Platform Governance and Social Justice: Governing Hate Speech on Social Media

Without a doubt, platforms govern us, and they themselves are governed (Gorwa, 2019). However, despite academic efforts to clarify this division, a subtle discursive connection exists between external regulations and how platforms adopt, apply and transform them. Hate speech regulation exemplifies this phenomenon. Hate speech and its tradition have always invoked the political values of freedom, equality and security. In alluding to these values and implementing consequential hate speech regulation, platforms have forged a connection with the tradition of hate speech while adapting the meaning to serve their own interests. As a result, there is no disruption in discourse, but rather a continuity that positions social media platforms as key shapers of the larger hate speech regulation debate.