Building the Plane While Flying It: Technology and Legal Scholarship

It has become almost a cliche to note the disruptive influence of new technologies on virtually every facet of our day-to-day lives. But what makes the law and governance realm unique is its reliance on precedent and continuity, which prevents traditional ideas and methods from being discarded like VHS tapes or bankbooks. The struggle to adapt 18th and 19th century principles to blockchain, social media, and algorithmic amplification lies at the heart of the modern law and technology discourse. This article introduces a special issue of the UCLA Journal of Law and Technology on governing the digital space.