The notion of illegal content in the EU Digital Age

18+19 September 2025 | Meran Academy | Innerhofer Strasse 1 (Meran)

Idea & Program

The new EU Digital Services Act marks a significant shift in the digital space regulation, establishing – among many other innovations – the liability of major digital platforms in countering the spread of illegal online content uploaded by users.

However, the notion of “illegal content” is defined imprecisely in the Regulation, which simply refers to EU law and to the various Member States legislations.

The vagueness and potential breadth of harmful phenomena affecting individuals in the digital space raise significant interpretative issues in identifying users’ criminally
relevant conduct and in outlining the related platforms’ obligations.

Program

Thursday, 18 September 2025

FIRST PANEL
  • 9:30 – 10:00 PRESENTATION: The jurisdictional
    reach and challenges of the DSA, Julia Hörnle
    (QM University of London)
  • 10:00 – 10:30 Discussant: Gaia Fiorinelli
    (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa)
  • 10:30 – 10:45 Debate
  • 10:45 – 11:00 PAUSE
SECOND PANEL
  • 11:00 – 11:30 PRESENTATION: The definition of illegal content. The role of criminal law in the context of the DSA, Esmeralda Dedej (EU Commission)
  • 11:30 – 12:00 Discussant: BeatricePanattoni (University of Verona; University of Luxembourg)
  • 12:00 – 12:15 Debate
THIRD PANEL
  • 12:15 – 12:45 PRESENTATION: Preventing and combating crimes committed through platforms in the DSA Regulation. Powers of the issuing judicial authority and notification obligations of the service provider, Michele Caianiello (University of Bologna)
  • 12:45 – 13:15 Discussant: Clementina Salvi (University of Liverpool)
  • 13:15 – 13:30 Debate
  • 13:30 – 14:30 LONG COFFEE BREAK
FOURTH PANEL
  • 14:30 – 15:00 PRESENTATION: Challenges of Definition and Harmonisation in the EU Directive on Violence Against Women and Girls, Clare McGlynn (University of Durham)
  • 15:00 – 15:30 Discussant: Carlotta Rigotti (Leiden University)
  • 15:30 – 15:45 Debate
FIFTH PANEL
  • 15:45 – 16:15 PRESENTATION: The Rise of Digital ‘Empires’ of Internet Regulation – Finding the Right Balance in the Marketplace of Ideas, Johanna Rinceanu (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Freiburg im Breisgau)
  • 16:15 – 16:45 Discussant: Alessandra Galluccio (University of Milan “La Statale”)
  • 16:45 – 17:00 Debate
  • 17:00 – 17:15 PAUSE
SIXTH PANEL
  • 17:15 – 17:45 PRESENTATION: Regulating the regulators? Election Disinformation and Digital Platforms, Jeremy Horder (London School of Economics)
  • 17:45 – 18:15 Discussant: Emanuele Birritteri (University of Rome Unitelma Sapienza)
  • 18:15 – 18:30 Debate
  • 18:30 – 18:45 Conclusions and end of session

Friday, 19 September 2025

  • 9:00 – 9:30 ROUND TABLE OPENING:
    Comparative reports on the notion of illegal online content, Gian Marco Caletti and Paolo Beccari (University of Bologna)
FAKE NEWS
  • 9:30 – 10:00 Elisa Hoven (University of Leipzig) Report on Germany
  • 10:00 – 10:15 Discussion
CYBERHARASSMENT
  • 10:15 – 10:45 Linnea Wegerstad (Lund University) Report on Sweden
  • 10:45 – 11:00 Discussion
  • 11:00 – 11:15 PAUSE
CYBERSTALKING
  • 11.15 – 11:45 Patricia Faraldo Cabana (University of La Coruña) Report on Spain
  • 11:45 – 12:00 Discussion
CYBERBULLYING
  • 12:00 – 12:30 Lora Briski (University of Ljubljana) Report on Slovenia
  • 12:30 – 12:45 Discussion
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY/SEXTING
  • 12:45 – 13:15 Margareth Helfer (University of Innsbruck) Report on Austria-Italy
  • 13:15 – 13:30 Discussion
  • 13:30 – 14:30 LONG COFFEE BREAK
IMAGE – BASED SEXUAL ABUSES
  • 14:30 – 15:00 Marthe Goudsmit Samaritter (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Freiburg im Breisgau) Report on Netherland
  • 15:00 – 15:15 Discussion
SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXTREME OR VIOLENT
PORNOGRAPHY
  • 15:15 – 15:45 Quentin Jacquemin (University of Lausanne) Report on French speaking countries
  • 15:45 – 16:00 Discussion
DEFAMATION AND HATE SPEECH
  • 16:00 – 16:30 Arianna Visconti (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) Report on Italy
  • 16:30 – 16:45 Discussion
  • 16:45 – 17:00 PAUSE
  • 17:00 – 18:00 Final Roundtable
  • 18:00 – 18:30 Closing Remarks

SCIENTIFIC COORDINATION:
Kolis Summerer, Matteo L. Mattheudakis,
Gian Marco Caletti, Paolo Beccari

ORGANISATIONAL SECRETARIAT:
Gian Marco Caletti (gianmarco.caletti2@unibo.it)
and Paolo Beccari (paolo.beccari3@unibo.it)
Please kindly confirm your attendance by
email at the organisational secretariat.

SPONSOR:
Google Trust & Safety Research Office