On the morning of December 14, 2025, the 59th session of the BNU Law Lecture Series, titled “New Progress in Counter-Terrorism in the Data-Driven Era: Empowerment, Challenges, and Future,” was successfully held in Room 1822 of the Rear Main Building at Beijing Normal University. The lecture was delivered by Professor Guo Zeqiang, Dean of the Law School and the School of Supervision and Inspection at Anhui Normal University and a doctoral supervisor. Professor Wang Zhixiang, Director of the Institute of Foreign Criminal Law and Comparative Criminal Law at the College for Criminal Law Science, served as the host, while Professors Xing Aifen and Jiang Na from the BNU Law School acted as panelists. The event attracted numerous faculty and students from the BNU Law School.

The session combined a thematic report with expert discussions. Professor Guo Zeqiang systematically elaborated on new progress in counter-terrorism within the data-driven era across three dimensions: “Theoretical Innovation,” “Application of Harm,” and “Future Outlook.” He began by reviewing the academic debate between subjectivism and objectivism in criminal law, suggesting that the theoretical value of “Criminal Law Personism” should be emphasized in counter-terrorism to promote a shift from a “behavior-centered” to a “person-centered” risk governance model. Professor Guo then analyzed specific data application cases, examining the practical use of multi-source data—such as communication chains, financial chains, and spatiotemporal trajectories—in key processes like intelligence integration, network mapping, and early warning prediction. He revealed how data technology drives the transformation of counter-terrorism from “post-event strikes” to “pre-event prevention.” Finally, he posited that the future of counter-terrorism lies in “precise and compliant” intelligent governance, delving into severe challenges such as algorithmic bias, privacy protection, and legal ethics, while emphasizing the need to balance security and freedom, as well as technological empowerment and rights protection, within the framework of the rule of law.

During the discussion segment, Professor Wang Zhixiang fully affirmed Professor Guo’s theoretical innovation in introducing personism into counter-terrorism research, noting that this perspective aids in achieving the individualization and precision of counter-terrorism measures. He emphasized that in promoting preemptive interventions, it is essential to implement an objective and evidence-based assessment mechanism for “personal danger,” strictly preventing “thought conviction” and procedural abuse while adhering to the principles of legality and judicial review. Professor Xing Aifen, speaking from the perspectives of international law and comparative law, pointed out that data-driven counter-terrorism urgently requires a cross-border cooperation mechanism but still faces challenges in normative integration regarding data sovereignty, jurisdictional conflicts, and human rights standards. Professor Jiang Na focused on the institutional balance between technological empowerment and the protection of civil rights. She noted that while enhancing the effectiveness of data-driven counter-terrorism, it is crucial to address the core concern of “how to prevent the abuse of technology from undermining the foundations of the rule of law” and to explore the construction of an algorithm accountability mechanism and a procedural constraint framework that complies with legal principles.

The lecture concluded with an interactive session where faculty and students actively posed questions on topics such as data governance, risk assessment, and international cooperation, to which Professor Guo Zeqiang and the panelists provided detailed and in-depth answers. Bridging the intersection of criminal law, criminology, data law, and international law, this lecture not only deepened the audience's understanding of counter-terrorism theory in the data era but also provided important academic references for the improvement of counter-terrorism rule of law and the innovation of practical paths in the future.