09/09/2026
We are pleased to invite you to a public lecture by Professor Lee A Bygrave, visiting lecturer at the University of Malta.
The talk is organised by the Department of Media, Communications & Technology Law, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta, in collaboration with the Malta Chamber of Advocates.
The talk is free and open to the public.
Event Details
Date: Tuesday 6 October
Time: 15:00 - 16:15
Venue: Chamber of Advocates, Conference Hall, Courts of Justice, Valletta
Title: Truth and Law in an Age of Information Disorder
Abstract
A key characteristic of our age is information disorder—i.e. the generation and spread of massive amounts of data and data analysis giving rise to false, misleading, or otherwise inaccurate information. Information disorder has always been a problem that is difficult to combat: over 300 years ago, the famed Anglo-Irish satirist, Jonathan Swift, wryly remarked: ‘Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it’. Yet, the problem has become increasingly acute: just after climate change and large-scale environmental pollution, the UN Global Risk Report 2024 regards mis- and disinformation as the third most pressing global risk, and also the global risk for which humanity is the least prepared. In this lecture, Lee Bygrave will consider the role played by the law in both exacerbating and ameliorating information disorder. He will argue that the law needs to be reformed so that it addresses the problem more effectively, and he will lay out some possible avenues of reform to this end.
Speaker Biography
Lee A. Bygrave is Full Professor at the Department of Private Law, University of Oslo, where he is Director of the Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law. He is additionally an Academic Affiliate of the Centre for Health, Law and Emerging Technologies at the University of Oxford, AlgoSoc Distinguished Fellow at the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology and Society, Tilburg University, Senior Research Affiliate of the Centre for Digital Law at Singapore Management University, and a Fellow of the European Law Institute. Lee has carried out pioneering research and development of regulatory policy for information and communication technology for over three decades, and has special expertise on legal aspects of data privacy, cybersecurity, robotics, artificial intelligence, and governance of internet infrastructure. Lee has functioned as expert advisor on technology regulation for numerous organisations, including the Nordic Council of Ministers, the European Commission, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, and the Norwegian government. His most recent expert advisory appointment was to a legislative committee established by the Norwegian Government to reform Norway’s legislative framework for re-use of public sector data by non-government actors. Lee’s work on data privacy law has been cited multiple times with approval by Advocates General of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
