ABSTRACT This paper examines the regulation of technology platform companies providing a platform for user-generated media content while playing an increasingly dominant role in the global flow of news and information. In doing so, platform companies play a crucial role in modern civic life, by deciding which content will reach users, engage the public's attention, and be deemed credible. It is therefore crucial that we choose means of regulation that foster democratic values and robust civic engagement. In this paper we focus on the regulation of ‘computational propaganda', including misinformation and ‘fake news', the rise of synthetic media and so-called ‘deep fakes', and novel forms of algorithmic injustice, such as the manipulation of search engine results and their effect on elections. We argue that many existing regulations fall short in that they adopt an approach that views regulation as a battle between two competing powers, or ‘empires’ – that of the regulatory state versus the big tech companies. Accordingly, they approach regulation as a means of redistributing power between these two players, while discounting the end user, and they often involve unjustified restrictions of free speech through the imposition of content controls.

中文翻译：

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帝国的冲突：规范对公民社会的技术威胁

摘要 本文研究了为用户生成的媒体内容提供平台同时在全球新闻和信息流动中发挥越来越主导作用的技术平台公司的监管。在这样做的过程中，平台公司在现代公民生活中发挥着至关重要的作用，决定哪些内容将到达用户，吸引公众的注意力，并被认为是可信的。因此，我们选择能够促进民主价值观和强有力的公民参与的监管手段至关重要。在本文中，我们重点关注“计算宣传”的监管，包括错误信息和“假新闻”、合成媒体的兴起和所谓的“深度造假”，以及算法不公正的新形式，例如对搜索引擎的操纵结果及其对选举的影响。我们认为，许多现有法规的不足之处在于，它们采用的方法将监管视为两个相互竞争的权力或“帝国”之间的战斗——监管国家与大型科技公司之间的斗争。因此，他们将监管作为在这两个参与者之间重新分配权力的一种手段，同时对最终用户打折扣，并且他们经常通过实施内容控制来不合理地限制言论自由。