Balancing Digital Safety between Risks, Rights, and Regulation
The Weizenbaum Institute (WI), the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt), the Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) and the Leibniz Institute for Media Research – Hans Bredow Institute (HBI) invite doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to present their work at the joint Digitalisation Research Seminar – DigiSem 2026 on: 21-22 September 2026 at WI in Berlin.
This year’s Digitalisation Research Seminar is dedicated to Digital Safety as a human-centered, interdisciplinary research field. We aim to bring together early career researchers who examine human and societal risks of digital technologies, including harm arising from bias, dis- and misinformation, loss of control, and institutional misalignment, as well as challenges in risk prevention for vulnerable groups, such as children.
Our goal is to promote interdisciplinary dialogue and networking among early career researchers, and to advance research that contributes to safer, more responsible, and socially sustainable digital systems. Constructive feedback and cross-cutting discussions are central to the seminar.
We invite early career researchers (PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers, and advanced Master’s students) to submit presentation abstracts for an interdisciplinary exchange on risks and challenges arising from digital systems that affect human safety, well-being, and societal stability, that goes beyond issues of cybersecurity.
Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
- Use of technologies to increase security
- Risks of using AI on bias and decision making
- Regulation of social media for human and societal safety
- Protection of vulnerable groups (esp. children and young people) in the digital space
- Criminal misuse of digital technologies (deep fakes, doxing, cybercrime, identity theft, etc.)
Keynote
Prof. Dr. Lena Kästner (University Bayreuth): “AI and the Safety Paradox: Convenience, Control, or Compromise?”
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming embedded in everyday life, offering unprecedented convenience while also introducing new risks. One central concern in this context, especially pressing in the current political climate, is safety. On the one hand, AI may be deployed to enhance safety and protect our interests. On the other, it undoubtedly also creates significant safety hazards. The central question of Lena Kästner’s talk thus is how we shall navigate the ensuing safety paradox for AI, viz. that the very same technology simultaneously offers vast potential and vulnerabilities. Drawing on recent research from within the interdisciplinary Project “For the Greater Good? – Deepfakes in Criminal Investigations” (FoGG), Lena Kästner shall clarify how the paradox unfolds in practice. She explores how AI both enables novel forms of crime (e.g., AI-assisted fraud) and potentially enhances investigative capabilities of prosecutors. She shall examine under what conditions AI may and should legitimately be used and discuss the implications for modern society at large. Her central claim will be that effective AI governance must find a compromise between convenience and control to safeguard individuals and economic interests, protect democratic values, and remain robust in the face of evolving socio-technical risks.
Important Dates
- CfP opens: 01 April 2026
- Deadline for abstract submission: 01 June 2026
- Notification of acceptance: 30 June 2026
- Registration opens: 01 July 2026
- Deadline for registration: 07 September 2026
Submission and Participation Guidelines
Submissions should present research that relates to one of the main topics. Inter- and transdisciplinary work is particularly encouraged. Please submit an abstract of max. 300 words via EasyChair by 01 June 2026. Please indicate preferred presentation type as talk or poster presentation. Presentations should be 15 minutes plus 10 minutes q&a.
We are happy to inform you that participation in the DigiSem is free of charge and that catering will be provided for participants throughout the event. Please note that travel expenses must be covered by participants themselves.
If you have any questions, please contact the responsible organisers as indicated below or have a look at the respective websites.
About the convening institutions:
bidt: The Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt), an Institute within the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, contributes to a better understanding of digital transformation’s developments and challenges. Thereby, we provide the foundations which will shape society’s digital future responsibly, for the common good.
CAIS: The Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) in North Rhine-Westphalia promotes the active shaping of the social, political, economic, and cultural changes that digitalization brings about. The Center sees itself as a place for innovative interdisciplinary research and as a source of inspiration for a critical public that wants to find agreement on models for a self-determined life in the digital society.
HBI: The research perspective of the Leibniz-Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI) focuses on media transformation and related structural changes of public communication. With its cross-medial, interdisciplinary and independent research, it combines basic research and transfer research, and thus, generates knowledge on issues relevant for politics, commerce and civil society.
WI: The Weizenbaum Institute for Networked Society (WI) is the German Internet Institute, a place of excellent research on the transformation and design processes of digital change. In the spirit of Joseph Weizenbaum, we research the necessary framework conditions, means and processes for individual and social self-determination in a networked society. We understand self-determination as a design principle that is central to the preservation of human dignity and democracy.