policyreview.info/articles/ana...

#DSA #DigitalServicesAct #DigitalGovernance #Polcomm #PolSci

@hertieschool.bsky.social @delorsberlin.bsky.social @gesis.org @cais-research.bsky.social

4️⃣ Summarise key challenges and formulate requirements for data access to enable robust and reproducible election research.

3️⃣ Discuss relevant DSA provisions that aim to improve data access for academic research, as well as different data access paths and modalities, including alternatives to APIs such as web scraping and data donations.

2️⃣ Provide a historical overview (see graphic) of how data access modalities have changed over the last two decades of digital platform research. From the digital golden age to the post-API age, and nowadays a potential age of regulated data access (at least in some parts of the world).

1️⃣ Review central research questions and relevant data types for election research from the supply- and demand-side of political communication and politics.

Thanks to my fantastic co-authors @johannesbreuer.com, @meinungsfuehrer.bsky.social, @feloe.bsky.social, @jasminriedl.bsky.social, @sebstier.bsky.social for the collaboration.

In the paper, we:
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@wiebkedrews.bsky.social @jasminriedl.bsky.social @projekt-sparta.bsky.social

osf.io/preprints/so...

This is a crucial step (and our next step) toward evaluating whether platform algorithms contribute to structural biases and asymmetries in political communication 🛡️ 🇪🇺

API-based behavioural data cannot reveal exposure dynamics or algorithmic amplification. With new data-access mechanisms under the #DSA, there are now pathways to request recommender-system metadata and exposure data.

What remains opaque, however, is the role of recommender systems in shaping these asymmetric political information environments 🌐 ⚙️

We find that parties known for Eurosceptic issue positions and for using highly emotional communication styles were especially successful in generating engagement 📈

Radical populist parties on both ends of the ideological spectrum, but especially on the radical right, received disproportionately high engagement in the form of likes across multiple platforms.

Our analysis based on the #EUDigiParty dataset, covering the activity of all relevant European political parties across five major social media platforms, shows a clear pattern in the run-up to the 2024 European Parliament elections 📊

There is growing debate around #digitalsovereignty, and one essential step toward strengthening democratic sovereignty is to understand how political actors operate and are amplified on major social media platforms, many of which are operated outside of Europe 🇺🇲 🇨🇳

Dies hilft schließlich auch den Unternehmen, die damit kostenlose Unterstützung bekommen ihre Systeme sicherer und besser zu gestalten💡 🦺

Diese ziviligesellschaftlichen Instrumente sollten nun auch verstärkt in #KI-Policy eingesetzt werden, damit Forschende KI-Systeme wie #LLMs systematisch auf Risiken und Biases untersuchen können.

Und schon jetzt ist klar, dass der hashtag#DSA einen neuen regulatorisch vorgeschriebenen Zugang zu Daten für Forschende ermöglicht und somit hoffentlich zu einem besseren Verständnis von Risiken in digitalen Informationsumgebungen beiträgt.

Wie wird auf digitale Plattformen wie #Twitter / X Einfluss genommen? Welche Probleme und Gefahren stellt die Einflussnahme dar? Und wie kann die #EU Mithilfe des #DSA dagegen vorgehen? Dazu referieren @luisequaritsch.bsky.social und @philippdarius.bsky.social vor vollem Haus im Q-Club.