Taming the Internet: The Politics Behind Your Social Media Feed
Date:
We use social media every day, relying on platforms to inform us about the world we live in, connect us to fellow citizens across the world, and entertain us on our daily commutes. Increasingly, we search the depths of the internet using advanced AI tools that surface exactly the information we are looking for. These systems are convenient and may feel like neutral allies in our quest to connect to the world around us. However, behind every AI answer and each post surfaced on our social media feed, lies a choice about which voice is allowed to be heard online and whose opinions should be amplified. This choice is a political one. In the early 2020s, the European Union has attempted to claw back some control over how these choices are made and who makes them. The Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, and the AI Act are designed to regulate how algorithms are structured, content moderation choices are made, and our data is controlled by private companies. Drawing on my behind-the-scenes research about how the EU made these digital rules, this talk explored a simple question: Who governs the digital world in Europe? It shows how power over the digital world is increasingly shared, contested, and decentralised. I invite us all to see ourselves not as passive users of technology, but as participants in a global network of political choices that reach from our social media screens to the decision-makers in private and public institutions.