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Constitutional metaphors: Facebook’s “supreme court” and the legitimation of platform governance

  • Who governs—and who should govern—online communication? Social media companies, international organizations, users, or the state? And by what means? A range of rhetorical devices have been used to simplify the complexities associated with the governance of online platforms. This includes “constitutional metaphors”: metaphorical allusions to traditional political concepts such as statehood, democracy, and constitutionalism. Here, we empirically trace the ascent of a powerful constitutional metaphor currently employed in the news media discourse on platform governance: characterizations of Facebook’s Oversight Board (OB) as a “supreme court.” We investigate the metaphor’s descriptive suitability and question its normative and political ramifications. We argue that uncritical characterizations of the OB as Facebook’s “supreme court” obscure its true scope and purpose. In addition, we argue that appropriating the socio-cultural symbolism and hence political legitimacy of a supreme court and mapping it onto a different type of actor poses a threat to responsible platform governance.

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Metadaten
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Author(s):Josh Cowls, Philipp DariusORCiD, Dominiquo Santistevan, Moritz Schramm
Parent Title (English):New Media and Society
Publication year:2022
Publishing Institution:Hertie School
Related URL:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/14614448221085559
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221085559
Release Date:2022/08/09
Tag:Oversight Board; constitutional metaphors; content analysis; digital constitutionalism; platform governance
Hertie School Research:Publications PhD Researchers
Centre for Digital Governance
Licence of document (German):Metadaten / metadata
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