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Lab Platform Governance, Media and Technology

The Lab “Platform Governance, Media and Technology” examines the interactions between regulation, discourses and the development of technologies and business models. Digital platforms and new infrastructures, algorithms, artificial intelligence (AI) and data are currently fundamentally (re)organising communication, the public sphere and society. At the same time, these media, their technologies and economic structures are themselves (still) in a process of formation that is shaped by governance, regulation and public debate. How should platforms like Facebook and YouTube deal with disinformation campaigns and hate speech? What challenges does the increasing use of automation and AI bring? And how do public debates and perceptions of problems in turn impact back on regulation and technology development?

We explore these questions with a focus on three areas of work:

(1) Platform Governance and Economics;

(2) Institutionalisation of AI – Regulation, Discourses, Technology;

(3) Automation Regulation and Communication.

In several large international third-party funded projects on these topics, funded by the DFG, the EU’s H2020 framework programme, the BMBF, the Volkswagen Foundation and the Federal Agency for Civic Education (BpB), we collaborate with partners in France, UK, Canada, Switzerland, and Italy. In empirical studies, the Lab integrates computational methods and qualitative approaches. We attach great importance to the development of open data infrastructures (Platform Governance Archive), especially in the notoriously non-transparent research field of platform governance.

ZeMKI Fellows 2024

ZeMKI Visiting Research Fellows 2024

This year, the ZeMKI welcomes a total of four Visiting Research Fellows as part of its Visiting Researcher Program. From over 85 applications, the steering committee of the Center for Media, Communication and Information Research at the University of Bremen selected five researchers who will work together with two ZeMKI labs in interdisciplinary research for (…)

12. April 2024

Behind the Scenes Online Talk Series (Session 9) with Eugenia Siapera: Civil Society Organisations (CSO) as Platform Governance Actors

Next week, Eugenia Siapera & Elizabeth Farries will talk about “CSOs as Platform Governance Actors” as part of the Online Talk Series “Behind the Scenes – Conversations on Empirical Platform Governance Research. Time and Date: April 16, 2024, 3-4 pm (CET)   About the Series This talk is part of the series Behind the Scenes – (…)

10. April 2024

“Desinformationen und KI-generierte Fakes – rettet der Digital Services Act die Europawahl?” - Panel discussion in Brussels with lab member Prof. Dr Christian Katzenbach

Lab member Prof. Dr Christian Katzenbach will participate in a panel discussion on the role of platforms in the 2024 European elections in Brussels on 9 April 2024, starting at 6pm. The discussion will be held in German under the titel “Desinformationen und KI-generierte Fakes – rettet der Digital Services Act die Europawahl?” and can be (…)

28. March 2024

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ZeMKI-Member Christian Katzenbach now Visiting Professor at LSE

ZeMKI-Member Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach has started his position as visiting professor at the The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). During his stay, until July 2024, Christian is working on topics ranging from AI discourses and regulation, to the role of social media platforms in society. At the department, he is teaching (…)

25. March 2024

ZeMKI members Dr Daria Dergacheva and Vasilisa Kuznetsova contributed to the Oxford 2024 Election Initiative by co-authoring the blogpost "2024 Russian Presidential Elections – How Digital Technologies Are Used to Wield Authoritarian Power"

ZeMKI members Dr Daria Dergacheva and Vasilisa Kuznetsova, together with other researchers from the Oxford Internet Institute, have published a blog post for the Oxford 2024 Election Initiative. Under the title “2024 Russian Presidential Elections – How Digital Technologies Are Used to Wield Authoritarian Power”, the researchers share their findings on how digital technologies can (…)

22. March 2024

Lecture Title Slide Prof. Christian Katzenbach holds lecture on the "Understanding the emergence of platforms and their governance" at Hertie School

ZeMKI member Prof. Christian Katzenbach holds lecture on the "Understanding the emergence of platforms and their governance" at Hertie School

ZeMKI member Prof. Christian Katzenbach will hold a lecture on “Understanding the emergence of platforms and their governance” at the Hertie School of Governance this Wednesday, March 13. The lecture will touch upon interesting topics such as: Platforms have become key players and institutions in contemporary societies But how do they become what they are, (…)

12. March 2024