista de Direito Administrativo, vol. 273, p. 123–63. [Originally published in Portuguese as: Por que, quando e como regular novas tecnologias? Os desafios trazidos por inovações disruptivas.]

Book chapters

Hofmann, Jeanette, Clara Iglesias Keller. Machine learning, political participation and the transformations of democratic self-determination. 2024. In: Heinlein, Michael and Norbert Huchler, “Künstliche Intelligenz, Mensch und Gesellschaft Soziale Dynamiken und Gesellschaftliche Folgen einer Technologischen Innovation”, Springer, pp. 321-345.

Iglesias Keller, Clara, Bruna Martins dos Santos. 2024. “Trackers and Chased: regulatory challenges in disinformation datafication.” In: AGUERRE, Carolina; CAMPBELL-VERDUYN, Malcom; SCHOLTE, Jan Aart. Global Digital Data Governance: Polycentric Perspectives, Routledge Global Cooperation Series.

Iglesias Keller, Clara, João Carlos Magalhães. 2023. “Regulating AI in Democratic Erosion: context, imaginaries and voices in the Brazilian debate“. In: FINDLAY, Mark; ONG, Li Min; ZHANG, Wenxi, Regulating AI and Big Data in Emerging Economies”, Edward Elgar. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781785362408.00018.

Iglesias Keller, Clara. 2022. “The perks of co-regulation: an institutional arrangement for social media regulation?”. In: CELESTE, Edoardo; HELDT, Amélie; KELLER, Clara Iglesias. Constitutionalising Social Media, Oxford: Hart Publications.

Iglesias Keller, Clara. 2018. ‘Democracy and Freedom of Expression Online: Where We Came from and Where We are Headed’. In: Adriana Cruz, Thiago Magalhães Pires, Wallace Corbo, Cristina Telles, and Alonso Freire (eds.). O Direito Público por Elas – Homenagem a Professora Jane Reis. Rio de Janeiro: Lumen Juris, v. 1, pp. 85–104. [Originally published in Portuguese as: Democracia e Liberdade de Expressão na Internet: de onde viemos e para onde vamos?]

Iglesias Keller, Clara, Diego Gebara Fallah. 2017. ‘Media Laws in Latin American Courts’. In: Jane Reis Pereira Gonçalves, Ana Paula de Barcellos, and Patrícia Ferreira Baptista (eds.). Direito público contemporâneo: direitos fundamentais nas cortes latino-americanas, vol. 1. Rio de Janeiro: Multifoco. [Originally published in Portuguese as: Leis de mídia nas Cortes latino americanas.]

Writing

Iglesias Keller, Clara, Diego Werneck Arguelhes. 2023. Den freien Austausch schützen: die Rolle der Gerichte in Brasilien. [Grappling with digital disinformation in democratic erosion: the role of courts in Brazil] WZB-Mitteilungen, 180, pp. 36-39.

Iglesias Keller, Clara, Theresa Züger. 2023. Promises and Perils of democratic legitimacy in social media councils. In: Kettemann, Mathias; Francke, Josefa; Dinar, Christina; Hinrichs, Lena. “Platform://Democracy. Perspectives on Platform Power, Public Values and the Potential of Social Media Councils: Research Report Europe”.

Iglesias Keller, Clara, Laura Schertel Mendes, Mariana Valente. 2023. Eight measures to regulate Big Tech. In: Folha de São Paulo, 28. fev. 2023 [Originally published in Portuguese: Oito medidas para regular as Big Tech.]

How Courts became a Battlefront against disinformation: the 2022 Brazilian elections. Verfassungsblog, 20 Sept 2022. Co-authored with Diego Werneck Arguelhes.

Between evidence and policy: bridging the gap in disinformation regulation. Internet Policy Review, 18 May 2022. Co-authored with Stephan Dreyer and Pranav Bidare.

Gegen Desinformation, aber für die Meinungsfreiheit. Herausforderungen der digitalen Kommunikation in Brasilien [Countering disinformation without harming freedom of expression. Challenges of digital communications in Brazil]. WZB-Mitteilungen, no. 171, pp. 22-24.

Can the Supreme Court block social media accounts? [originally published in Portuguese as: Pode o STF determinar o bloqueio de perfis em redes sociais?]. Jota (op-ed), 24 Jun., 2020. Co-authored with Diego Werneck Arguelhes.

