Alena Birrer
Biographic Data
| ID | 4448814 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alena Birrer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alena |
| FAMILY NAME | Birrer |
| SIGNATURE | BIRRER A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Zurich |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7141-7028 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 6 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 6 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Big data, small answers: How the DSA Transparency Database falls short of its regulatory objectives
The Digital Services Act (DSA) establishes a Transparency Database (DSA-TDB) and requires platforms to submit Statements of Reasons (SoRs) explaining their moderation decisions. According to the DSA, the database is intended to serve three objectives: ensuring transparency, enabling scrutiny over content-moderation decisions, and monitoring the spread of illegal content. From a communications-policy perspective, this article evaluates the DSA-TDB…
Spotlight on Deepfakes: Mapping Research and Regulatory Responses
The advent of deepfakes has raised widespread concerns among researchers, policymakers, and the public. However, many of these concerns stem from alarmism rather than well-founded evidence. While research has begun discussing deepfakes’ potential harms and whether existing law is sufficient to counteract them, there is a lack of consolidated knowledge regarding the empirical evidence supporting these concerns as well as the specific regulatory me…
What we know and don’t know about deepfakes: An investigation into the state of the research and regulatory landscape
The emergence of deepfakes has raised concerns among researchers, policymakers, and the public. However, many of these concerns stem from alarmism rather than well-founded evidence. This article provides an overview of what is currently known about deepfakes based on a systematic review of empirical research. It also examines and critically assesses regulatory responses globally through qualitative content analysis of policy and legal documents. …
The state is watching you—A cross-national comparison of data retention in Europe
While the rise of Internet platforms and their data-based business models have shifted public and scholarly attention towards corporate dataveillance, governments across Europe are similarly and continuously expanding their surveillance practices. This article focuses on bulk data retention as a prime example of modern state surveillance. In contrast to traditional forms of state surveillance, this is characterized by a shift from targeted interc…
Benefits of Diverse News Recommendations for Democracy: A User Study
News recommender systems provide a technological architecture that helps shaping public discourse. Following a normative approach to news recommender system design, we test utility and external effects of a diversity-aware news recommender algorithm. In an experimental study using a custom-built news app, we show that diversity-optimized recommendations (1) perform similar to methods optimizing for user preferences regarding user utility, (2) tha…
Daily TV Use and Meaning in Life Among Older Adults: The Moderating Role of Selective and Compensatory TV Use
Older adults (60+) spend a considerable amount of time watching TV. This can have important implications in terms of their daily sense of meaning in their life. Applying the selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) model, we argue that the impact of the daily amount of time spent watching TV on daily perceptions of meaning in life is moderated by whether TV is generally used in a compensatory or selective manner. We present data from an in…
What we know and don’t know about deepfakes: An investigation into the state of the research and regulatory landscape
The emergence of deepfakes has raised concerns among researchers, policymakers, and the public. However, many of these concerns stem from alarmism rather than well-founded evidence. This article provides an overview of what is currently known about deepfakes based on a systematic review of empirical research. It also examines and critically assesses regulatory responses globally through qualitative content analysis of policy and legal documents. …
Benefits of Diverse News Recommendations for Democracy: A User Study
News recommender systems provide a technological architecture that helps shaping public discourse. Following a normative approach to news recommender system design, we test utility and external effects of a diversity-aware news recommender algorithm. In an experimental study using a custom-built news app, we show that diversity-optimized recommendations (1) perform similar to methods optimizing for user preferences regarding user utility, (2) tha…
Daily TV Use and Meaning in Life Among Older Adults: The Moderating Role of Selective and Compensatory TV Use
Older adults (60+) spend a considerable amount of time watching TV. This can have important implications in terms of their daily sense of meaning in their life. Applying the selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) model, we argue that the impact of the daily amount of time spent watching TV on daily perceptions of meaning in life is moderated by whether TV is generally used in a compensatory or selective manner. We present data from an in…
The state is watching you—A cross-national comparison of data retention in Europe
While the rise of Internet platforms and their data-based business models have shifted public and scholarly attention towards corporate dataveillance, governments across Europe are similarly and continuously expanding their surveillance practices. This article focuses on bulk data retention as a prime example of modern state surveillance. In contrast to traditional forms of state surveillance, this is characterized by a shift from targeted interc…
What we know and don’t know about deepfakes: An investigation into the state of the research and regulatory landscape
The emergence of deepfakes has raised concerns among researchers, policymakers, and the public. However, many of these concerns stem from alarmism rather than well-founded evidence. This article provides an overview of what is currently known about deepfakes based on a systematic review of empirical research. It also examines and critically assesses regulatory responses globally through qualitative content analysis of policy and legal documents. …
Spotlight on Deepfakes: Mapping Research and Regulatory Responses
The advent of deepfakes has raised widespread concerns among researchers, policymakers, and the public. However, many of these concerns stem from alarmism rather than well-founded evidence. While research has begun discussing deepfakes’ potential harms and whether existing law is sufficient to counteract them, there is a lack of consolidated knowledge regarding the empirical evidence supporting these concerns as well as the specific regulatory me…
Big data, small answers: How the DSA Transparency Database falls short of its regulatory objectives
The Digital Services Act (DSA) establishes a Transparency Database (DSA-TDB) and requires platforms to submit Statements of Reasons (SoRs) explaining their moderation decisions. According to the DSA, the database is intended to serve three objectives: ensuring transparency, enabling scrutiny over content-moderation decisions, and monitoring the spread of illegal content. From a communications-policy perspective, this article evaluates the DSA-TDB…
Computer Science (4 works) · Business (2 works) · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI (2 works) · Law (2 works) · Political science (2 works) · World Wide Web (2 works) · Accounting (1 works) · Activities of daily living (1 works) · Advertising (1 works) · Aging and Gerontology Research (1 works)