About the event
In recent years, there has been a huge rise in ‘twiplomacy’, that is, the use of social media as a means of direct diplomatic communication by states. This panel, chaired by Dr Marco Longobardo, debates whether and to what extent international law governs state organs' statements on social media. In particular, the panel will discuss whether social media posts by states can contribute, directly and in themselves, to the creation or alteration of customary international law, and whether they can be seen as form of recognition.
Featuring Professor Alessandra Annoni and Professor James Green, the discussion will focus on whether there is anything inherently unique about a post on social media that would mean it should be discounted, in principle, as being a potential ‘building block’ for customary international law formation or as a form of recognition. Several related questions will be addressed, such as whose social media interactions (and from which account/s) may be relevant, authenticity and account hacking fears, and the ‘throwaway’ nature of social media interactions themselves.
Location
This event takes place in Room 2.05C, 4–12 Little Titchfield Street, London, W1W 7BY.
Light refreshments will be served from 5pm.
About the speakers
Alessandra Annoni is Associate Professor of International Law at the Department of Law of the University of Ferrara, coordinator of the law degree programme, deputy director of the Centre for European Legal Studies on Macro-Crime (Macrocrimes) and co-coordinator of the Core Crimes cluster. Alessandra received a law degree with highest honours from the University of Ferrara (2002) and holds a PhD in International Law at the University of Padova (2007). Previously, she was a research fellow at the University of Ferrara and an assistant professor at the University of Catanzaro. Alessandra is the author of L’occupazione “ostile” nel diritto internazionale contemporaneo (Giappichelli, 2012), a monograph on military occupation; Il riconoscimento come atto unilaterale dello Stato (Jovene, 2023), a monograph on Recognition as a Unilateral Act of States; and co-author, with F. Salerno, of a textbook on the protection of individuals in times of armed conflict titled La tutela internazionale della persona umana nei conflitti armati (Cacucci, 2019).
Professor James Green is the author of The Persistent Objector Rule in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2016), which was the winner of the European Society of International Law Book Prize 2017, and The International Court of Justice and Self-Defence in International Law (Hart Publishing, 2009), which was the winner of the Francis Lieber Prize 2010 awarded by the American Society of International Law. James is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal on the Use of Force and International Law (Routledge) and the Co-Rapporteur of the International Law Association’s Use of Force: Military Assistance on Request Committee. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford (2017–2018) and the University of Michigan (2005). James’ research has been cited by, for example, the Supreme Court of Canada and the UN's International Law Commission. He has just completed a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship, working on a major project on Collective Self-Defence.
Dr Marco Longobardo is a Senior Lecturer in International Law at the University of Westminster, where he teaches public international law, international humanitarian law, international criminal law and other related subjects. He undertook his doctoral studies at the Sapienza University of Rome, and previously lectured at the University of Messina and in the context of international humanitarian law courses for the personnel of the Italian armed forces. He has published extensively on public international law issues and he is the author of The Use of Armed Force in Occupied Territory (Cambridge University Press, 2018), for which he was awarded the 2021 Paul Reuter Prize. He is the Reviews Editor of the Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies and sits on the advisory board of the International Community Law Review and the Journal du Droit Transnational.
