Platform Governance Research Articles

(Un)disclosed brand partnerships: How platform policies and interfaces shape commercial content for influencers

Social media platforms mediate and regulate how influencers engage in monetisation practices. In this social-legal paper we examine one form of monetisation, influencer marketing, to understand how platform policies and interfaces shape commercial content for influencers. We situate our inquiry of governance by platforms within the governance of platforms, by focusing on the legal obligation to disclose commercial content under European consumer law. Combining an analysis of platform documentation for Instagram, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube, with insights from a walkthrough of each platform, we present five findings. First, we explore the terminology used by platforms to refer to influencers. Second, we outline how platforms frame commercial content and situate business models of influencer marketing. Third, we analyse how platforms present the duty to disclose commercial content and assign responsibility for compliance. Fourth, we examine how platforms facilitate disclosure through their in-app tools. Finally, we look at the articulation regarding the moderation of undisclosed commercial content by platforms. Our analysis unveils tensions between the law (governance of platforms) and what platforms do (governance by platforms). Overall, as platforms hold significant power in shaping monetisation practices, we argue that enforcing influencers’ disclosure practices must be contextualised within the dynamics of platform governance.

Performance of complementor’s complementary goods on platform ecosystems: the perspective of individual complementors' complementary goods development behavior

AbstractThe purpose of our study was to examine how individual complementors' development behaviors (specifically, diversity- and distinctiveness-oriented development behaviors) impact the performance of complementary goods on the platform. To achieve this, we employed fixed-effects regression analysis and utilized panel data obtained from the free music platform “DOVA.” This study examines two aspects of the performance of complementor’s complementary goods: the highest performance related to the success of the platform ecosystem and the lowest performance related to platform ecosystem sustainment. The findings indicate that a high focus on diversity-oriented development behavior is positively correlated with the complementor's highest performance and negatively correlated with complementor's lowest performance. Additionally, distinctiveness-oriented development behavior also positively correlated with complementor's highest performance. However, low distinctiveness-oriented development behavior is negatively correlated with complementor's lowest performance. We reveal desirable development behaviors for complementary goods related to both content innovation and platform ecosystem sustainability. Based on these understandings, platform owners can target platform governance.

The devil is in the details! Effect of differentiated platform governance on online review manipulation

Recent years have witnessed an increasing number of manipulated online reviews in e-commerce platforms. Previous research has provided substantial evidence that vendor manipulation of online reviews has a significant negative impact on the stakeholders involved in the e-commerce business. Many platforms take various governance measures to filter manipulated reviews. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of these measures still remains unknown to a large extent. To bridge this research gap, this paper investigates the effect of differentiated platform governance, including defined as interventions to counterattack manipulation intensity, manipulation duration, and perceived quality manipulated, on the probability of future review manipulation. We develop a game theoretical model that incorporates the strategic interactions between the platform and vendors, which yield several testable hypotheses. We then conduct an empirical analysis of platform governance and review manipulation by using the review manipulation data collected from Amazon.com. Results of the analytical model and empirical analysis show that platform governance that targets manipulation intensity and manipulation duration can both effectively mitigate review manipulation probability. On the contrary, platform governance to counterattack manipulating perceived product quality exhibits an inverted U-shape relationship with review manipulation probability. This study provides novel insights into how to better mitigate online review manipulation for e-commerce platforms.

Token-based platform governance

We develop a model to compare the governance of traditional shareholder-owned platforms to that of platforms that issue tokens. A traditional shareholder governance structure leads a platform to extract rents from its users. A platform that issues tokens for its services can mitigate this rent extraction, as rent extraction lowers the platform owners’ token seigniorage revenues. However, this mitigation from issuing “service tokens” is effective only if the platform can commit itself not to dilute the “service token” subsequently. Issuing “hybrid tokens” that bundle claims on the platform’s services and its profits enhances efficiency even absent ex-ante commitment power. Finally, giving users the right to vote on platform policies, by contrast, redistributes surplus but does not necessarily enhance efficiency.

