Online platforms are gradually converging with all kinds of sectors and institutions that structure Western democratic societies. From transportation to the hospitality sector, from education and journalism, the ecosystem of platforms is gradually infiltrating all pockets of life. Far from being a smooth and self-evident process, the ‘platform society’ is a confrontation between different value systems, a clash where nothing less than the balance between private and public interests is at stake. It involves a struggle between various social actors—governments and their institutions, global corporations and businesses, consumers and citizens—who all have stakes in the shaping of public values and common goods. This lecture will lay out the framework for discussion. How are platforms and their mechanisms implemented in various sectors? How does the struggle for the implementation of platforms reflect and construct the public values at stake in each sector and in different countries? And who is responsible and accountable for anchoring public values and defending the common good in a platform society?
