The Politics of Platform Regulation

As digital platforms have become more integral to not just how we live, but also to how we do politics, the rules governing online expression, behaviour, and interaction created by large multinational technology firms --- popularly termed ‘content moderation,’ ‘platform governance,’ or ‘trust and safety’ --- have increasingly become the target of government regulatory efforts seeking to shape them. This book provides a conceptual and empirical analysis of this important and emerging tech policy terrain of ‘platform regulation.’ How, why, and where exactly is it happening? Why now? And how do we best understand the vast array of strategies being deployed across jurisdictions to tackle this issue? The book outlines three strategies commonly pursued by government actors seeking to combat issues relating to the proliferation of hate speech, disinformation, child abuse imagery, and other forms of harmful content on user-generated content platforms: persuasive, collaborative, and contested forms of platform regulation. It then outlines a theoretical model for explaining the adoption of these different strategies in different political contexts and regulatory episodes. This model is explored through case studies of policy development (Germany, Australia and New Zealand, United States) driven by a combination of stakeholder interviews and deliberative policy documents obtained via freedom of information requests.

About this event:

• Date: Tuesday 30th April 2024 from 17:30-19:00pm (BST)
• Where: University College London (UCL) and online on Zoom

Meet the panel:

• Speaker: Dr Robert Gorwa | Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center
• Chair: Dr Cecilia Rikap | Head of Research and Associate Professor in Economics at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP)
• Discussant: Nai Lee Kalema | PhD student at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP)

If you have any queries around access, please get in touch with a member of the team ([email protected]). This seminar is convened by Dr Cecilia Rikap.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

UCL IIPP (UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose), 11 Montague Street, London, United Kingdom