How and why do democracies regulate social media platforms and what are the consequences?

The researchers want to examine how digital arenas for public conversations can be regulated in light of a central democratic dilemma: how are we to protect democracy from forces that threaten it without simultaneously undermining democratic norms and principles?

Digitization of the public sphere has created new challenges for democratic societies. In particular, we have seen how democratic processes such as general elections are jeopardized by misleading information, extremist views and attacks on political opponents. This has increasingly caused democratic nations to regulate digital platforms by enacting laws on exclusion of users and content. Yet we know very little about whether this approach protects democracy from the threats it faces without simultaneously undermining democratic norms and principles.

The aim of the project, which is being led by Ludvig Norman, is to examine how democratic states have chosen to regulate permissible content on digital media platforms, potential explanations for differences between types of regulation, and their democratic consequences.

The first phase of the project will be to conduct a survey of existing national regulatory regimes, and study the factors and mechanisms that explain why democratic states design differing regulations for digital public arenas.

The second part of the project will be for the researchers to examine how national laws shape inclusion and exclusion on the platforms by systematically mapping patterns of exclusion of content and users. Finally, they want to develop theoretical democratic tools to be used to analyze the extent to which existing regulations conform to democratic norms and principles.

Finding the right way to design democratic regulation of digital public arenas is one of the greatest challenges facing modern democratic societies. The project’s findings will therefore be relevant not only for theoretical and empirical research into how the public conversation can contribute to a deepening of democracy, but also for decision makers and public agencies tasked with addressing digital disinformation and harmful impacts.