Prof Emeka E. Obioha is a full Professor of Sociology and Chair of Research and Higher Degrees in the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law at Walter Sisulu University, South Africa. He holds a PhD degree from University of Ibadan, and professional membership/fellowship of professional Chartered Institutes - Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered) and Chartered Institute of Public Management. Besides academic training, Prof Obioha received further trainings courses in Social Impact Assessment, Alternative to Violence Programme, Treatment of Offenders, Research Competency, Peer Promoting and Counselling, among others. He is a United Nations Expert in Development issues, member of United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (UN-OSAA) – Knowledge Network and consulted for some International and national development agencies and governments. Prof Obioha is a Research Laureate and holder of many research and fellowship awards. He has published extensively in his field and serves as an Editor/Editorial board member of some scientific peer reviewed journals.

I am an Assistant Professor in Law, Technology and Innovation at the School of Law and Government of Dublin City University, Ireland. My research interests lie in the field of digital rights and constitutionalism, privacy and data protection law, online platforms governance and regulation, digital economics and ethics, legal philosophy and sociology, focusing in particular on issues related to artificial intelligence, social media, sharing economy, and blockchain.  

I am currently the principal investigator of the project 'Cross-Border Data Protection Network' funded by the Irish Research Council and the UK Economic and Social Research Council, and of the project 'Digital Constitutionalism: In Search of a Content Governance Standard' funded by Facebook Research. I am also investigator in the project PRIVATT - Assessing Irish Attitudes to Privacy in Times of COVID19, funded by Science Foundation Ireland, and is one of the founders of the Digital Constitutionalism Network.

I recently published the book 'Data Protection Beyond Borders: Transatlantic Perspectives on Extraterritoriality and Sovereignty' (Hart 2021), coedited with my colleagues F Fabbrini and J Quinn. I am currently editing a second book entitled ‘Constitutionalising Social Media’ (Hart 2022).

I previously studied law at the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, at the University of Paris II ‘Panthéon-Assas’, and at King’s College London. I am an alumnus of the European Law School (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin). Over the past few years, I have been visiting researcher at the Nexa Center for Internet & Society of Torino and at the Center for Information Technology, Society, and Law (ITSL) of Zurich. In 2018, I was research fellow at the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) of Berlin. I am currently affiliated with the ADAPT Centre and the UCD Centre for Human Rights.