[Air-L] Digital Governance Research Colloquium: Commercial Exploitation of Identity through AI and Social Media

[Rada Kalina]

Dear colleagues,

The Centre for Digital Governance at the Hertie School invites you to join our Digital Governance Research Colloquium, an online forum for open dialogue on digital government, AI, and the politics of technology. Our upcoming session by Dr Nomalanga Mashinini (University of the Witwatersrand) is on the topic of Commercial Exploitation of Identity through AI and Social Media.

The session will take place on 26 November 2025, 12:00-1:00 pm CET. Please register under this link to receive dial-in details: https://www.hertie-school.org/en/digitalgovernance/events/event-detail/event/commercial-exploitation-of-identity-through-ai-and-social-media

Abstract: The personalities of public and ordinary people are exploited through AI on social media without their permission for social interaction and trade of content in exchange for likes, follows and monetisation on social media. This phenomenon confirms that a person’s image has social, economic, and commercial value. Social media has highlighted that value through data driven platforms that feed AI training systems and disseminate AI-generated content. The value in personality underlies the protection of the right to identity today more than ever. The right to identity is dual in nature. On the one hand, the right is rooted in personality and the ability to control how a person’s image is used in the public domain. On the other hand, the right pertains to a commercial aspect of a personality, which can be exploited through AI-generated and AI-assisted advertising, branding, marketing and malicious communications such as deepfakes. The commercial exploitation of identities through AI and social media require that we revisit the interpretation of commercial gain received through content posted on social media. The legal concept of commercial exploitation can be developed beyond monetary gain using an economically, socially and technologically advanced interpretation.
In this talk, Dr Nomalanga Mashinini will discuss the South African legal framework on identity protection in an AI and social media context. She further unpacks whether the existing remedies provided by statutory law, common law and social media policies can effectively satisfy claims relating to the infringement of the right to identity through social media memes. The findings from South Africa are compared to the legal positions in the United Kingdom, and selected states in the United States of America.
Best,
Rada


Rada Kalina (she/they)

Associate Events & Administration ∙ Centre for Digital Governance, Centre for Fundamental Rights

Hertie School

The University of Governance in Berlin