Abstract
A new generation of progressive social media reformers argue that consumers should be able to design or choose algorithmic filters across interoperable platforms: “middleware.” Advocates have sometimes called this the “fediverse,” short for “federated universe.” (We could also imagine such a federated approach to data collection practices, where consumers control the ways in which companies collect, use, and share personal information across platforms.) This approach would only apply to platforms that adhere to a common technical protocol, not unlike, for example, email or the World Wide Web. Users on one platform would be able to post and receive information from users on any other platform, as long the respective platforms employ the common protocol. One of the more recent high-profile interventions in this vein include the op-ed by 50 prominent scholars and civil society groups in Le Monde in September 2024. By invoking unbundling norms generally associated with competition law, the argument for “algorithmic pluralism” could be a more effective way of attending to the power that some online services have over the networked information economy. As proposed, however, middleware would not necessarily dislodge the market power that the largest online services wield since, without clear antitrust and consumer protection regulatory protections, such companies may refuse to implement the common protocol. It is likely, moreover, that such an intervention would create new dominant players in the market for protocols.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2025 Special Focus—From Democratic Aesthetics to Digital Culture
KEYWORDS
Middleware, Fediverse, Social Media, Communications, Competition, Consumer Protection