Corporate Governance in Platform Governance: Reassessing Stakeholderism in a Disruptive Era

Today, many of the largest and most successful businesses such as Google, Amazon, Apple, and Metaverse (Facebook) operate as online platforms. While they bring vast economic and societal benefits, their negative impacts on the society are increasingly causing public concerns. Despite the consensus that they must be governed, a topdown style of public regulation may not represent an optimal path to address platform ills. In this context, corporate governance that incorporates a stakeholder perspective may provide a preferable means to strengthen platform governance. While stakeholder thinking is not without its criticisms, the context of the platform society and disruptive innovation does provide a strong case for stakeholderism. The latter may therefore have the potential to bridge the topics of platform governance and corporate governance. Platform governance via corporate governance may be institutionalised along multiple lines including, inter alia, stakeholder representation on the board, directors’ fiduciary duty enforceable by stakeholders, the board’s reporting obligation in respect of platform governance, and the stewardship responsibility imposed upon institutional shareholders.

사상의 자유시장 이론과 플랫폼 거버넌스

The concept of ‘marketplace of ideas’ has been employed as a conventional argument to justify freedom of expression. The Constitutional Court of Korea has also been significantly influenced by this concept, presenting it as a rationale to protect freedom of expression and asserting that “the Internet is the medium most closely approximating the ‘marketplace of ideas’”. However, the proliferation of disinformation, hate speech, and the development of artificial intelligence have urged a re-evaluation of the validity of the ‘marketplace of ideas’, which posits that truth can prevail over falsehoods through unrestricted competition. ‘Marketplace of ideas’, which is advocated from a laissez-faire perspective, also encounters challenges related to market failure when examined from an economic perspective. This phenomenon occurs because market failure is not limited to the market for goods but extends to the market for ideas as well. In the context of freedom of expression, market failure can result in impediments to information distribution, insufficient dissemination of high-quality information, and democratic representation. To address market failure in the realm of free expression, it is imperative to focus on platform governance. In the United States, self-regulation by individual companies or industries, and in Europe, co-regulation by governments, have been proposed as potential solutions to market failure. The divergence between the US and European approaches to platform governance stems from the distinct constitutional traditions of freedom of expression. While platform governance mechanisms, such as self-regulation and co-regulation, offer advantages including flexibility, expedience, and professionalism, they may also generate tensions with the rule of law and potentially result in private censorship when limiting fundamental rights. To ensure the democratic legitimacy of self-regulation, limitations on freedom of expression must be implemented in a manner consistent with the rule of law. Furthermore, to prevent co-regulation from devolving into private censorship, considerable caution must be exercised to ensure that government intervention does not transform into censorship by administrative authority.

Unpacking platform governance through meaningful human agency: How Chinese moderators make discretionary decisions in a dynamic network

Unpacking platform governance through meaningful human agency: How Chinese moderators make discretionary decisions in a dynamic network

Digital platform governance structures: A case study of Yandex Taxi

The study of governance structures in digital platform ecosystems remains relevant not only for economic research, but also for qualifying the legal status of platform workers, as well as for the development of economic policies that affect the labor market, rights and obligations of platforms and their workers. The paper presents the results of an empirical study of the conditions and mechanisms used by the Russian digital platform Yandex Taxi to incentivize and control platform workers (drivers) in 2022—2024. Mechanisms of transaction governance between platform participants are described, the dual role of algorithms is demonstrated: as systems of matching and coordination of participants, as well as incentives for legally independent drivers. The paper shows that digital platforms use hierarchical governance structure, controlling the parameters of transactions, quality standards and conditions of service provision. It is concluded that the platform system of rules and mechanisms is internally logical, which allows the platform to be regarded as a regulator of economic relations.

The pursuit of ‘good’ Internet policy

AbstractAs our digital society continues to advance, an increasingly diverse array of scholars, policymakers, civic interest groups, companies and regulatory bodies from around the world are seeking to have an increased say in its governance. This diversity makes the challenge of achieving ‘good’ Internet policy more complex and contested. Of course, the notion of 'good Internet policy' raises several important questions: What defines a good Internet policy? Who is it intended for? How can it be achieved and evaluated? Why is it worth pursuing? The papers in this collection explore a number of issues relevant to this pursuit. They include research into deploying digital systems to increase participation in democratic elections and other e‐governance initiatives, navigating the intersection of local norms and global rules, addressing algorithmic discrimination, confronting the role of conspiracy theories in democratic processes, defining responsibility in content moderation, balancing legal certainty with operational flexibility in platform governance and the potential for data justice in AI governance.

