Freedom of Expression in the Platform Society

Born 1989; law studies at Bucerius Law School, Hamburg and in Saint Petersburg; legal clerkship at the Berlin Court of Appeal; research associate at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society; non-resident fellow with the Global Public Policy Institute; non-resident fellow with the Global Public Policy Institute; policy officer at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action; 2023 doctorate (University of Hamburg).

• IntroductionI. Setting the stage - II. Hypothesis and research questions - III. Research scope - IV. Research design - V. Conceptual clarification: governance and regulationChapter 1. First-order online speech governance: content moderationI. What is content moderation? - II. What role does context play in content moderation? - III. To what extent does content moderation impact freedom of expression? - IV. How do different incentives and constraints influence platform companies' decision-making regarding content moderation? - V. ConclusionChapter 2. Second-order online speech governance: platform regulationI. How has platform regulation evolved in the EU? - II. What are the rationales behind platform regulation? - III. How does platform regulation interact with other influences on platform companies' decision-making? - IV. How does platform regulation operate in practice? - V. ConclusionChapter 3. Third-order online speech governance: freedom of expressionI. To what extent does platform regulation allow public authorities to launder state action through platform companies' private ordering? - II. To what extent does the case law of the ECtHR and the CJEU on causation and attribution provide avenues for overcoming the risks of laundered state action in the context of platform regulation? - III. How can limitations of users' right to freedom of expression be established where public authorities require platform companies to moderate content? - IV. To what extent are public authorities obligated to minimize the risks of over-blocking in the context of platform regulation in order to justify limitations of users' right to freedom of expression? - V. ConclusionConclusion