[Air-L] Special issue published: Locating and theorising platform power

[David Nieborg]

Dear AoIR friends & colleagues:

We want to draw your attention to a new special issue for Internet Policy
Review. The introduction plus links to all 10 open access articles is here:
https://policyreview.info/articles/analysis/introduction-special-issue-locating-and-theorising-platform-power

Locating and theorising platform power
Guest-edited by:
David B. Nieborg, University of Toronto
Thomas Poell, University of Amsterdam
Robyn Caplan, Duke University
José van Dijck, Utrecht University

Abstract
Against the backdrop of ongoing public and political debates about the
power and regulation of large platform conglomerates, this special issue
calls for more critical, conceptual, and empirical studies on platform
power. While a lot of valuable research has already been done, we see a
tendency in both public and scholarly debates on leading platform companies
to develop one-sided, monolithic understandings of this power. Instead, we
want to argue for a relational perspective, which focuses on the relations
of dependence that grow around specific platforms. Therefore, contributions
locate and theorise platform power. Through specific case studies on
particular types of platforms the contributions home in on the various
modalities of power. The papers address three broader themes that speak to
the different facets of platform power: (1)  analysing platform
infrastructures and markets; (2) platform governance; (3) the negotiation
of platform power and its alternatives.

Table of contents

The platform behind the curtain: Obfuscated brokerage on retail trading
platforms
By
Andreas Gregersen, University of Copenhagen
Jacob Ørmen, University of Copenhagen

Monitoring infrastructural power: Methodological challenges in studying
mobile infrastructures for datafication
By
Stine Lomborg, University of Copenhagen
Kristian Sick, University of Copenhagen
Sofie Flensburg, University of Copenhagen
Signe Sophus Lai, University of Copenhagen

Platform power in AI: The evolution of cloud infrastructures in the
political economy of artificial intelligence
By
Dieuwertje Luitse, University of Amsterdam

Observing “tuned” advertising on digital platforms
By
Nicholas Carah, University of Queensland
Lauren Hayden, University of Queensland
Maria-Gemma Brown, University of Queensland
Daniel Angus, Queensland University of Technology
Aimee Brownbill, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education
Kiah Hawker, University of Queensland
Xue Ying Tan, Queensland University of Technology
Amy Dobson, Curtin University
Brady Robards, Monash University

Protocol power: Matter, IoT interoperability, and a critique of industry
self-regulation
By
Colin Crawford, Concordia University

Platform lobbying: Policy influence strategies and the EU's Digital
Services Act
By
Robert Gorwa, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
Grzegorz Lechowski, Free University of Berlin
Daniel Schneiß, Kiel University

Copyright callouts and the promise of creator-driven platform governance
By
Blake Hallinan, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
CJ Reynolds, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Omer Rothenstein, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The contingencies of platform power and risk management in the gig economy
By
Niels van Doorn, University of Amsterdam

Platforms´ regulatory disruptiveness and local regulatory outcomes in Europe
By
Eliska Drapalova, Berlin Social Science Center (WZB)
Kai Wegrich, Hertie School

How platform power undermines diversity-oriented innovation
By
Paula Helm, University of Amsterdam