New publication by Paloma Viejo Otero and Rebecca Scharlach

ZeMKI members Dr. Paloma Viejo Otero and Dr. Rebecca Scharlach published their new paper “‘We do not marshal your feed’: How Alt Tech platforms (re) conceptualise safety” in the Platforms & Society Journal.

“We do not marshal your feed’: How Alt Tech platforms (re)conceptualise safety”

Paloma Viejo Otero and Rebecca Scharlach
March 20, 2025

Abstract

This article explores how Alt Tech platforms – Parler, Truth Social, Gab, Rumble, BitChute, Odyssey, Gettr, and Minds – conceptualise a core social media value: safety. These platforms, often associated with the Alt-Right, challenge mainstream social media by reinterpreting the value of safety. Using a mixed-method approach to study values promoted in social media policies, this study reveals that Alt Tech platforms reject traditional safety measures, viewing them as censorship, manifesting in three key strategies: advocating for unrestricted freedom of expression; reframing safety-oriented governance as censorship, and promoting an ideal of the digitally mature, user. Our findings illuminate how Alt Tech platforms both perform safety while discursively rejecting its enforcement.