Miriam Buiten - Trust in information technology: Legal aspects of regulating Big Tech

FRIAS Lunch Lecture from 18 November 2021 with Prof. Dr. Miriam Buiten from the University of St. Gallen

Online platforms are becoming increasingly important as a source of information and for forming opinions. Online platforms organize and sort the unmanageable amount of contributions on the Internet and thus significantly shape which content is findable and highly visible for users. Personalized, algorithm-driven content delivery has come under increasing criticism in recent years. There are concerns that personalization leads to filter bubbles in which users are shown similar content over and over again. Online platforms have evolved from neutral intermediaries to a form of private ordering, where online platforms essentially set the standards for public discourse on their own. Given the growing importance of online platforms for media reception, questions arise about how to ensure diversity and regulate news dissemination online. This presentation explores the extent to which current and proposed EU regulation of online platforms can contribute to content diversity in order to promote public discourse and democratic opinion formation.

More information on the FRIAS Lunch Lectures 2021/22: https://www.frias.uni-freiburg.de/de/veranstaltungen/lunch-lectures/en/events/lunch-lectures/de/veranstaltungen/lunch-lectures/former-lectures/ll21-22-trust-sciences