ZeMKI 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. previous 123 previous EventsNews Mark Malone will present on Monday 29th as part of the “Equality, Wellbeing and Platform Governance” Project As part of her YUFE research project on Equality, Wellbeing and Platform Governance, fellow Dr Paloma Viejo has invited researcher and activist Mark Malone who will present on Monday 29th April at 14:00hs in room SFG 1040 a talk about the emergence of reactionary and far right activity in Ireland, specifically on themes of anti-migrant, (…) 23. April 2024 EventsNews REMIT Roundtable on the UN Global Digital Compact On Thursday, April 25, 2024, a public roundtable on the United Nations Global Digital Compact will take place at 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the House of Science in Bremen. The Global Digital Compact is currently being negotiated by the UN member states; a first draft text was published in early April. The roundtable is (…) 19. April 2024 NewsPublication New research article: Imperfect Automation and the Human Fix Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach and Dr. Paloma Viejo Otero from the “Platform Governance, Media and Technology” Lab at the University of Bremen in collaboration with Leipzig University member Prof. Dr. Christian Pentzold have published a new open access article in the Human-Machine Communication Journal titled: “Smoothing Out Smart Tech’s Rough Edges: Imperfect Automation and the (…) 16. April 2024 News “Science Comics” Exhibition opens at Haus der Wissenschaft ZeMKI member Dr. Dennis Redeker (member of the Platform Governance, Media, and Technology Lab) organizes an exhibition of science comics at the Haus der Wissenschaft in Bremen. The communication of scientific methods and findings to the general public has been breaking new ground for some years now. This now includes media formats that were previously (…) 16. April 2024 News 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 EventsNews 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 News Disinformation and AI-generated Fakes - will the Digital Services Act save the European Elections? Panel Discussion in Brussels with Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach ZeMKI member Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach travels to the Representation of the State of Lower Saxony to the European Union in Brussels. He is a speaker in a panel discussion on the role of platforms in the 2024 European elections. The event will take place on April 09, 2024 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (…) 8. April 2024 EventsNews “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 News 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 EventsNews Lab member Daria Dergacheva will participate as a speaker in a panel discussion at the EMEA Summit 2024 Lab member Daria Dergacheva will participate as a speaker in a panel discussion at the EMEA Summit 2024, organised by the Trust & Safety Professionals Association (TSPA) on 17 May 2024 in Dublin. The panel assembles various experts for the topic: “A Wave of Data: A New Era of Regulated Transparency” will focus on (…) 25. March 2024 EventsNews 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 News 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 News Open Call for ZeMKI Visiting Research Fellows, 2024 Come and work with us! Our Fellowship Program invites international researchers to Bremen for four weeks to deepen and connect their research in the transformation of media, communication, and information. We are looking for established scholars who want to enjoy the thriving interdisciplinary research environment at ZeMKI. 8. February 2024 ConferencesFall Semester 23/24 Shifting AI controversies Datum: 29. January 2024 – 30. January 2024Location: Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) On behalf of the international research project Shaping 21st Century AI, the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and the ZeMKI, University of Bremen, in cooperation with the research group “Politics of Digitalization” at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), invite to an international conference on the topic of AI controversies. The conference was held in English. 21. January 2024 News New Article by ZeMKI Members Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach and Dr. Daria Dergacheva published in Policy & Internet Journal The article entitled “Mandate to overblock? Understanding the impact of the European Union’s Article 17 on copyright content moderation on YouTube” presents the results of a study that examines the potential overblocking due to copyright moderation and changes in the diversity of cultural offerings on YouTube in two EU member states of comparable size and (…) 11. December 2023 News ZeMKI Member Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach goes to the LSE as a visiting Professor ZeMKI member Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach will join the Department of Media and Communication at the London School of Economics (LSE) as a visiting professor in 2024. During his stay from February to July 2024, he will work on topics ranging from discourses and developments in AI to the role of social media platforms in (…) 16. November 2023 News Lecture by ZeMKI Member Dr. Paloma Viejo Otero On 16.11.2023, ZeMKI member Dr. Paloma Viejo Otero will give a lecture at the GESIS, Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Cologne. She will be part of the opening panel of the Conference on Harmful Online Communication (CHOC), which will take place on November 16 and 17. The opening panel discussion with the topic “Harmful (…) 14. November 2023 News 5th Session of the "Conversations on Empirical Platform Governance Research" “Conversations on Empirical Platform Governance Research” will take place online for the fifth time on November 14th at 2:00 pm. Our guest is Zheyu Shang , she will give a talk on “Towards a More Inclusive Platform Governance: User’s Practices of Participatory Content Moderation on China’s Digital Platforms”. Zheyu Shang is a PhD candidate at (…) 14. November 2023 News Building Trust in the Digital Age Organized by Dr. Dennis Redeker, a panel discussion entitled “Building in the Digital Age: How to fight hate and misinformation on social media – in Georgia and beyond” will take place on 02.11.2023. When: 02.11.2023 – 17:00 to 19:00 hrs Where: House of Science Bremen (1st floor) Guests are Prof. Dr. Sergi Jorbenadze (Tbilisi State (…) 27. October 2023 News Listen to the new Episode of the ZeMKI Podcast now! In the third episode of the ZeMKI podcast, host Juri Fidora talks to ZeMKI member Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach, head of the “Platform Governance, Media and Technology” lab. Listen to the new episode here 29. September 2023 Podcast Episode 3: Juri Fidora in conversation with Prof Dr Christian Katzenbach, Head of the "Platform Governance, Media and Technology" Lab Discover the third episode of the ZeMKI-Podcast 1. September 2023 previous 123 previous
