Giovanna Lazzarini, Chief EU Policy Analyst at Mediaset / MFE – MediaForEurope N.V.

ASERI was one of the most important and eye-opening experiences of my academic journey. It truly helped shape the direction of my career and many classmates I met back then are still part of my personal and professional life.

Even after all these years, ASERI remains a hub for critical thinking, lifelong learning, and meaningful dialogue across generations and disciplines.

I was honoured to join the celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of ASERI and to share my personal view on the main challenges in the coming years which are becoming increasingly numerous, complex, and interdependent both at national and international level.

One area of growing tension is the regulation of online platforms. The presence (or absence) of legislative provisions in this sector has several and profound implications for political and trade relations, especially across the Transatlantic area.

Big Tech companies have grown “practically as novel Companies of the Indies”, echoing the words of President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella at the recent 51st edition of the Ambrosetti Forum in Cernobbio. They now influence – and at times even shape – the agenda of national governments and authorities, asserting powers that should rightfully belong to states and international organizations. Based mainly in USA and shielded by both Democratic and Republican administrations, these global corporations operate under an outdated legislative framework, namely the 1996 Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which grant them liability exemptions.

The situation is significantly different in the EU, where a longstanding double regulatory standard applies: on one hand, the paradox of an overregulated European audiovisual industry; on the other, an almost entirely unregulated digital platform sector.

The paradox of overregulation. Since 1989, the European audiovisual sector has been subject to stringent and pervasive regulation. Both national and EU institutions have imposed strict antitrust rules to prevent vertical and horizontal concentration among media operators. This has been accompanied by obligations to produce cultural and news content – even when financially unsustainable – as well as direct editorial responsibility for all broadcast content.

The goal, seemingly noble, was to ensure pluralism, cultural diversity, and consumer protection through editorial accountability. However, the systemic effect has been quite the opposite: the excessive regulatory burden has stifled the emergence of European players capable of growing on a global scale and competing on equal footing with global tech giants, which have thrived in an ecosystem of de facto deregulation.

Indeed, for over fifteen years, national and European regulators have shown a kind of “infatuation”, intervening belatedly, with extreme caution and through no binding / self-regulatory rules (namely codes of conduct) on key issues such as market concentration and content accountability.

US-based Big Tech companies have consolidated their dominance through economies of scale, network effects, and sophisticated lobbying efforts that have further weakened any meaningful European regulatory ambitions – particularly in areas such as children online protection and fight against disinformation and hate speech.

Until 2021, key issues such as algorithmic governance, competitive fairness, content transparency, and copyright protection remained largely unaddressed by regulatory intervention. Even the most recent legislative interventions – the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act, the Media Freedom Act, and the AI Act – true milestones in the defence of democracy, editorial pluralism and the promotion of our shared culture, may undergo delayed and ineffective enforcement.

This situation stems from two main factors:

- An economic asymmetry: the traditional media sector’s business model and market are well-defined, accountable, and therefore easier to regulate.

- A deeply rooted cultural bias: for decades, television – especially commercial broadcasting – has been portrayed as the "big brother", a potentially dangerous medium able of shaping public opinion and influencing minds: a threat to democracy.

The internet and digital platforms were idealised as instruments of democratic freedom of expression and empowerment. Reality, however, has proven different. Since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, we have learnt that digital platforms can be tools of manipulation, polarization and disinformation, driven by opaque algorithmic mechanisms, anonymous interaction, and profit-driven models.

Despite countless calls for decline and the rapid technological changes, television remains a resilient part in the media landscape, a familiar presence in our homes and community life. It continues to serve as the only public space still subject to clear editorial responsibility and genuine ethical oversight.

What are the challenges ahead? We need to regain control over an international system marked by disorder and “algocratic” drift, to which we are increasingly delegating the management of all political and social issues.

The recent and sudden shift in U.S. policy toward its Western allies places Europe in a position of urgency. We must translate the EU’s regulatory ambitions into enforceable action by simplifying and modernizing our complex – yet essential – legal framework to meet the evolving demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

I am convinced that today, more than ever, it is essential for human beings to remain the driving force at the heart of change. Institutions like ASERI bear an increasingly crucial responsibility: to continue preparing future leaders to understand complexity and to act with competence, ethics, and courage.

Thanks to its unique qualities, strong network, leadership, and DNA, ASERI is well-positioned to continue playing a fundamental role in the years to come – as it always has – by offering academic excellence and fostering the development of critical, interdisciplinary, and intercultural skills.