In the first PEPTalk, Marijn Sax will engage in a conversation with two experts on the regulation of platform power: Naomi Appelman and Paddy Leerssen.

Naomi Appelman is a PhD researcher at the Institute of Information Law (IViR). Her research primarily looks at platform regulation and automated decision-making in online speech and content moderation from the perspective of democratic values and fundamental rights. She is doing her PhD within the broader context of the research initiative the Digital Transition of Decision-Making. Besides studying information law she also did a bachelors and masters in philosophy at the University of Amsterdam and studied at the international department of Keio University, Tokyo.

Paddy Leerssen is a PhD Candidate in Law at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) with a broad interest in media and communications law. His work on the governance of social media platforms brings together information law with perspectives from communications science and media studies to understand how European law shapes the transparency and accountability of algorithmic content distribution. His recent writing touches on disclosure requirements in the context of online political advertising, the regulation of hate speech and disinformation, and algorithmic content recommendations.

Marijn Sax is a postdoc at the Institute for Information Law. He has a background in Political Science and Philosophy and is mainly interested in questions concerning ethics and technology (e.g., privacy, autonomy, manipulation). His PhD project focused on for-profit health apps, consumer manipulation, and consumer law and he is currently working on issues of algorithmic news diversity.

Please email us at PEPT@uva.nl to receive the Zoom link and/or to subscribe to our mailing list.

About PEPTalks

Every month the Platform for the Ethics and Politics of Technology (PEPT) will host a session on a topic related to PEPT: the PEPTalks. Researchers from several disciplines will host the monthly talk and elaborate on their field of expertise within the context of the ethics and/or politics of technologies.

Several researchers representing various disciplines related to the platform will organise talks, book presentations, discussions, panel debates and so on. This means that each talk will be unique and will come with a different point of view on the ethics and/or politics of recent technologies.  

If you want to stay updated, please email us at PEPT@uva.nl to subscribe to our mailing list. Via the mailing list you will stay up-to-date with the output and initiatives of the platform and you will receive the Zoom link to attend the PEPTalks.

If you are interested in PEPT and if you would like to collaborate with us or if you would like to organise a PEPTalk, please email us at PEPT@uva.nl.