Iglesias Kelle , Cla a; Ohme, Jakob; Seiling, Lukas; Neube ge , Ch is oph
Wo king Pape
Regula ing Digi al Pla o ms in Times o Democ a ic C isis
– Wha is Nex o Ge many and he EU?
Weizenbaum Discussion Pape , No. 45
P o ided in Coope a ion wi h:
WZB Be lin Social Science Cen e
Sugges ed Ci a ion: Iglesias Kelle , Cla a; Ohme, Jakob; Seiling, Lukas; Neube ge , Ch is oph (2025) :
Regula ing Digi al Pla o ms in Times o Democ a ic C isis – Wha is Nex o Ge many and he EU?,
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# 45
Feb ua y 2025
Cla a Iglesias Kelle , Jakob Ohme, Lukas Seiling, Ch is oph Neube ge
Regula ing Digi al Pla o ms in
Times o Democ a ic C isis –
Wha is Nex o Ge many and
he EU?
#45 Regula ing Digi al Pla o ms in Times o Democ a ic C isis
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Cla a Iglesias Kelle Weizenbaum Ins i u e WZB Be lin Social Science Cen e
Jakob Ohme Weizenbaum Ins i u e
Lukas Seiling Weizenbaum Ins i u e
Ch is oph Neube ge Weizenbaum Ins i u e F eie Uni e si ä Be lin
Con ac : cla a.kelle @wzb.eu
ABOUT THIS PAPER
Weizenbaum Discussion Pape s p esen esul s om he ongoing esea ch o he ins i u e.
The se ies is open o di e en publica ion o ma s such as monog aphs, echnical epo s,
p ep in s, wo king pape s and many mo e.
ABOUT THE WEIZENBAUM INSTITUTE
The Weizenbaum Ins i u e is a join p ojec unded by he Ge man Fede al Minis y o Edu-
ca ion and Resea ch (BMBF) and he S a e o Be lin. I conduc s in e disciplina y and basic
esea ch on he digi al ans o ma ion o socie y and p o ides e idence- and alue-based
op ions o ac ion in o de o shape digi aliza ion in a sus ainable, sel -de e mined and e-
sponsible manne .
#45 Regula ing Digi al Pla o ms in Times o Democ a ic C isis 3
Abs ac
This pape examines ecen changes in he con en mode a ion p ac ices o majo social me-
dia companies. Digi al pla o ms ha e become a de ining ea u e o con empo a y socie ies. As
hei in as uc u es inc easingly media e comme cial ac i i y, poli ical o ganiza ion, cul u al
li e, and mo e, he e ac ion o measu es mean o uphold s anda ds and us in hei in lu-
ence o e online speech aises signi ican conce ns. This pape b ie ly analyzes hese de elop-
men s in he con ex o ongoing p ocesses o democ a ic e osion, pa icula ly in he U.S. The
goal is o os e u u e esea ch and public deba e by o e ing key insigh s in o he implica ions
o he cu en scena io o Ge many and he Eu opean Union.
Weizenbaum Discussion Pape
Regula ing Digi al Pla o ms in Times o Democ a ic
C isis – Wha is Nex o Ge many and he EU?
Cla a Iglesias Kelle , Jakob Ohme, Lukas Seiling, Ch is oph Neube ge
#45 Regula ing Digi al Pla o ms in Times o Democ a ic C isis 4
I. A B ie Analysis: Powe , Democ acy, and Digi al
Communica ions
1. Me a’s CEO Ma k Zucke be g ecen ly announced signi ican changes in i s con en mode -
a ion p ac ices in he Uni ed S a es. These changes include he e mina ion o pa ne ships
wi h ac -checking o ganiza ions, eplaced by communi y no es like hose implemen ed
on he pla o m X ( o me ly Twi e ); he elaxa ion o es ic ions on opics such as immi-
g a ion and gende ; he na owing o au oma ed il e applica ions; and a commi men o
collabo a e closely wi h P esiden T ump o oppose agains in e na ional social media eg-
ula ions. This shi in in e nal policies mi o s he app oach aken by X unde Elon Musk’s
leade ship. Among o he changes, he new adminis a ion dissol ed he T us and Sa e y
Council, eins a ed accoun s belonging o a - igh igu es, suspended jou nalis s, and in-
oduced cha ges o e i ica ion badges (in a mo e ha comp omises in o ma ion indica-
o s mean o inc ease us ) (Zucke be g, 2025).
2. The exp ession “pla o m powe ” ( an Dijck, Niebo g, and Poell, 2019) ap ly cap u es how
digi al pla o ms like Me a’s o X ha e become inc easingly in luen ial economic and poli i-
cal ac o s. Resea che s apply his idea o he di e en dimensions h ough which his pow-
e is exe cised. “Ma ke powe ,” o ins ance, is exp essed in hei ele ance as dominan
economic ac o s in nea ly oligopolis ic ma ke s (Wu, 2018). The idea o “s uc u al powe ,”
in u n, e e s o hei capaci y o in luence he s uc u es ha de ine how people and ins i-
u ions ela e o one ano he (Belli, 2022).
