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Transparency has become an unquestionable good in modern society, spreading from its origins in governance to most arenas of the modern world. But is it always good? This book turns a critical eye towards transparency, deconstructing its theoretical preconceptions and seeking a more nuanced view of what it means to be transparent.

In this essay, I discuss digital reality production and transparency's role in it. I argue that the promise of transparency—the visual access to objective reality which further enables necessary democratic action—is jeopardized in the digital environment. I analyze some of the reasons for this. First, transparency is no longer an issue that is clearly defined by law, and it increasingly works as an ambiguous normative concept. As such, its scope is unclear. Second, the structural qualities of transparency as a metaphor and as a medium reveal the limits of transparency to portray reality on a theoretical level. Third, the way in which transparency discourse participates in digital reality production makes it even more difficult to decipher the "ground truth," if indeed, there is one. Because digital transparency builds on a twofold mediation of reality—transparency as a medium itself and algorithms as a medium of digital transparency—seeing with one's own eyes no longer guarantees a privileged access to reality. I conclude that although transparency is traditionally seen as one of the best tools of democracy, along with the emergence of individualized digital realities and the decline of a shared understanding of truth, the truth-transparency nexus may be unraveling. ; Non peer reviewed

"This book questions the theoretical premises and practical applications of transparency, showing both the promises and perils of transparency in a methodologically innovative way and in a cross-section of policy instruments. It scrutinizes transparency from three perspectives - methodologically, theoretically, and empirically - both in the specific context of the EU but also in the wider context of modern society in which transparency is embraced as an almost unquestionable virtue. This book examines the ways in which transparency practices can make institutions visible and stands out for its methodological self-reflection: to fully understand the irresistible call for transparency in our governing institutions, we must reflect on our own relationship with it. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of transparency studies, democratic legitimacy, global governance, governance law, EU studies and law and public policy more widely"--