Issues

Platform Accountability & Governance

Online platforms increasingly permeate our lives. We use them to find and read the news, to buy goods, to find and book travel, to date, to find a place to live, and more. EPIC advocates for platform governance and accountability policies that protect the speech, privacy, anti-discrimination, and safety rights of internet users.

Background

Platforms offer many beneficial services to users, but the way platforms are designed can also cause harm on individuals and society. EPIC’s Platform Governance and Accountability program focuses on understanding how online platforms operate, where those operations cause harm, and how the incentives platform companies face can be changed to minimize or mitigate harms without creating new ones.

To achieve these goals, EPIC advocates for logical, human-centered platform rules that protect users’ rights and safety. EPIC recognizes that online platforms are complex, so regulating them involves tradeoffs between important values. EPIC works to ensure that platforms are held accountable for violating the law by advocating for reasonable interpretation of the First Amendment, Section 230, and Article III standing. EPIC’s Platform Governance and Accountability team coordinates and files amicus briefs in key cases, provides support to litigators, consults with lawmakers, and engages with regulators.

Areas of Focus Within Platform Accountability and Governance

Get more detail on issues related to platform accountability and governance.

  • Age Assurance

    To protect children online, various statutory and regulatory proposals recommend estimating or verifying users' ages. EPIC's work focuses on determining when age assurance is beneficial and when it is harmful.

  • Online Harassment

    Platforms and technologies used for online connection are also an avenue for online harassment and abuse, often fueled with private images and details.

  • Platform Governance Laws & Regulations

    Legislators are increasingly looking to pass laws that would regulate different practices and functions of online platforms to prevent harms to users.

  • Section 230

    The correct interpretation of Section 230 is crucial for ensuring that platform companies are held accountable when they harm their users.

  • The First Amendment

    Regulating online platforms sometimes implicates First Amendment concerns for users' speech and association rights.

Top Updates

EPIC and ACLU Encourage NIST to Advance Privacy and Equity in Digital Identity Guidelines

October 9, 2024

EPIC Urges NY Attorney General To Center Data Minimization and Age Determination Best Practices in Rulemaking for NY SAFE for Kids Act

October 1, 2024

In Texas Age Verification Case, EPIC Urges Supreme Court to Adopt Framework that Can Differentiate Unconstitutional Online Censorship Laws from Constitutional Kids’ Privacy and Safety Laws

September 23, 2024

All Updates

Contact EPIC’s Experts on Platform Accountability & Governance