Research articles on GOVERNANCE

Trading nuance for scale? Platform observability and content governance under the DSA

Charis Papaevangelou, University of Amsterdam
Fabio Votta, University of Amsterdam
PUBLISHED ON: 17 Sep 2025 DOI: 10.14763/2025.3.2037

This paper explores how the Digital Services Act’s Transparency Database enables platform observability, revealing critical insights into the practices of content moderation across the EU.

This paper examines how governmental decision-making was undertaken in the aftermath of four key cybersecurity crises affecting Estonian e-governance, with the objective of bolstering future cybersecurity.

“You and TikTok are, and will remain at all times, independent contractors”

Taylor Annabell, Utrecht University
Sophie Bishop, University of Leeds
Catalina Goanta, Utrecht University
PUBLISHED ON: 23 Jul 2025 DOI: 10.14763/2025.3.2014

This article explores TikTok's platform governance of monetisation by systematically examining the classification of influencers and monetisation practices in TikTok’s platform documentation.

Aspirational platform governance: How creators legitimise content moderation through accusations of bias

Blake Hallinan, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
CJ Reynolds, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Yehonatan Kuperberg, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Omer Rothenstein, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
PUBLISHED ON: 31 Mar 2025 DOI: 10.14763/2025.1.1829

Although commercial social media platforms provide few formal channels for participation in platform governance, creators aspire to influence decisions and policies through expressive forms of civic engagement that ultimately legitimate platforms as arbiters of public discourse.

Safer spaces by design? Federated socio-technical architectures in content moderation

Ksenia Ermoshina, National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)
Francesca Musiani, National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)
PUBLISHED ON: 31 Mar 2025 DOI: 10.14763/2025.1.1827

This article analyses the role that informational architectures and infrastructures in federated social media platforms play in content moderation processes.

Despite their active and growing involvement in monitoring the implementation of the “Code of Conduct on countering illegal hate speech online”, civil society organisations have been barred from translating this expanded role into enhanced influence at the policy-making level.

This article compares the Stop Hate for Profit campaign and the Global Alliance for Responsible Media to evaluate efforts that leverage advertisers’ financial power to challenge platform content moderation.