New special issue of Internet Policy Review
Volume 13, Issue 2
Locating and theorising platform power
Guest-edited by:
David Nieborg, Department of Arts, Culture and Media, University of Toronto
Thomas Poell, University of Amsterdam
Robyn Caplan, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham
José van Dijck, Utrecht University
Abstract
Against the backdrop of ongoing public and political debates about the power and regulation of large platform conglomerates, this special issue calls for more critical, conceptual, and empirical studies on platform power. While a lot of valuable research has already been done, we see a tendency in both public and scholarly debates on leading platform companies to develop one-sided, monolithic understandings of this power. Instead, we want to argue for a relational perspective, which focuses on the relations of dependence that grow around specific platforms. Therefore, contributions locate and theorise platform power. Through specific case studies on particular types of platforms the contributions home in on the various modalities of power. The papers address three broader themes that speak to the different facets of platform power: (1) analysing platform infrastructures and markets; (2) platform governance; (3) the negotiation of platform power and its alternatives.
Table of contents
The platform behind the curtain: Obfuscated brokerage on retail trading platforms
By
Andreas Gregersen, University of Copenhagen
Jacob Ørmen, University of Copenhagen
Monitoring infrastructural power: Methodological challenges in studying mobile infrastructures for datafication
By
Stine Lomborg, University of Copenhagen
Kristian Sick, University of Copenhagen
Sofie Flensburg, University of Copenhagen
Signe Sophus Lai, University of Copenhagen
Platform power in AI: The evolution of cloud infrastructures in the political economy of artificial intelligence
By
Dieuwertje Luitse, University of Amsterdam
Observing “tuned” advertising on digital platforms
By
Nicholas Carah, University of Queensland
Lauren Hayden, University of Queensland
Maria-Gemma Brown, University of Queensland
Daniel Angus, Queensland University of Technology
Aimee Brownbill, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education
Kiah Hawker, University of Queensland
Xue Ying Tan, Queensland University of Technology
Amy Dobson, Curtin University
Brady Robards, Monash University
Protocol power: Matter, IoT interoperability, and a critique of industry self-regulation
By
Colin Crawford, Concordia University
Platform lobbying: Policy influence strategies and the EU's Digital Services Act
By
Robert Gorwa, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
Grzegorz Lechowski, Free University of Berlin
Daniel Schneiß, Kiel University
Copyright callouts and the promise of creator-driven platform governance
By
Blake Hallinan, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
CJ Reynolds, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Omer Rothenstein, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The contingencies of platform power and risk management in the gig economy
By
Niels van Doorn, University of Amsterdam
Platforms´ regulatory disruptiveness and local regulatory outcomes in Europe
By
Eliska Drapalova, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
Kai Wegrich, Hertie School
How platform power undermines diversity-oriented innovation
By
Paula Helm, University of Amsterdam