Session 17 of "Behind the Scenes" Online Talk Series with Tom Divon & Carolina Are

Tom Divon & Dr. Carolina Are: “Platform Gaslighting”

Time and Date: March 18, 2025, 3-4 pm (CET)

In the next session of the PGMT-Lab online talk series “Behind the Scenes – Conversations on Empirical Platform Governance Research”, Tom Divon and Dr. Carolina Are will be guests on the topic of “Platform Gaslighting”.

In this talk, Tom Divon and Carolina Are will present findings showing how platforms routinely deploy gaslighting as a corporate communications strategy against content creators. With a user-centric approach to examining Instagram and TikTok’s content moderation communications, they highlight the lived experiences of Palestinian and Jewish activists, and sex-positive educators, whose efforts are undermined and distorted by the platforms’ opaque, contradictory, and dismissive responses. Their findings reveal how platforms strategically weaponize tech knowledge and automated and human governance mechanisms to evade accountability and consolidate platforms’ power.

Registration required.

About the Series

This talk is part of the series Behind the Scenes – Conversations on Empirical Platform Governance Research that invites scholars in this field to share their experiences and views, fostering community exchange about how we can study platform governance in this challenging context. It is hosted by the Lab “Platform Governance, Media, and Technology” (PGMT) at the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI), University of Bremen, and the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies, University of Groningen.