3. Pa icula ly ele an o he p esen con ex is he idea o “sys emic powe o e opinion” (Hel-
be ge , 2020; Junghe e al., 2019; Neube ge , 2018), a compa ison o how adi ional media
ehicles exe in luence o e public opinion. Legacy media’s powe o e opinion lies in how
hey make edi o ial decisions abou wha opics o p esen and how o p esen hem in pub-
lic discou se. While digi al pla o ms do no make hese decisions in he same e ms, hey
highly in luence in o ma ion and a en ion luxes online, e.g., h ough algo i hm design and
con en il e s ope a ed bo h by humans and au oma ed ools. Go e nance o e hei own
in as uc u es gi es hem sys emic powe o e public opinion, as pla o ms de e mine,
acco ding o hei own comme cial in e es s, wha and whose speech should be blocked,
allowed, o p omo ed.
4. Pla o ms’ s anda ds and p ocedu es o in luencing speech online—like he Communi y
Guidelines o big pla o ms—can be iewed as a con inua ion o he longs anding deba e
o e how o s ee in e e ence in online speech owa d public alues. Whe he o ad ance
his goal o o p eemp s a e egula ion, hese companies ha e de eloped in e nal mecha-
nisms ha in oduce some le el o sa egua ds o hei decisions, albei while p ese ing he
concen a ion o powe allowed by hei business model.
#45 Regula ing Digi al Pla o ms in Times o Democ a ic C isis 5
5. The ecen de elopmen s he ein desc ibed ep esen a shi in hese e o s o imp o e he
go e nance o speech online, wi h hei consequences s ill unce ain. Fo ins ance, while
pa ne ships wi h ac -checke s play a ole in p omo ing plu alis in o ma ion in digi al
communica ions, his a angemen has been c i icized as a “dis ibu ion o esponsibili y”
(Caplan, 2023) ha imp o ed he pe cep ion, bu no he ac ual ealiza ion, o accoun abili-
y. Mo eo e , empi ical s udies ha e demons a ed he limi ed e ec i eness o ac -check-
ing in educing he accep ance o disin o ma ion, as poli ical p e e ences emain he p i-
ma y de e minan (Pe ei a e al., 2018; Mou ão and Robe son, 2019). Simila ly, he c i e ia
unde pinning au oma ed il e s ha e long been a sou ce o conce n, owing o hei opaci y
and echnical inaccu acies.
6. Bu he ideological o ien a ion o hese changes is e iden . Bo h he o m and con en o
he announcemen esona e wi h hemes and wo ld iews pa icula ly popula wi hin a -
igh poli ics. Zucke be g’s he o ic an agonized p o essional jou nalism and legacy media,
which he blamed o allegedly p omo ing censo ship. Con a y o p e ious announcemen s,
Me a also owed o inc ease a he han educe he amoun o poli ical con en (Boo h, 2025)
while simul aneously e ising i s communi y guidelines (Schneide , 2025). Whe eas p e i-
ous s anda ds we e ounded on he impo ance o coun e ing ha e speech and p o ec ing
mino i ies, he la es e ision explici ly allows “ oom o [...] ypes o speech” ha “call o
exclusion o use insul ing language in he con ex o discussing poli ical o eligious op-
ics, such as when discussing ansgende igh s, immig a ion, o homosexuali y.” Examples
include he “allega ions o men al illness o abno mali y when based on gende o sexual
o ien a ion” o he compa ison o people o “ce ain objec s (women as household objec s o
p ope y o objec s in gene al; Black people as a m equipmen ; ansgende o non-bina y
people as ‘i ’)” (Schneide , 2025).
7. These shi s in pla o m policy go hand in hand wi h o ganiza ional changes in he compa-
ny, as Me a dissol ed i s di e si y and inclusion p og am. Al oge he , hese managemen
decisions signal a po en ial acili a ion o he sp ead o a - igh con en on i s pla o ms,
which could well be ollowed by an inc ease in online iolence owa d ma ginalized g oups.
Ul ima ely, we a e looking a he possibili y o Me a's pla o ms u ning in o spaces de ined
by he p omo ion o al - igh ideologies.
