From Platform Governance to Generative AI:
Concepts, Methods, and Data for Studying Tech Governance
Date: 3-4 June 2025 Location: Bremen, Germany
Host: Lab Platform Governance, Media, and Technology, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI), University of Bremen and DFG Research Unit 5656 Communicative AI
Co-funded by
Download Call For Papers as .pdf (closed)
Plenary Speakers
University of Amsterdam,
Data, Culture & Institutions
University of Amsterdam,
Law & Digital Technology
UCLA (Gender Studies, Information Studies, Labor Studies)
Microsoft Research,
The Social Media Collective (SMC)
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF);
Centre for Internet & Human Rights (CIHR)
City St George’s, University of London,
Data Politics & Data Justice
German Federal Chancellery,
Deputy Head of division ‘Generally Digital Policy Issues’
Queensland University of Technology,
Law School;
ADM+S Centre
European Parliament,
AI & Digital Policy Advisor
Programme Structure
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
9:00 – 10:00 Welcome and Keynote Conversation: Where Do We Stand, and How Did We Get Here?
Chair: Christian Katzenbach (University of Bremen)
• Natali Helberger (University of Amsterdam)
• Tarleton Gillespie (Microsoft Research)
10:00 – 11:30 Panel 1
11:30 – 11:45 Coffee Break
11:45 – 12:45 Panel 2
12:45 – 14:15 Lunch (Markthalle)
14:15 – 15:45 Panel 3
15:45 – 16:00 Coffee break
16:00 – 17:30 Panel 4
19:30 Evening Panel: Critical Times: Power and Politics in Tech Governance
Welcome: Prof. Dr. Michal Kucera (Vice President, University of Bremen)
Moderation: Lisa-Maria Röhling
• Dr. Amélie Heldt (German Federal Chancellery)
• Prof. Thomas Poell (University of Amsterdam)
• Prof. Nicolas Suzor (Queensland University of Technology)
Wednesday, 4 June 2025
9:00 – 11:00 Parallel Session (Workshop + Panel 5)
11:00-11:15 Coffee break
11:15 – 12:45 Parallel Sessions (Panels 6+7)
12:45 – 14:15 Lunch (Markthalle)
14:15 – 15:45 Parallel Sessions (Panel 8+9)
15:45 – 16:00 Coffee break
16:00 – 17:00 Parallel Sessions (Panel 10+11)
17:00 – 18:00 Concluding Plenary Panel: Where Do We Go From Here?
Chair: Rebecca Scharlach (University of Bremen)
• Sarah T. Roberts (UCLA)
• Jilian York (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
• Elinor Carmi (City St George’s, University of London)
• Arnika Zinke (Greens/EFA, European Parliament)
Theme and Objective
The study of platform governance and generative AI has become increasingly critical as these technologies significantly (re)shape public discourse, societal norms, and policy-making processes. The advent of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT has resurfaced challenges long associated with social media platforms, including misinformation, bias, hate speech, discrimination, power and agency. In this context we have learned that how platforms recommend and regulate content and interactions constitutes an essential part of what they are, and strongly defines their role and responsibility in contemporary societies. What can we learn from these debates for generative AI? We need to assume that generative AI with its technologically advanced forms of automation embedded in complex digital infrastructures will rather exacerbate than relieve those challenges. Understanding these dynamics will be vital for informing public debate and developing regulatory frameworks that uphold human rights and democratic values.
The 2025 AoIR Flashpoint Symposium will convene researchers and experts on this topic at a critical time. We see public attention and daily routines partly move from social media platforms to generative AI. We observe a powerful and concerning alignment of technology companies and the US administration. The European Union and governments around the world aim to reign in both the excesses as well as the freedoms of social media.
The AoIR Flashpoint Symposium 2025 seeks to address these critical challenges by bringing together researchers of various disciplines, practitioners, and policymakers for a two-day symposium. The aim of the symposium is to foster collaboration and critical discourse concerning generative AI and social media platforms, and to enable the research community to more effectively produce robust and independent knowledge about these socio-technical systems and their effects.
Registration
Please register under the following link to participate in the Symposium. Registration fees are tiered and relatively low. At the registration site, you can also become a member of AoIR. The fees are: AoIR Member Student: €10.00; Student Non-member: €20.00; AoIR Member Professional & Post-Doc: €25.00; Professional & Post-Doc Non-member: €50.00.
https://members.aoir.org/event-6113333
Venue
The symposium will take place at the Baumwollbörse, located in the city centre. The train station “Bremen Hbf” and the Bremen International Airport (BRE) are well-connected to the location of the symposium (Baumwollbörse). Hotels we heard good things about:
● Radisson Blu, close to venue
● H+ Hotel Bremen, close to venue
● Grand Hotel Atlantic, close to venue
● MotelOne Bremen
● InterCity Hotel, near station
● Courtyard by Marriott Bremen, near station
● John & Will Silo-Hotel by Guldsmeden, just opened
Conference Organisation
Daria Dergacheva, Kim Ermler, Christian Katzenbach, Dennis Redeker, Luisa Runge, Rebecca Scharlach
Lab Platform Governance, Media, and Technology (PGMT)
Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI), University of Bremen