Dr. Rebecca Scharlach
Postdoctoral Researcher
Vita
Dr. Rebecca Scharlach is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Platform Governance Media and Technology lab. She has been awarded a research grant from the University of Bremen for her postdoctoral project (2024–2027), Values-based Governance, where Dr. Scharlach examines how values and ideologies shape the governance of AI systems in the European Union
Her work has been published in leading international outlets such as New Media & Society, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Journal of Communication, and Communication Theory.
Rebecca received her Ph.D. in September 2024 from the Department of Communication & Journalism of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her dissertation, “The Construction of Values by Social Media Platforms,” was supervised by Prof. Dr. Limor Shifman as part of the ERC-funded DigitalValues project, of which she was a core team member from 2019-2024.
Since October 2025, Rebecca is also part of the executive committee (open chair) of the Association of Internet Researchers.
Research interests
- AI Governance
- Social Media Research
- Platform Power
- Values
- Technological Systems
Memberships
- Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)
- International Communication Association (ICA)
- ECREA
Most recent publications (Source: ORCID)
- How to do things with a keyword: a cross-cultural analysis of the meanings and functions of ‘values’ on Twitter. Information, Communication & Society
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2633222 - Value-driven AI Governance
https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/s26va_v1 - The expression of values on social media: An analytical framework. New Media & Society
https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241307035 - Broadcasting the good mom: a cross-national analysis of mom vloggers and their audiences. Information, Communication & Society
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2025.2581012 - Global creator culture? Converging values and generic practices in YouTube reviews. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmaf024 - Priorities and exclusions within Trust and Safety industry standards. New Media & Society
https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251357225 - Liking without borders? Authenticity and the evaluation of Instagram photo genres. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmaf008 - ‘We do not marshal your feed’: How Alt Tech platforms (re) conceptualise safety. Platforms & Society
https://doi.org/10.1177/29768624251327703 - How to Spark Joy: Strategies of Depoliticization in Platforms’ Corporate Social Initiatives. Social Media + Society
https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241277601 - Governing principles: Articulating values in social media platform policies. New Media & Society
https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448231156580