8. The poli ical con ex o hese de elopmen s is he second T ump p esidency, a p ojec o
go e nmen openly aligned wi h illibe al goals. In ecen yea s, esea che s ha e used ex-
is ing and in oduced new e minologies o desc ibe con ex s in which poli ical p ocesses
ha e isibly dis up ed he no ms o libe al democ acy ( he i s T ump p esidency being an
ou s anding example). Among hese e ms, "illibe alism" cap u es ideological and ins i u-
ional shi s cha ac e ized by a undamen al con adic ion: illibe al ac o s unde mine lib-
e al alues—like eedom o speech and democ a ic pa icipa ion—while elying p ecisely
on hese ins i u ions (Š ě ka and Mihelj, 2024). Me a’s ecen policy changes bo owed di-
ec ly om he illibe al playbook, pa icula ly ega ding i s na a i e o hal ing censo ship
#45 Regula ing Digi al Pla o ms in Times o Democ a ic C isis 6
and p omo ing ee speech while e ac ing ins i u ional ad ancemen s o iginally mean
o allow o sa e and plu al deba e. The leade ship o o he ele an ech companies, like X,
Google, Amazon, Apple, OpenAI, and TikTok, has also allen in line wi h he Ame ican p esi-
den , ei he h ough sizable campaign con ibu ions o explici s a emen s.
9. This close collabo a ion wi h he T ump p esidency e lec s an en anglemen o s a e and
pla o m powe wi h g ea po en ial o unde mine democ a ic checks. Wi hin he Uni ed
S a es his collabo a ion may p o ide he new go e nmen wi h a obus communica ions
in as uc u e o mobilize ollowe s and in luence public deba e o consolida e and main-
ain poli ical powe .
10. Possible implica ions also ex end o global geopoli ics. Following Zucke be g’s announce-
men , Me a cla i ied ha i would no change i s con en mode a ion policies in Eu ope.
Howe e , he o iginal s a emen explici ly highligh ed an in en ion o “wo k wi h P esiden
T ump o push back on go e nmen s a ound he wo ld ha a e going a e Ame ican com-
panies and pushing o censo mo e,” naming “an e e -inc easing numbe o laws ins i u-
ionalizing censo ship” in Eu ope s aigh a e wa d. This sugges s ha digi al pla o ms’
alignmen wi h illibe al ideologies is in e wined wi h hei desi e o a oid egula ion. As a
esul , social media pla o ms may end up suppo ing poli icians ha side wi h hei com-
me cial in e es s—whe he h ough discou se, inancial con ibu ions, o exe ing “powe
o e opinion” o a o hei poli ical p ojec s (Zucke be g, 2025).
11. In Ge many, we ha e a clea example o how his dynamic migh un old ou side o he U.S.,
since Elon Musk explici ly used his pla o m X o call o Ge mans o o e o he A D. Tech
eli es explici ly a o ing candida es in o eign coun ies shows how pla o ms a e s eng h-
ening hei poli ical s ances and using hei powe o change poli ical eali y o hei a o .
Ul ima ely, social ne wo ks migh no only be used o in luence public deba e in a o o a
speci ic adical poli ical p ojec , bu also ha hei powe will po en ially un old o e he
elec ed poli icians in e es ed in le e aging hei digi al in as uc u e o poli ical gains.
II. Ou Conside a ions: Wha is Nex o Ge many and
he EU?
12. This aises he c ucial ques ion o wha lies ahead o Eu ope and Ge many, whe e hal ing he
ad ancemen o a - igh poli ics is a p essing agenda. The so o democ a ic c isis ha en-
ables he accep ance o ex eme poli ics by global co po a ions ex ends beyond he dynamics
o digi al communica ions. Ne e heless, aligning online business models close o public al-
ues is a undamen al ask o con empo a y democ acies, one which Eu ope is ecognized o
ha ing pionee ed.
#45 Regula ing Digi al Pla o ms in Times o Democ a ic C isis 7
13. This aises he c ucial ques ion o wha lies ahead o Eu ope and Ge many, whe e hal ing he
ad ancemen o a - igh poli ics is a p essing agenda. The so o democ a ic c isis ha en-
ables he accep ance o ex eme poli ics by global co po a ions ex ends beyond he dynamics
o digi al communica ions. Ne e heless, aligning online business models close o public al-
ues is a undamen al ask o con empo a y democ acies, one which Eu ope is ecognized o
ha ing pionee ed.
14. Since No embe 2022, he Digi al Se ices Ac (DSA) has been in o ce, wi h a binding egula o-
y amewo k ha imposes obliga ions on digi al pla o ms aimed a imp o ing anspa ency
and ai ness wi hin hei ope a ions. P e en ing illegal and ha m ul ac i i ies online, including
he sp ead o disin o ma ion, we e key a ionales o i s adop ion. Compliance wi h he DSA
is in ended o suppo he de elopmen o go e nance s uc u es akin o hose Me a is now
e ac ing. Bu i s e ec i eness la gely depends on success ul en o cemen , pa icula ly gi en
ha many o i s p o isions allow oom o p i a e companies o in e p e and de e mine how
o implemen hem.
