Robert Gorwa is a researcher interested in platform governance and other transnational policy challenges posed by digitized capitalism. He is a postdoctoral fellow at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
The dream of a democratic web has turned into a nightmare of moderation crises, content mines, and billionaire overlords. Rebuilding digital spaces for meaningful participation in a post-X future will require nothing less than reclaiming the digital commons.
Platform Socialism is a vital contribution to a left vision for tech, but it fails to fully account for the ways Big Tech is wedded to finance capital. Socializing giant platforms may only be possible in the context of broader political transformations.