{"id":8595,"date":"2026-07-20T14:25:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T12:25:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/?post_type=hbi-publications&#038;p=8595"},"modified":"2026-07-24T17:05:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:05:42","slug":"freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai","status":"publish","type":"hbi-publications","link":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom of Expression in the Age of AI"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In their article in a journal on artificial intelligence and law, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz and Moritz Wiechert analyze the first German case law on automatically generated content. In doing so, they highlight the fundamental challenges facing traditional freedom of expression law in the age of AI.<\/p>\n<p>The article &#8220;<span lang=\"de\">\u00c4u\u00dferungsrecht im KI-Zeitalter. Analyse der ersten Rechtsprechung zu automatisch generierten Inhalten&#8221; [Analyse der ersten Rechtsprechung zu automatisch generierten Inhalten <\/span>[Freedom of Expression in the Age of AI. An Analysis of the First Case Law on Automatically Generated Content] has been published in German only in the journal &#8220;K\u00fcnstliche Intelligenz und Recht&#8221; [Artificial Intelligence and Law].<\/p>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-8594 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/KIR-Artikel-SchulzWiechert-300x193.jpg\" alt=\"Cover der Zeitschrift KIR\" width=\"300\" height=\"193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/KIR-Artikel-SchulzWiechert-300x193.jpg 300w, https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/KIR-Artikel-SchulzWiechert-768x494.jpg 768w, https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/KIR-Artikel-SchulzWiechert.jpg 840w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Abstract<\/h2>\n<p>From search suggestions to automated rating systems to the outputs of generative language models, content is created without human intervention in shaping its specific form, or even awareness of its creation. This article analyzes early German case law on automatically generated content and shows that courts interpret it according to traditional freedom of expression standards. At the same time, the legal theory of liability is shifting from responsibility for content to obligations to ensure safety and exercise control. The operator is not liable for the specific statement itself but rather for enabling it. These decisions thus implicitly assume that technical systems are capable of communicative action. In light of the widespread adoption of generative AI, freedom of expression raises fundamental questions: Are the categories of opinion, expression, and endorsement\u2014as well as the protected interests of personality rights\u2014still adequate for human communication?<\/p>\n<p>Schulz, Wolfgang; Wiechert, Moritz (2026): <span lang=\"de\">\u00c4u\u00dferungsrecht im KI-Zeitalter.\u00a0Analyse der ersten Rechtsprechung zu automatisch generierten Inhalten.<\/span> In: KIR 2026, 223, <a href=\"https:\/\/beck-online.beck.de\/?vpath=bibdata%2Fzeits%2FKIR%2F2026%2Fcont%2FKIR.2026.223.1.htm\">https:\/\/beck-online.beck.de\/?vpath=bibdata%2Fzeits%2FKIR%2F2026%2Fcont%2FKIR.2026.223.1.htm<\/a> (paywall)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2433,"template":"","tags":[398],"class_list":["post-8595","hbi-publications","type-hbi-publications","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-miscellaneous"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.9 (Yoast SEO v28.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Freedom of Expression in the Age of AI - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Freedom of Expression in the Age of AI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In their article in a journal on artificial intelligence and law, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz and Moritz Wiechert analyze the first German case law on automatically generated content. In doing so, they highlight the fundamental challenges facing traditional freedom of expression law in the age of AI. The article &#8220;\u00c4u\u00dferungsrecht im KI-Zeitalter. Analyse der ersten [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-24T15:05:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/\",\"name\":\"Freedom of Expression in the Age of AI - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-20T12:25:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-24T15:05:42+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg\",\"width\":1380,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/hbi-publications\\\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Homepage\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Freedom of Expression in the Age of AI\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Leibniz HBI\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Leibniz HBI\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png\",\"width\":462,\"height\":123,\"caption\":\"Leibniz HBI\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leibniz-hbi.de\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Freedom of Expression in the Age of AI - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Freedom of Expression in the Age of AI","og_description":"In their article in a journal on artificial intelligence and law, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz and Moritz Wiechert analyze the first German case law on automatically generated content. In doing so, they highlight the fundamental challenges facing traditional freedom of expression law in the age of AI. The article &#8220;\u00c4u\u00dferungsrecht im KI-Zeitalter. Analyse der ersten [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\/","og_site_name":"Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research","article_modified_time":"2026-07-24T15:05:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1380,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\/","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\/","name":"Freedom of Expression in the Age of AI - Leibniz Institut f\u00fcr Medienforschung | Leibniz Institute for Media Research","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-20T12:25:46+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-24T15:05:42+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Header-Publikationen_e.jpg","width":1380,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/hbi-publications\/freedom-of-expression-in-the-age-of-ai\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Homepage","item":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Freedom of Expression in the Age of AI"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/","name":"Leibniz HBI","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#organization","name":"Leibniz HBI","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HBI_Logo-Kopie-2.png","width":462,"height":123,"caption":"Leibniz HBI"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"permalink_manager":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hbi-publications\/8595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hbi-publications"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hbi-publications"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leibniz-hbi.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}