What is the difference between deplatforming and deplatformization?
Deplatforming bans a single user account from a network (e.g. Donald Trump from Facebook). Deplatformization pushes whole platforms (e.g. far-right ones) to the margins of the ecosystem by denying them the infrastructure services they need to operate online.
* Deplatforming removes one account; deplatformization cuts a whole platform off from its infrastructure *
| Deplatforming | Deplatformization | |
|---|---|---|
| Target | One account | A whole platform |
| Who acts | The social network itself | Infrastructure providers (hosting, app stores, payment, CDN) |
| Example | Trump's accounts suspended after the storming of the US Capitol | A far-right platform losing its hosting and app-store listing |
Both raise the same governance questions: who manages the platform ecosystem and controls its infrastructure? Who or what is deplatformed, by whose rules, for which violation, and with what effect? After the Capitol attack it was argued that private tech companies have taken on a role of crucial public interest, "since they decide what may or may not happen in the infosphere and thus in the lives of billions of people".
Go deeper:
van Dijck, de Winkel & Schäfer (2023): Deplatformization and the governance of the platform ecosystem — open-access paper that coined the distinction.- Wikipedia: Deplatforming — cases and debates around account bans.