User-generated accountability: Public participation in algorithmic governance on YouTube

Despite opaque automated systems and few formal channels for participation, YouTubers navigate algorithmic governance on the platform through a strategy we call user-generated accountability: the generation of publicity via content creation to reveal failures, oversights, or harmful policies. Through an analysis of 250 videos, we identify common strategies, concerns, and targets of accountability. Creators primarily upload vlogs that acknowledge the platform’s positive aspects, even as they express concern with YouTube’s policies, automated enforcement systems, poor communication practices, and discrimination against certain creators or content. In publicizing critiques of platform operations, videos enroll creators and audiences as active stakeholders in platform governance that can coordinate actions to draw the company’s attention to matters of concern. We argue that user-generated accountability practices offer a productive starting point for understanding how platform governance disputes come to be and how systems might be shaped or rebuilt to better serve the needs of competing stakeholders.

‘Dysfunctional’ appeals and failures of algorithmic justice in Instagram and TikTok content moderation

ABSTRACT This article explores users’ perceptions of justice when using appeals on Instagram and TikTok, focusing on the barriers de-platformed users across fields like activism, sex work, sex education and LGBTQIA + self-expression face when using these platforms’ automated appeals to recover their de-platformed content and/or accounts. Examining appeals from a platform governance standpoint and drawing from fairness and due process literature, this study finds concerning loopholes within these platforms’ appeals, leaving room for discrimination, fraud and scams and leading to user disempowerment. Through interviews with de-platformed users, this paper reveals significant barriers faced by particularly transgender and sex working users when recovering their de-platformed accounts through in-platform appeals. With metaphors of an ‘algorithmic cop, jury and judge,’ this paper concludes that the needs of marginalised users have been designed out of content moderation and of platforms’ processes, leading them to experience the appeals system as opaque, unfair and unjust.

Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance, Platform Governance, and Value Creation of Platform Enterprises

Under the concepts of sustainable development and a sharing economy, the ESG performance of platform enterprises has played a significant role in measuring the operating status and responsible investment of platform enterprises. Platform enterprises have different typical characteristics from traditional enterprises. The mechanisms of ESG and financial performance needs to be further explored. The empirical analysis finds that: (1) the ESG performance of platform enterprises and its S index and G index has a positive impact on corporate financial performance. (2) Media attention plays a positive moderating role between the ESG and ROA. (3) Platform data governance and platform reputation governance are two internal and external paths for platform enterprises’ ESG performance to improve financial performance. (4)There is heterogeneity in the relationship between ESG and ROA in terms of platform enterprise scale and platform type. Based on the above conclusions, this paper provides reference experience for the ESG governance and value creation of platform enterprises.

Platform Governance with Algorithm-Based Content Moderation: An Empirical Study on Reddit

Pratice- and Policy-oriented Abstract Volunteer (human) moderators have been the essential workforce for content moderation to combat growing inappropriate online content. Because volunteer-based content moderation faces challenges in achieving scalable, desirable, and sustainable moderation, many online platforms have started to adopt algorithm-based content moderation tools (bots). However, it is unclear how volunteer moderators react to the bot adoption in terms of their community-policing and -nurturing efforts. Our research collected public moderation records by bots and volunteer moderators from Reddit. Our analysis suggests that bots can augment volunteer moderators. Augmentation results in volunteers shifting their efforts from simple policing work to a broader set of moderations, including policing over subjective rule violations and satisfying the increased needs for community-nurturing activities following the policing actions. This paper has implications for online platform managers looking to scale online activities and explains how volunteers can achieve more effective and sustainable content moderation with the assistance of bots.

Platform openness and value: the mediation effect of user interaction and psychological distance

PurposeLinking platform governance and value, the article explains how platforms manage openness, which gives users access and authority, to shape the user experience and orchestrate interactive value co-creation within their ecosystem.Design/methodology/approachWe adopted an abductive approach, drawing on an embedded multiple case study of platform-based local alternative food networks. The strong symbolic dimension embedded into that context allowed for a full exploration of value in its interactive nature.FindingsPlatform openness influences value creation directly, but also through two mechanisms: one behavioural, involving interactions between users and sides, and the other cognitive, involving users’ abstraction level. Value co-creation goes beyond the online space and occurs in complex sets of interactions between users. Digital platforms can thus generate intrinsic value co-creation that enhances their utility.Originality/valueWe have adopted a marketing channel theory reading of openness and mobilised a broader conception of value as well as cognitive science to explain how this key element of platform governance affects value creation.

