The Rule of the Courts

The algorithm that pronounces the words of the law

peculiarity leaves citizens disarmed because they do not fight populism as they would fascism; they do not perceive themselves as living under a dicta torship. They believe that there is still an electoral horizon that will allow them to replace the current regime and correct the situation. Hopefully, this will also happen in cases where populist movements are currently in power, and the error will be corrected before it’s too late and regression destroys the constitutional system. A key feature of populism in our time is that it has emerged and developed alongside technological advancement, and especially due to the new config uration of communication processes designed by technology companies, which are particularly favouring populist movements. This is already a first challenge that the architects of the digital revolution (not technological development itself, which is necessary and very positive) are posing to the rule of law, fundamental rights, and their main guarantors, judges and courts. It is not a direct challenge to the Constitutional State, but rather an indirect and increasingly visible one, especially since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term as President of the United States 42 . Although the populism promoted by large technology companies is the main factor driving the deterioration of the constitutional system, tech nology itself is also contributing directly to this process. Technology is not just changing some elements of the system; it is changing the entire system, including the very concept of law. To understand this evolution, we must consider the transformation in the concept of law that occurred with the transition from the Legal to the Constitutional State. At the foundation of constitutionalism was the idea of universal reason, which inspired the law. The law was an expression of the reason, meaning that the application of 5. The challenges of the digital revolution: Algorithms replace process

(coords.) Europa, società aperta , Vol. I, Problemi attuali e prospettive future , Editoriale Scientifica, Napoli, 2022. 42 Cf. F. Balaguer Callejón, “Aziende tecnologiche e politica, da Zuckerberg a Musk”, fuoricollana , 11/4/2025.

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