Paddy Leerssen

The plenary sessions have been recorded and will be published. Stay tuned!

I haven't read the leaked 183-page Commission Decision against X, but I am reading the House Judiciary Committee's X posts about it and the worst stuff they could find is... preposterously weak.

judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...

x.com/JudiciaryGOP...

Now an analysis piece @techpolicypress.bsky.social, summarizing the insights from @pjleerssen.bsky.social's paper and applying them to what we currently know about the TikTok deal: www.techpolicy.press/who-will-own...

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Recent upheavals at X and Meta stem from oligarchic ownership by Musk and Zuckerberg who directly control content policies. CIS Affiliate @pjleerssen.bsky.social examines how these moguls influence digital governance through ideological or economic motives.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

While we're still waiting on details of the TikTok deal, this paper by @pjleerssen.bsky.social opens up some crucial questions about platform ownership that are still tbd for any new US TikTok entity. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Meta removes Facebook page that tracked ICE in Chicago Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that “following outreach” from the DOJ, Facebook removed a “large group page” that was being used to target ICE officials.

jawboning

www.pbs.org/newshour/nat...

As famine struck Gaza, Google let Israel run YouTube ads claiming, ‘There is food’ An internal Google email said it received many complaints about Israeli government YouTube ads about food access in Gaza, but ruled they could remain online.

"The video is part of a paid Israeli government campaign of posts on Google-owned YouTube that 'focus on whether or not a famine is taking place in Gaza,' according to an internal Google email reviewed by The Washington Post." wapo.st/47dlXDu

What We Can Learn from the First Digital Services Act Out-of-Court Dispute Settlements? | TechPolicy.Press Ramsha Jahangir spoke to two experts to unpack what the early wave of disputes tells us about how the out-of-court system is working under the DSA.

Europe's Digital Services Act lets users challenge platform moderation decisions through independent certified bodies. Article 21 dispute settlements cover takedowns, suspensions & more. @pjleerssen.bsky.social interviewed by @techpolicypress.bsky.social
www.techpolicy.press/what-we-can-...

What We Can Learn from the First Digital Services Act Out-of-Court Dispute Settlements? | TechPolicy.Press Ramsha Jahangir spoke to two experts to unpack what the early wave of disputes tells us about how the out-of-court system is working under the DSA.

Under Article 21 of the DSA, out-of-court bodies review moderation disputes. One such body, Appeals Centre Europe, has released its first transparency report.
@ramshajahangir.bsky.social spoke with Thomas Hughes and Paddy Leerssen about what these early findings suggest.

Prague University Law School, i owe you an apology, I wasn't familiar with your game

I think they're adding a /?tl=[language code] suffix to all their research results, so the translation persists even when you continue to the source page. It seems to have a knack for turning all my English result Dutch and all my Dutch results English - truly an enshittification masterstroke.

Not content just ruining their own product, Google Search is now auto-translating all my <site:reddit.com> queries. One of the few remaining use cases for Search and they can't resist screwing with it.

In today's Briefing: I found 114 ads for AI nudifiers on Meta.

The copy of the ads included the word "undress," which isn't a sophisticated term to watch out for.

As always, I flagged these ads to Meta, which took them down. Google also took down a related app.

indicator.media/p/ai-nudifie...

Thanks Rachel!

Calling it a 'publication' may be premature since it's still just a self-published PDF. But i'm glad it's out there and being read, hopefully peer review will be as kind🤞

Chuffed to see my new draft paper on platform ownership billed as "hidden gem of the week" over at the Syllabus 👇

Thanks David! And a long time coming--this is the (by now almost unrecognisably altered) continuation of the CPEM research I shared with you last summer. The topic has only become more relevant since then, I think.

Who really governs the digital public sphere? | Paddy Leerssen Sign in or join now to see posts like this one and more.

Thanks for flagging. Apparently the OSF file is still pending review, but you can find it here for now: www.linkedin.com/posts/pjleer...

What I found is that corporate structure at X and Meta are distinctly oligarchic. We may be at the cusp of a great divergence between oligarchic and market firms, and intensifying conflict between ownership and management.

Still in draft so comments welcome! 🙏

To answer these questions, I spent a lot of time this semester digging through SEC disclosures and other public records -- and reading memoirs by former platform executives on their experiences with ownership influence.

🎺🎺 New draft paper 🎺🎺

From Murdoch to Musk: Social media ownership and the political economy of platform content governance

The question is simple: who owns the major social media companies, and how do these owners influence content governance outcomes?

osf.io/preprints/os...

Is Butler erasing the Goffmanite account of Turducken performativity though? Much to consider.

So... I'm not saying you should sue any platforms under the DSA. But if you *did* want to do that, you'd definitely want to look at this article from @pjleerssen.bsky.social, Iris Toepoel, Anna van Duin, and @jvh.bsky.social

It's basically a tactical guide.

dsa-observatory.eu/wp-content/u...

PlatGovNet 2025: Dec 1-2

I'll be counting the days! Very grateful that this is happening again.

Working on platform governance?

Join for PlatGovNet 2025
Free online conference Dec 1-2
Extended abstracts (800-1000 words) due Sep 2

Amazing community, opportunity to share work, get feedback, meet others working in this area.

Glad to be part of organizing it
Details: platgov.net/conferences/...

SPUI25: Hoe kunnen we het recht inzetten om mensen minder te laten vliegen? Luchtvaart is een vervuilende bezigheid: Iemand die van Lissabon naar New York vliegt en terug, veroorzaakt ongeveer evenveel uitstoot als een gemiddelde EU-burger doet door zijn huis een heel jaar te verwarmen. Sinds 1992 maakt de EU wetten en beleid om de uitstoot van de luchtvaart aan te pakken, maar ondertussen heeft de uitstoot door de luchtvaart recordhoogtes bereikt. Hoe kunnen we dit inperken?

Coming soon 📣: @yannickvdberg.bsky.social in SPUI25 over het recht gebruiken om mensen minder te laten vliegen ✈️ Meld je aan voor het event op 13 juni https://bit.ly/459lUJw

Yesterday, for the first time, I presented findings from a new empirical project. The question is simple: who owns social media?

I'm leaving the AoIR symposium in Bremen more inspired than ever to pursue this topic. Many thanks to the organisers at @zemki.bsky.social!

Yeah I had a spell last year where I got ahead of myself and started talking up a grant application about the political economy of expertise. But I didn't get the money and never found time to really pursue it - on to other things now.

Rachel's paper is great!

WAITRESS: please keep your voices down, this is a family restaurant.

WALTER: Oh please dear! For your information: the Supreme Court roundly rejected prior restraint!

DUDE: C'mon Walter, this is not a First Amendment thing, man.

Making Recommender Systems Work for People: Turning the DSA’s Potential into Practice - DSA Observatory By Alissa Cooper and Peter Chapman, Knight-Georgetown Institute The Digital Services Act sets out broad new legal requirements to make recommender systems more transparent and accountable, including f...

The folks at @knightgtown.bsky.social are doing cutting-edge research on recommender systems. 👇

In this new commentary for @dsaobservatory.bsky.social l, @alissacooper.bsky.social and Peter Chapman discuss key findings and their relevance to the DSA.

dsa-observatory.eu/2025/05/19/m...

No, but following this thread with interest 👀 will be presenting new work on ownership changes & platgov at your symposium next month!