La comunicazione elettorale sui social media tra autoregolazione e profili di diritto costituzionale

di Edoardo Caterina

SOMMARIO: 1. Alla ricerca di uno statuto costituzionale della comunicazione elettorale online. – 2. Il diritto della comunicazione elettorale online: caratteristiche peculiari. – 3. Il (non-) diritto elettorale delle piattaforme digitali. – 4. Il finanziamento della propaganda politica online. – 5. Conclusioni (con alcune proposte).

In this paper I will try to address, from a constitutional law perspective, the issues raised by digital campaigning and online political advertisements. The first question to be tackled is: how does the regulation of political advertisements on the social media differ from the regulation of campaign advertising on traditional media? The lack of a legal framework in this area is highly problematic, given the crucial importance of online propaganda in shaping public opinion. But if the lawmaker is inert and does not regulate, this does not mean that regulation cannot come from other parties. Such parties are the 'digital platforms' themselves. These actors have autonomously issued some rules in this delicate field. Is this self-regulation sufficient? And if not, what should a possible ex lege regulation look like? What room should be left for self-regulation in any case? In other words, how should co-regulation be shaped in practice?