Rules as Code (RaC), which encompasses the conversion of legal and regulatory rules into computer code, is gaining traction internationally. This article analyses ‘digital distortions’ in RaC, which refer to disconnects between regulation and code that arise from interpretive choices in the encoding process. We contend that Boaventura de Sousa Santos’ ‘symbolic cartography of law’ provides valuable concepts for understanding digital distortions in encoding regulation. Specifically, we argue that the cartographic concepts of scale, projection, symbolisation and orientation highlight distortions that can arise from choices involving the documentation to code, logics to follow, languages to use and coded outputs to present. We demonstrate how these distortions arose in our attempt to convert the ePayments Code, an Australian voluntary code of conduct for consumer electronic payment transactions, into machine-executable code. The article concludes by underscoring the importance of greater awareness of interpretive coding choices and their implications for diverse users of digitised regulation.

规则即代码 (RaC) 包括将法律和监管规则转换为计算机代码，在国际上越来越受欢迎。本文分析了 RaC 中的“数字扭曲”，它指的是由于编码过程中的解释选择而产生的法规与代码之间的脱节。我们认为，博阿文图拉·德·索萨·桑托斯的“法律符号制图”为理解编码监管中的数字扭曲提供了有价值的概念。具体来说，我们认为比例、投影、符号化和方向的制图概念突出了由于涉及代码文档、遵循逻辑、使用语言和呈现编码输出的选择而可能产生的扭曲。我们展示了在我们尝试将电子支付代码（澳大利亚消费者电子支付交易自愿行为准则）转换为机器可执行代码时如何出现这些扭曲。本文最后强调了提高对解释性编码选择的认识及其对数字化监管的不同用户的影响的重要性。