Aiming at fake news and hitting surveillance: user identification as a flawed strategy against disinformation [originally published in Portuguese as: Mirando em fake news e acertando em vigilância: A identificação de usuários como estratégia falida de combate à desinformação]. Jota (op-ed), 27 Jul., 2020. Co-authored with Danilo Doneda.

A new milestone for data protection in Brazil. Internet Policy Review (op-ed), 13 May, 2020. Co-authored with Laura Schertel Mendes.

Data protection in times of Covid-19: the risks of surveillance in Brazil. Internet Policy Review (op-ed), 2 Apr., 2020. Co-authored with Jane Reis Pereira Gonçalves.

Online content regulation in Brazil faces risk of setback. HIIG Digital Society Blog, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, 2 Dec., 2019.

Could fake news annul the Brazilian elections? HIIG Digital Society Blog, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, 4 Oct., 2018.

Regulatory effects of the Marco Civil: The Supreme Court trial beyond Civil Law. Jota, 27 Nov., 2019 [originally published in Portuguese as: Efeitos regulatórios do Marco Civil: o julgamento no STF além do Direito Civil].

Twitter and the public sphere: what awaits the Supreme Court in MS 36.648. Jota, 13 Nov., 2019 [originally published in Portuguese as: O Twitter e a esfera pública de debate: o que aguarda o STF no MS 36.648].

Copyright in the European Union: why do we sacrifice freedom of expression in order to regulate the Internet? Jota, 13 Sept., 2018 [originally published in Portuguese as: Direito Autoral na União Europeia: até quando vamos sacrificar a liberdade de expressão para regular a Internet?].

Could fake news annul the elections? Jota, 16 Jul., 2018 [originally published in Portuguese as: Podem as fake news anular as eleições?].

Online content control: upload filters and the threat of censorship. Jota, 25 Jun., 2018 [originally published in Portuguese as: Controle de conteúdo na internet: filtros de upload e o perigo de censura prévia].

Innovation: why look backwards to regulate? Jota, 27 Nov., 2017 [originally published in Portuguese: Inovação: por que olhamos para o passado para regular?].

Podcasts and interviews

G1 – globo.com, Interview to Alessandro Feitosa on Platform Power and Regulation, 2021.

Bitcoins dentro e fora da lei: pirâmides, gestoras e impostos [Bitcoins in outlaw: pyramids, managers and taxes]. Big Data Venia, 2021. With Iago Bolívar, Ivar Hartmann, Rafael Bianchini.

Uber, Airbnb e a crise do compartilhamento do que não temos [Uber, Airbnb and the crisis of sharing what we don’t have]. Big Data Venia, 2021. With Iago Bolívar, Ivar Hartmann, and Yasmin Curzi.

“Após ler em meu Face”: A nova crise dos jornais na era das plataformas [Newspapers in crisis in the age of digital platforms ]. Big Data Venia, 2021. With Iago Bolívar, Ivar Hartmann, and Yasmin Curzi.

Moderação ou censura: quem deve decidir o que pode ser dito nas redes? [Moderation or censorhip: who decides what can be said online?]. Big Data Venia, 2021. With Iago Bolívar, Ivar Hartmann, and Yasmin Curzi.

A (des)confiança na urna eletrônica: voto impresso, segurança e desinformação [(Dis)Trust in the electronic ballot box: paper ballots, security and disinformation]. Big Data Venia, 2021. With Iago Bolívar, Ivar Hartmann, and Yasmin Curzi.

Open Banking e PIX: Concorrência, Fintechs e os limites das promessas de inovação [Open banking and PIX: Competition, Fintechs and the limits of innovation promises]. Big Data Venia, 2021. With Iago Bolívar, Ivar Hartmann, and Luca Belli.

Fake News: O PL 2.630/20, a liberdade de expressão e as plataformas [Fake News: Bill of Law 2.630/20, freedom of expression and digital platforms]. Big Data Venia, 2020. With Iago Bolívar, Ivar Hartmann, and Chiara de Teffé.

Expressão Nacional: combate às fake news [National Expressions: Fighting Fake News]. TV Câmara, 2020. With Danilo Doneda and Deputy Marcelo Brum.

Fake News and Elections – How researchers tackle the problem of information manipulation strategies during election campaigns. Exploring digital spheres – a podcast by HIIG, 2018. With Amélie Heldt.

O compromisso da imprensa e a responsabilidade de cada brasileiro nas eleições de 2018 [The pledge of the Press and each Brazilian’s responsibility in the 2018 elections]. Revista Imprensa, 2018. With Enio Moraes Junior, and M. E. Antonioli.

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