Interview with Rafael Rubio, Full Professor of Constitutional Law at the Complutense University of Madrid

Authors

  • Rafael Rubio Complutense University of Madrid
  • Jane Reis Gonçalves Pereira State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)
  • Patricia Perrone Campos Mello University Center of Brasília (UniCEUB)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12957/publicum.2025.100009

Keywords:

disinformation, digital democracy, electoral law, platform regulation, freedom of expression, political participation

Abstract

In this issue, the Teachers' Room section features an interview with Rafael Rubio, Full Professor of Constitutional Law at the Complutense University of Madrid and a leading international scholar on disinformation, technology, and democracy. The conversation, led by Jane Reis Gonçalves Pereira (Associate Professor of Constitutional Law at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Federal Judge, and editor-in-chief of Revista Publicum) and Patrícia Perrone Campos Mello (Professor of Constitutional Law at the University Center of Brasília (UniCEUB), Attorney for the State of Rio de Janeiro, and law clerk to a Justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court), ranges widely: Rubio looks back on his academic path and the shifting nature of electoral disinformation, draws comparisons between the European and Latin American experiences, takes stock of the EU's regulatory framework and the role of digital platforms, and weighs in on the friction between digital participation and representative institutions, the proper limits of judicial intervention when legislatures fail to act, and the push for transparency in campaign financing. He closes with a candid take on Brazil's response to disinformation in the 2022 elections—one that is critical yet, on balance, favorable.

Author Biographies

Rafael Rubio, Complutense University of Madrid

Full Professor of Constitutional Law at the Complutense University of Madrid. He holds a PhD in Constitutional Law (awarded the Extraordinary Doctorate Prize) and specializes in electoral law, parliamentary law, and the fundamental rights of participation and freedom of expression. He has been a visiting researcher at Georgetown, Harvard, George Washington, the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, and Dublin City University. He previously served as Deputy Director of the Center for Political and Constitutional Studies, Chair of the Transparency and Participation Council of the Community of Madrid, and a member of both Spain's Open Government Forum and the Venice Commission. He is currently co-principal investigator of the projects "Institutional and Regulatory Safeguards, Electoral Authorities, and Digital Oversight in the Face of Interference, Hostile Narratives, Targeted Advertising, and Polarization" (Dir-Politics, PID2022-137245OB-I00) and "Cybersecurity in Electoral Processes: Safeguards Against Disinformation and Other Informational Disruptions on Platforms" (Cyberelections, TED2021-130876B-100). He also sits on the academic committee of the World Electoral Justice Network, as well as the Advisory Committee of Transparency International Spain, the Advisory Council of the Media Observatory, the Editorial Board of the Revista del Estado (Colombia), the Scientific Committee of the Center for the Study of Political Parties (UNED), and the Technology and Democracy Research Group (i+dem) at the Complutense University of Madrid.

Jane Reis Gonçalves Pereira, State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)

Associate Professor of Constitutional Law at the Law School of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) and a Federal Judge. She holds a PhD in Public Law from UERJ and a Master's in Constitutional Law and Theory of the State from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), and completed postdoctoral research in Law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS). She is a member of the Brazilian Chapter of the International Society of Public Law (ICON-S) and of the Advisory Council of the Judicial Research Department of the National Council of Justice (DPJ/CNJ). She has been a visiting scholar at Heidelberg University (2025), Humboldt University of Berlin (2026), and the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society (2026). She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Revista Publicum.

Patricia Perrone Campos Mello, University Center of Brasília (UniCEUB)

Patrícia Perrone Campos Mello is Professor of Constitutional Law at the University Center of Brasília (UniCEUB), where she also teaches Social Rights and Public Policy in the Master's and Doctoral Program. She holds a PhD and a Master's in Law from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). She serves as Attorney for the State of Rio de Janeiro and as law clerk to a Justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court. She is a member of the Institute for Constitutional Dialogues (IDCon) and the Brazilian Center for Constitutional Studies (CBEC). Her research focuses on comparative constitutional law, human rights, judicial behavior, judicial precedent, the judicialization of politics, public policy, constitutional adjudication, and theories of democracy.

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Published

2026-06-23

How to Cite

Rubio, R., Reis Gonçalves Pereira, J., & Perrone Campos Mello, P. (2026). Interview with Rafael Rubio, Full Professor of Constitutional Law at the Complutense University of Madrid. Revista Publicum, 11(1), 1–17 | 18. https://doi.org/10.12957/publicum.2025.100009

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 1 (2025): Dossier "Law and Technology"

Section

Interviews

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Copyright (c) 2026 Rafael Rubio, Jane Reis Gonçalves Pereira, Patricia Perrone Campos Mello

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