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Epistemic power of platforms and EU digital law : towards an epistemic welfare paradigm
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1028-3625
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EUI; RSC; Working Paper; 2025/26; Global Governance Programme
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MAJCHER, Klaudia, Epistemic power of platforms and EU digital law : towards an epistemic welfare paradigm, EUI, RSC, Working Paper, 2025/26, Global Governance Programme - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/92968
Abstract
The media are a highly impactful institution in any democratic system and a core knowledge infrastructure that empowers citizens. However, the unprecedented influence of large online platforms over information production and distribution has in recent years caused severe disruptions to the knowledge market, threatening the sustainability of traditional publishing and epistemic well-being of individuals. Given that information is a fundamental social good, its control and governance warrant rigorous scrutiny. Cast in the language of epistemology, power, and welfare, this article provides reflections on how the approach to platforms’ influence over the modern knowledge regime should be rethought, offering a two-fold contribution. First, it introduces the new concepts epistemic power and epistemic welfare, seeking to articulate the extent of tech companies’ influence over the contemporary digital information regime and define the aspect of individual well-being that may be jeopardised when epistemic power is excessively exercised or misused. As is argues, these new notions can not only help us deepen our understanding of the ongoing platform-driven transformations within the information ecosystem, but they are also essential to chart a course for EU policy and legal responses. Second, the article examines EU digital law – specifically digital competition law and selected digital regulations, including the Digital Markets Act, the Digital Services Act, and the European Media Freedom Act – for their potential to address distortions caused by epistemic power and to promote epistemic welfare of citizens.