The Platform Governance Archive (PGA) is a data repository and platform that collects and curates policies of major social media platforms in a long-term perspective. When have YouTube and Instagram introduced hate speech policies? How have misinformation policies changed over time? With the help of the archive, researchers, journalists and the public can answer their questions on how platforms order and govern communication and interaction in our societies, and hold those powerful new institutions accountable.
Data
Explore and download the PGA datasets.
Explore
Explore the historical dataset in an interactive visualisation with timelines of changes.
Research
Explore existing research on platform policies based on PGA data and beyond.
The PGA is hosted by Lab Platform Governance, Media, and Technology at the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI), University of Bremen and led by Christian Katzenbach. We collaborate with the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), the University of Groningen, and Open Terms Archive for the curation and collection of the policies.
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X (formerly Twitter) softens its violent speech policy
On the 25th of October 2023, the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, made changes in their global Community Guidelines policy. According to the Platform Governance Archive, a data depository which automatically tracks policy changes on 18 platforms, X significantly softened its violent speech policy. In 2023, violent speech is defined by X (and…
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Meta changes its policy on sadistic imagery and violence as the Israeli–Palestinian conflict escalates
Meta · Community Guidelines · 17 October, 2023 *The following post may contain explicit language and content that could be distressing to some readers On October 17, Instagram and Facebook changed their Community Guidelines to specifically prohibit sadistic posts containing imagery of deceased babies. While before the corresponding policy section forbade the posting of “sadistic…
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Re-Launch of Platform Governance Archive (PGA): Datasets, downloads and data paper, new website and collaboration with OTA
The Lab Platform Governance, Media and Technology (PGMT) at the ZeMKI, Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research, and the Alexander von Humboldt Institut for Internet and Society (HIIG) launch this week an updated version of its pioneering open-access repository of platform policies, the Platform Governance Archive (PGA). The extensive update includes the launch of…