Lab Platform Governance, Media and Technology (PGMT)

Research on Platform Governance and AI

The Lab “Platform Governance, Media, and Technology” (PGMT) does research, teaching and knowledge transfer at the intersection of governance, digital communication and new technologies. We are particularly interested in platforms and their governance, as well the discursive, political and technological construction of “artificial intelligence” (AI). This website is to showcase a repertoire of our activities. Please also visit our official page at our home institution, the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI), University of Bremen.

Research

The PGMT Lab does research, teaching and knowledge transfer at the intersection of governance, digital communication and new technologies.

Online Talk Series

We are hosting a monthly online conversation on empirical research on platform governance.  Each session consists of a short input talk by a scholar, followed by ample time for discussions and exchange.

Platform Governance Archive

We are hosting the Platform Governance Archive (PGA) – a longitudinal data repository and interface on social media platforms’ policies and content moderations guidelines.

  • Interdisciplinary Erasmus+ blended-intensive programme a success

    Interdisciplinary Erasmus+ blended-intensive programme a success

    More than 20 students and ten instructors from universities across Europe spent a week in beautiful Padova for the final phase and highlight of their Erasmus+ “blended-intensive programme” (BIP). The in-person component of the BIP “Digital Constitutionalism and Platform Governance” took place in late September at the Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies…

  • Platforms overwhelmingly use automated content moderation, first DSA transparency reports show

    Platforms overwhelmingly use automated content moderation, first DSA transparency reports show

    November 6th 2023 was the first deadline for platforms categorised as “Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs)” by the EU to deliver their transparency reports. The EU’s new Digital Services Act (DSA) demands VLOPs to publish these twice a year, containing standardized information about the number of users and aggregated numbers of content moderation decisions taken…

  • Social media governance discussion with three Georgian legal scholars

    Social media governance discussion with three Georgian legal scholars

    On 2 November 2023, at Haus der Wissenschaft, three guest speakers from Georgia participated in a public panel discussion with host and PGMT member Dr. Dennis Redeker. The two-hour session was moderated by PGMT member Vasilisa Kuznetsova. The public event under the auspices of ZeMKI, University of Bremen, included a lively discussion with a small…

  • X (formerly Twitter) softens its violent speech policy 

    X (formerly Twitter) softens its violent speech policy 

    On the 25th of October 2023, the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, made changes in their global Community Guidelines policy.  According to the Platform Governance Archive, a data depository which automatically tracks policy changes on  18 platforms, X significantly softened its violent speech policy.  In 2023, violent speech is defined by X (and…

  • Public panel discussion on social media governance in Georgia and beyond

    Public panel discussion on social media governance in Georgia and beyond

    On Thursday, 02 November 2023, Member of the ZeMKI’s Platform Governance, Media, and Technology Lab Dr. Dennis Redeker convenes a panel discussion entitled “Building Trust in the Digital Age: How to fight hate and misinformation on social media – in Georgia and beyond”. The public event will take place at 17:00-19:00h at Haus der Wissenschaft…

  • Meta changes its policy on sadistic imagery and violence as the Israeli–Palestinian conflict escalates

    Meta · Community Guidelines · 17 October, 2023 *The following post may contain explicit language and content that could be distressing to some readers On October 17, Instagram and Facebook changed their Community Guidelines to specifically prohibit sadistic posts containing imagery of deceased babies. While before the corresponding policy section forbade the posting of  “sadistic…

  • PGMT member presents at the UN IGF in Kyoto

    PGMT member presents at the UN IGF in Kyoto

    Member of ZeMKI and the Platform Governance, Media, and Technology Lab, Dr. Dennis Redeker, attends the 2023 United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Kyoto, Japan to conduct research and present research and teaching activities. In Japan, Dennis pursues background conversations, individual interviews and focus group interviews with stakeholders in the UN Global Digital Compact consultation and negotiation processes. This research is part…

  • New book by Dennis Redeker (PGMT) and colleagues: “The Content Governance Dilemma”

    New book by Dennis Redeker (PGMT) and colleagues: “The Content Governance Dilemma”

    In July 2023, PGMT member Dr. Dennis Redeker – together with Dr. Edoardo Celeste (Dublin City University), Dr. Nicola Palladino (Trinity College Dublin) and Dr. Kinfe Yilma (Addis Ababa University) – published a new book with Palgrave Macmillan. “The Content Governance Dilemma: Digital Constitutionalism, Social Media and the Search for a Global Standard” can be…

  • Portrait of Lab Lead and PGMT work

    Portrait of Lab Lead and PGMT work

    The online magazine Up2Date of the University of Bremen has produced a nice portrait of the head of the PGMT Lab Christian Katzenbach and of the work at PGMT. The text focussed on our wok on discourses and regulation of AI, specifically on the projects Shaping AI and Imaginaries of AI. The article quotes Christian…

  • PGMT at #IAMCR2023

    Good morning! Today #IAMCR2023 is starting with the full programm in Lyon and online. The PGMT team is directly starting with two competing presentations at 8:30 this Monday: Then on Wednesday: Don’t hesitate to reach out to us either via mail, or catch Adrian, Daria, or Vanessa in the hallways in Lyon.