Paddy Leerssen

Thanks Rachel!

Calling it a 'publication' may be premature since it's still just a self-published PDF. But i'm glad it's out there and being read, hopefully peer review will be as kind🤞

Chuffed to see my new draft paper on platform ownership billed as "hidden gem of the week" over at the Syllabus 👇

Thanks David! And a long time coming--this is the (by now almost unrecognisably altered) continuation of the CPEM research I shared with you last summer. The topic has only become more relevant since then, I think.

Who really governs the digital public sphere? | Paddy Leerssen Sign in or join now to see posts like this one and more.

Thanks for flagging. Apparently the OSF file is still pending review, but you can find it here for now: www.linkedin.com/posts/pjleer...

What I found is that corporate structure at X and Meta are distinctly oligarchic. We may be at the cusp of a great divergence between oligarchic and market firms, and intensifying conflict between ownership and management.

Still in draft so comments welcome! 🙏

To answer these questions, I spent a lot of time this semester digging through SEC disclosures and other public records -- and reading memoirs by former platform executives on their experiences with ownership influence.

🎺🎺 New draft paper 🎺🎺

From Murdoch to Musk: Social media ownership and the political economy of platform content governance

The question is simple: who owns the major social media companies, and how do these owners influence content governance outcomes?

osf.io/preprints/os...

Is Butler erasing the Goffmanite account of Turducken performativity though? Much to consider.

So... I'm not saying you should sue any platforms under the DSA. But if you *did* want to do that, you'd definitely want to look at this article from @pjleerssen.bsky.social, Iris Toepoel, Anna van Duin, and @jvh.bsky.social

It's basically a tactical guide.

dsa-observatory.eu/wp-content/u...

PlatGovNet 2025: Dec 1-2

I'll be counting the days! Very grateful that this is happening again.

Working on platform governance?

Join for PlatGovNet 2025
Free online conference Dec 1-2
Extended abstracts (800-1000 words) due Sep 2

Amazing community, opportunity to share work, get feedback, meet others working in this area.

Glad to be part of organizing it
Details: platgov.net/conferences/...

SPUI25: Hoe kunnen we het recht inzetten om mensen minder te laten vliegen? Luchtvaart is een vervuilende bezigheid: Iemand die van Lissabon naar New York vliegt en terug, veroorzaakt ongeveer evenveel uitstoot als een gemiddelde EU-burger doet door zijn huis een heel jaar te verwarmen. Sinds 1992 maakt de EU wetten en beleid om de uitstoot van de luchtvaart aan te pakken, maar ondertussen heeft de uitstoot door de luchtvaart recordhoogtes bereikt. Hoe kunnen we dit inperken?

Coming soon 📣: @yannickvdberg.bsky.social in SPUI25 over het recht gebruiken om mensen minder te laten vliegen ✈️ Meld je aan voor het event op 13 juni https://bit.ly/459lUJw

Yesterday, for the first time, I presented findings from a new empirical project. The question is simple: who owns social media?

I'm leaving the AoIR symposium in Bremen more inspired than ever to pursue this topic. Many thanks to the organisers at @zemki.bsky.social!

Yeah I had a spell last year where I got ahead of myself and started talking up a grant application about the political economy of expertise. But I didn't get the money and never found time to really pursue it - on to other things now.

Rachel's paper is great!

WAITRESS: please keep your voices down, this is a family restaurant.

WALTER: Oh please dear! For your information: the Supreme Court roundly rejected prior restraint!

DUDE: C'mon Walter, this is not a First Amendment thing, man.

Making Recommender Systems Work for People: Turning the DSA’s Potential into Practice - DSA Observatory By Alissa Cooper and Peter Chapman, Knight-Georgetown Institute The Digital Services Act sets out broad new legal requirements to make recommender systems more transparent and accountable, including f...

The folks at @knightgtown.bsky.social are doing cutting-edge research on recommender systems. 👇

In this new commentary for @dsaobservatory.bsky.social l, @alissacooper.bsky.social and Peter Chapman discuss key findings and their relevance to the DSA.

dsa-observatory.eu/2025/05/19/m...

No, but following this thread with interest 👀 will be presenting new work on ownership changes & platgov at your symposium next month!

👇Join us on Thursday - online or in Amsterdam 👇

The Rising Power of Big Tech (rescheduled) In a moment of rapid change for global politics, Big Tech platforms and their owners are shaping up to be international power brokers. Trump’s White house cozies up to Silicon Valley oligarchs as Elon...

📣 Panel Discussion: The Rising Power of Big Tech (New Date!) Thursday, 8 May 2025 | 17:00 | SPUI25. Join @pjleerssen.bsky.social, @tomasdodds.bsky.social and me as we discuss Big Tech’s growing influence on global politics, media and democracy. Register here: spui25.nl/programma/re...

Just published: another victory for @dannymekic.nl over X at the Amsterdam District Court.

Enforcing your digital rights shouldn't be this hard, but at least someone's doing the heavy lifting.

uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/details?id=E...

I'm sorry to say that tonight's event will be POSTPONED until futher notice.

My apologies for any inconvenience. Hopefully we'll get a new date scheduled soon. 🙏

At Spui25 later this month: I'll be talking (social) media regulation with IViR colleagues Theresa Seipp and Petros Terzis.

What are some good *open access* journals to submit to in European (private) law?

I'm no expert in programming, but as a prolific fat fingerer I concur.

Then again, given how much programmers use GenAI these days, maybe that's just as likely a source of catastrophic, easily-overlooked errors these days?

Instagram 'Error' Turned Reels Into Neverending Scroll of Murder, Gore, and Violence “Today’s algorithm showed me around 70 murders, 100+ accidents, and around 115 violence videos, is anyone on Instagram noticing it?”

The 'Instagore' story from last week is absolutely nuts and really flew under the radar.

No clear explanation either. Theories I've seen:
- deliberate sabotage, e.g. from a disgruntled employee?
- coding error, e.g. inverting ranking scores to show lowest first?

www.404media.co/instagram-er...

nobody knows about them here Michael please keep this on the DL

Zo fout!!

As a 31-year old male I suppose I'm the target audience, but it's sickening to see practically every other ad on major platforms trying to lure me into gambling my savings away.

Online gambling is a social crisis in the making, and a ticking time bomb for online content regulation.

Growing up in Holland, bookies and sports betting were practically unheard of. Our neoliberal government deregulated online casino's in the early 2020s, and now it's everywhere. Disgusting.

Musk and the Right Co-Opt the Left’s Critique of U.S. Power Suspicion about covert operations and soft power used to be mostly the purview of the left. No more.

Whither (anti-)imperialism? Very interesting read on geopolitical realignments, first on the left and now on the right, regarding soft-power programmes like USAID.

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/u...