[Air-L] Global Media and China_Special Issue: Sovereignty and the Return of Governance for Digital Platforms

[Xiao Han]

Global Media and China

Special Issue: Sovereignty and the Return of Governance for Digital Platforms

Guest Editors: Terry Flew & Chunmeizi Su, Department of Media and Communications, The University of Sydney

Deadlines:

—01 July 2022: Abstracts (300-500 words) submitted to: 
Chunmeizi Su (chunmeizi.su at sydney.edu.au <mailto:chunmeizi.su at sydney.edu.au>)


—30 September 2022: Full paper submission (7-8,000 words, including references)


—Targeted Issue: June 2023


Overview:
In an era that has been termed one of post-globalization (Flew, 2018; O’Sullivan, 2019) there is considerable debate around governance of the global Internet. In particular, multistakeholder approaches which seek to bypass nation-state governments in the name of global "netizens" have been critiqued as lacking real regulatory capacity to transform the behaviour of digital platforms towards public interest goals. At the same time, there has been a ‘regulatory turn’ (Schlesinger, 2020) in internet governance, with national governments – as well as the European Union – proposing an array of laws, policies, regulations and co-regulatory codes to address issues that include monopoly power, content regulation, data and privacy, and the uses of AI.

 

In this light we are proposing a special issue of Global Media and China that will address issues relating to digital platform governance and regulation, with regards to nation-states and sovereignty. We are particularly interested in papers which address:

The ‘regulatory turn’ towards digital platforms and comparative insights on platform regulation;
How digital platforms with an international footprint navigate competing jurisdictional rules and regulations;
The rise of “tech nationalism” and the promotion of digital “national champions”;
 New forms of regulation being developed by national governments and the European Union;
 The role of quasi-self-regulatory entities developed by companies themselves (e.g. Facebook Oversight Board);
Proposals for reform of international internet governance institutions;
The relationship between global digital platforms and questions of sovereignty and accountable governance;
The impact of COVID-19 on digital platform governance. 

References Cited:

Flew, T. (2018). Post-Globalisation. Javnost - The Public, 25(1–2), 102–109.

O’Sullivan, M. (2019). The Levelling: What’s Next After Globalization. New York: Public Affairs.

Schlesinger, P. (2020). After the post-public sphere. Media, Culture & Society, 42(7–8), 1545–1563. 


If you have questions about the issue, please feel free to email Terry Flew terry.flew at sydney.edu.au <mailto:terry.flew at sydney.edu.au>.