The Covid-19 'infodemic' and conflict resolution by internet platforms.

Internet platforms fulfil a central role in what the European Commission and the WHO recently have labeled the Covid-19 'infodemic'. After the outbreak of the pandemic, these internationally active platforms like YouTube and Twitter have rapidly drafted rules on what is and what is not allowed when posting content on Covid-19. They have also taken action against Dutch users based on these rules. Within one year, at least four procedures regarding the application of rules on disinformation have been instigated before judges hearing provisional relief proceedings. The academic literature is increasingly paying attention to the establishment of non-state norms on internet platforms and to the way in which conflicts about and between these norms are being solved. The Covid-19 pandemic provides an impulse for the development of norms on disinformation, especially in relation to public health. Do we see convergence of norms between online platforms? How can this convergence of norms be explained? Is this convergence of norms desirable? And what role does the state play in this regard? These questions are the central focus of this research project.
 
This project is part of 'Conflict resolution in an era of COVID-19' under the program of the Dutch Research Agenda small projects for NWA routes. Click here and here for more information.