The Political Power of Platforms: How Current Attempts to Regulate Misinformation Amplify Opinion Power external link
Abstract
This contribution critically reviews the ongoing policy initiatives in Europe to impose greater societal responsibility on social media platforms. I discuss the current regulatory approach of treating social platforms as mere 'intermediaries' of the speech of others and propose a different perspective. Instead of perceiving platforms as intermediaries and facilitators of the speech of others, I view social media platforms as active political actors in their own right, and wielders of considerable opinion power. I will explain how taking the perspective of opinion power throws a very different, and rather alarming light on the recent regulatory initiatives.
europe, frontpage, Mediarecht, opinion power, pluralism, Regulation, Social media platforms
Bibtex
Article{Helberger2020d,
title = {The Political Power of Platforms: How Current Attempts to Regulate Misinformation Amplify Opinion Power},
author = {Helberger, N.},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2020.1773888},
year = {0714},
date = {2020-07-14},
journal = {Digital Journalism},
volume = {8},
number = {6},
pages = {842-854},
abstract = {This contribution critically reviews the ongoing policy initiatives in Europe to impose greater societal responsibility on social media platforms. I discuss the current regulatory approach of treating social platforms as mere \'intermediaries\' of the speech of others and propose a different perspective. Instead of perceiving platforms as intermediaries and facilitators of the speech of others, I view social media platforms as active political actors in their own right, and wielders of considerable opinion power. I will explain how taking the perspective of opinion power throws a very different, and rather alarming light on the recent regulatory initiatives.},
keywords = {europe, frontpage, Mediarecht, opinion power, pluralism, Regulation, Social media platforms},
}