A Cultural View of Platform Governance

A Cultural View of Platform Governance

Ascribing Moral Motives: Examining Complementors’ Meaning-Making of Platform Governance Actions

Ascribing Moral Motives: Examining Complementors’ Meaning-Making of Platform Governance Actions

What is the Effect of Digital Platform Capabilities on the Opportunity Set? The Moderating Role of Governance Mechanisms

Abstract In the digital age, certain digital platforms, such as Google Android and Tencent, have experienced remarkable growth. Nevertheless, other digital platforms encounter severe challenges that contribute to their downfall. The development disparities among digital platforms are primarily attributed to the opportunity set, an aspect still underexplored in the existing research. Based on the Chinese context, this study adopts the dynamic capabilities view to investigate how digital platform capabilities, specifically platform integration and reconfiguration capabilities, influence the opportunity set from the perspective of complementors. Additionally, we examine the moderating impact of governance mechanisms, encompassing formal contracts and relational mechanisms, challenging the prevailing notion that formal contracts always benefit platforms. Drawing insights from survey data including 476 complementors across 48 Chinese digital platforms, our findings reveal that the positive relationship between platform integration capability and the opportunity set is strengthened when formal contracts are employed. However, the positive relationship between platform reconfiguration capability and the opportunity set weakens with formal contracts but strengthens with relational mechanisms. Our study enriches the opportunity set research by empirically revealing the formation mechanism of the opportunity set in digital platforms from the dynamic capabilities view. Furthermore, it extends the application of platform governance literature by introducing nuanced perspectives on the boundary conditions of governance mechanisms in the Chinese context. Ultimately, this paper offers valuable practical insights for platform owners in China, guiding them in enhancing their capabilities and crafting effective governance mechanisms. Simultaneously, it provides direction for Chinese complementors to leverage both formal and informal relationships with platform owners, effectively transforming digital platform capabilities into the opportunity set.

How Negative Media Coverage Impacts Platform Governance: Evidence from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube

ABSTRACT Social media companies wield considerable power over what people can say and do online, with consequences for freedom of expression and participation in digital culture. Yet we still know little about the factors that shape these companies’ policy decisions. Drawing on data collected from mainstream English-language news sources between 2005-2021 and on a novel dataset of policy documents from the Platform Governance Archive (PGA), we investigate the extent to which policy change at Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube is responsive to negative news coverage. We find that sustained negative coverage significantly predicts changes to platforms’ user policies, highlighting the role of public pressure in shaping the governance of online platforms.

Influence of platform governance and community diversity on users' value co-creation in sharing platform? Insights from China

Influence of platform governance and community diversity on users' value co-creation in sharing platform? Insights from China

Sex education against the algorithm: the algorithmically enforced deplatforming of YouTube sex edutainment

ABSTRACT Deplatforming of sexual content has increased across social media, usually operationalized by commercially charged, and algorithmically enforced, platform policies. This paper extends work on the algorithmic deplatforming of sex through the case study of how sex education content, or ‘sex edutainment’ on YouTube, is impacted by the platform’s algorithmic structures. Enrolling actor-network theory, we demonstrate the delegation work YouTube enacts through algorithms by presenting empirical findings from a multi-method study examining the assemblage of YouTube, sex edutainment influencers, and young people. The findings highlight that despite YouTube’s curated platform imaginary as an amplifier of voices, algorithmic delegation of platform governance creates significant barriers for influencers creating sex edutainment on YouTube. Although not contravening YouTube’s policies, influencers regularly battle demonetization, age-restrictions and algorithmic bias. This undermines the benefits of sex edutainment by limiting access to content, creates precarious financial environments for influencers and risks erosion of audience trust. Meanwhile, algorithms designed to protect users enact this governance without adequately protecting influencers themselves, predominantly women and LGBTQ+ individuals, from harm. Despite YouTube’s veneer of democratization, the social discourses and protectionist narratives that have destabilized traditional sex education efforts permeate our digital environments and can be seen in the algorithmic enactment of YouTube’s policies.