EventsNews Mark Malone will present on Monday 29th as part of the “Equality, Wellbeing and Platform Governance” Project As part of her YUFE research project on Equality, Wellbeing and Platform Governance, fellow Dr Paloma Viejo has invited researcher and activist Mark Malone who will present on Monday 29th April at 14:00hs in room SFG 1040 a talk about the emergence of reactionary and far right activity in Ireland, specifically on themes of anti-migrant, (…) 23. April 2024
EventsNews REMIT Roundtable on the UN Global Digital Compact On Thursday, April 25, 2024, a public roundtable on the United Nations Global Digital Compact will take place at 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the House of Science in Bremen. The Global Digital Compact is currently being negotiated by the UN member states; a first draft text was published in early April. The roundtable is (…) 19. April 2024
NewsPublication New research article: Imperfect Automation and the Human Fix Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach and Dr. Paloma Viejo Otero from the “Platform Governance, Media and Technology” Lab at the University of Bremen in collaboration with Leipzig University member Prof. Dr. Christian Pentzold have published a new open access article in the Human-Machine Communication Journal titled: “Smoothing Out Smart Tech’s Rough Edges: Imperfect Automation and the (…) 16. April 2024
News “Science Comics” Exhibition opens at Haus der Wissenschaft ZeMKI member Dr. Dennis Redeker (member of the Platform Governance, Media, and Technology Lab) organizes an exhibition of science comics at the Haus der Wissenschaft in Bremen. The communication of scientific methods and findings to the general public has been breaking new ground for some years now. This now includes media formats that were previously (…) 16. April 2024
News 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
EventsNews 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
News Disinformation and AI-generated Fakes - will the Digital Services Act save the European Elections? Panel Discussion in Brussels with Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach ZeMKI member Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach travels to the Representation of the State of Lower Saxony to the European Union in Brussels. He is a speaker in a panel discussion on the role of platforms in the 2024 European elections. The event will take place on April 09, 2024 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (…) 8. April 2024
EventsNews “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
News 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
EventsNews Lab member Daria Dergacheva will participate as a speaker in a panel discussion at the EMEA Summit 2024 Lab member Daria Dergacheva will participate as a speaker in a panel discussion at the EMEA Summit 2024, organised by the Trust & Safety Professionals Association (TSPA) on 17 May 2024 in Dublin. The panel assembles various experts for the topic: “A Wave of Data: A New Era of Regulated Transparency” will focus on (…) 25. March 2024
EventsNews 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
News 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
News Open Call for ZeMKI Visiting Research Fellows, 2024 Come and work with us! Our Fellowship Program invites international researchers to Bremen for four weeks to deepen and connect their research in the transformation of media, communication, and information. We are looking for established scholars who want to enjoy the thriving interdisciplinary research environment at ZeMKI. 8. February 2024
ConferencesFall Semester 23/24 Shifting AI controversies Datum: 29. January 2024 – 30. January 2024Location: Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) On behalf of the international research project Shaping 21st Century AI, the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and the ZeMKI, University of Bremen, in cooperation with the research group “Politics of Digitalization” at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), invite to an international conference on the topic of AI controversies. The conference was held in English. 21. January 2024
News New Article by ZeMKI Members Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach and Dr. Daria Dergacheva published in Policy & Internet Journal The article entitled “Mandate to overblock? Understanding the impact of the European Union’s Article 17 on copyright content moderation on YouTube” presents the results of a study that examines the potential overblocking due to copyright moderation and changes in the diversity of cultural offerings on YouTube in two EU member states of comparable size and (…) 11. December 2023
News ZeMKI Member Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach goes to the LSE as a visiting Professor ZeMKI member Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach will join the Department of Media and Communication at the London School of Economics (LSE) as a visiting professor in 2024. During his stay from February to July 2024, he will work on topics ranging from discourses and developments in AI to the role of social media platforms in (…) 16. November 2023
News Lecture by ZeMKI Member Dr. Paloma Viejo Otero On 16.11.2023, ZeMKI member Dr. Paloma Viejo Otero will give a lecture at the GESIS, Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Cologne. She will be part of the opening panel of the Conference on Harmful Online Communication (CHOC), which will take place on November 16 and 17. The opening panel discussion with the topic “Harmful (…) 14. November 2023
News 5th Session of the "Conversations on Empirical Platform Governance Research" “Conversations on Empirical Platform Governance Research” will take place online for the fifth time on November 14th at 2:00 pm. Our guest is Zheyu Shang , she will give a talk on “Towards a More Inclusive Platform Governance: User’s Practices of Participatory Content Moderation on China’s Digital Platforms”. Zheyu Shang is a PhD candidate at (…) 14. November 2023
News Building Trust in the Digital Age Organized by Dr. Dennis Redeker, a panel discussion entitled “Building in the Digital Age: How to fight hate and misinformation on social media – in Georgia and beyond” will take place on 02.11.2023. When: 02.11.2023 – 17:00 to 19:00 hrs Where: House of Science Bremen (1st floor) Guests are Prof. Dr. Sergi Jorbenadze (Tbilisi State (…) 27. October 2023
News Listen to the new Episode of the ZeMKI Podcast now! In the third episode of the ZeMKI podcast, host Juri Fidora talks to ZeMKI member Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach, head of the “Platform Governance, Media and Technology” lab. Listen to the new episode here 29. September 2023
Podcast Episode 3: Juri Fidora in conversation with Prof Dr Christian Katzenbach, Head of the "Platform Governance, Media and Technology" Lab Discover the third episode of the ZeMKI-Podcast 1. September 2023