The third project of the ‘World Tort Law Society’ (WTLS) on ‘The Protection of Personality Rights in the Information Age’ concerned the protection of personality rights under tort law, with regard, in particular, to modern means of communication (mass media, the internet, social networks, etc). A thorough, international examination of this topic was of particular importance because the conduct involved often crosses international borders, especially in the case of torts committed via the internet, meaning that foreign law may be applicable. The WTLS, which is committed to international comparative law research, provided a valuable international exchange by conducting research in this field.
The project was formally initiated at the WTLS general assembly on 18 November 2017 in Wake Forest, USA, and was led by YAO Hui (Research Center for Civil and Commercial Jurisprudence, Renmin University, Beijing) and Ronen Perry (Haifa University). The meeting in Taipei, Taiwan from 13-16 November 2019 hosted a discussion of 15 reports on jurisdictions represented by the WTLS. They were translated into Chinese and published in a conference anthology.
The project leaders originally aimed at a further publication of the project reports in English, but ETL and ECTIL did not learn of a renewal of this commitment following the international uncertainties of 2022 and 2023. It now considers the project closed.