The Political Power of Platforms: How Current Attempts to Regulate Misinformation Amplify Opinion Power external link

Digital Journalism, vol. 8, num: 6, pp: 842-854, 2020

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}, }