15. Fo ins ance, A icle 22 p o ides o “ us ed lagge s,” i.e., ce i ied en i ies ha de ec po en-
ially illegal o ha m ul con en and ale pla o ms, who a e obliga ed o p io i ize p ocessing
o hei no i ica ions. The ul ima e decision o e aking down con en emains wi h he p o-
ide s.
16. A icle 34 manda es pla o ms o p oduce epo s assessing he se e i y and p obabili y o sys-
emic isks once a yea . Among he isks ha hese epo s should include a e opics p ecisely
ela ed o Me a’s illibe al s ance. This includes isks ela ed o he dissemina ion o illegal con-
en , ci il discou se, elec ions, undamen al igh s, and gende -based iolence. Howe e , hese
legal ca ego ies a e also open o in e p e a ion. They do no bind pla o ms o speci ic o ms
o con en mode a ion (i.e., hey a e ee o adop communi y no es o no ), meaning ha he
decision on wha con en imposes sys emic isk (o e en, wha sys emic isk means) and wha
o do abou i (e.g., which ecommenda ion sys ems should be e iewed o no ) once again alls
in o he hands o he companies hemsel es.
17. A icle 40 equi es pla o ms o p o ide da a access o esea che s in es iga ing sys emic isks.
This is a ele an aspec o Eu opean sys emic isk go e nance (Seiling, Ohme and Klinge ,
2024), wi h esea ch da a access being pa o all o mal p oceedings he Eu opean Commis-
sion has hus a launched agains Ve y La ge Online Pla o ms (Eu opean Commission, 2025).
Once again, howe e , implemen a ion is challenging, as esea che s encoun e issues wi h
opaque and seemingly a bi a y decisions by pla o ms e ing hei access o da a, as well as
da a quali y issues (Jau sch, Ohme, and Klinge , 2024).
18. These p o isions ake an impo an s ep owa ds unde s anding and mi iga ing pla o ms’
sys emic powe o e opinion, a egula o y agenda ha now, mo e han e e , needs con inued
discussion. No ably, as he owne o a majo social pla o m (Elon Musk) is openly using i (X)
#45 Regula ing Digi al Pla o ms in Times o Democ a ic C isis 8
o dissemina e his own ( adical) poli ical opinions o a la ge audience, he eby ele a ing he
powe o in luence in o ma ion lows o no el le els. In Ge many, powe o e opinion is di ec -
ly egula ed in he Media S a e T ea y, whe e i applies o he na ional b oadcas ing ma ke .
Expanding his egula o y amewo k o in eg a e he digi al public sphe e and impose ules
es ic ing undue in luence o e opinion is an u gen ma e a bo h he Ge man and Eu ope-
an le els.
19. In he mean ime, i is undamen al o demand and closely moni o he ull en o cemen o he
DSA. Independen audi o s a e pa o he DSA’s en o cemen s uc u e and will annually e -
i y compliance. Ul ima ely, hei epo s, oge he wi h hose o pla o ms, will each en o ce-
men bodies like he Eu opean Boa d o Digi al Se ices and he Ge man digi al se ices co-
o dina o , he Bundesne zagen u . While hese ins i u ions ace signi ican challenges ahead,
esea ch sc u iny, p ac ical implemen a ion, and seconda y egula ions—whe e public bodies
in e p e and apply he legisla ion—will be c ucial o ensu ing he DSA achie es i s goals. This
means ha despi e he challenging ask ahead o hese ins i u ions, p ac ice and seconda y
egula ions— he ones whe e public bodies in e p e legisla ion—will be undamen al o en-
su ing ha he Eu opean DSA eaches i s goal.
20. The DSA is a s ep owa ds con o ming digi al business models o public alues, and does no , in
p inciple, p o ide o he possibili y o bans. Bu i pla o ms con inuously iola e he DSA ( o
ins ance, by no complying wi h A icles 22 and 40), he possibili y o suspension could amoun
o a ban in p ac ice. The ecen example o he TikTok ban in he U.S., howe e , shows ha an
ul ima e showdown be ween he EU egula o s and pla o ms migh be challenging, especially
gi en he legi imacy h eshold in ol ed, as communi ies can be highly esis an o he banning
o a popula pla o m.
21. Finally, he con e sa ion abou wha a democ a ic digi al public sphe e should look like in-
cludes en isioning an in o ma ion ecosys em wi h al e na i es o he cu en dominan mod-
els. De eloping pla o ms o ien ed owa ds he common good is an u gen challenge. In he
pas , simila demands ha e inspi ed amewo ks o public se ice media, a model ha p o-
ides in e es ing insigh s on how public alue-o ien ed communica ions can be adap ed o he
digi al ealm. F eedom, equali y, di e si y, and he o he ounding alues o libe al democ acy
emain non-nego iable benchma ks o his endea o .
