IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/telpol/v48y2024i5s0308596124000168.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluating the regulation of social media: An empirical study of the German NetzDG and Facebook

Author

Listed:
  • Maaß, Sabrina
  • Wortelker, Jil
  • Rott, Armin

Abstract

This study compiles an original data set of Facebook posts and comments to analyze potential overblocking and chilling effects of a German law that aims to reduce hate speech on social media platforms (Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz, NetzDG). The analysis is based on a sample of 10 popular public Facebook pages. While critics of the law have feared an undue increase in the deletion of user-generated content (“overblocking”), we find no robust evidence in support of this claim in the data during our investigation period. Although there has been a slight increase in the proportion of deleted comments per post, the effect size is small. Furthermore, neither do people abstain from commenting on Facebook nor does the tonality of comments become more positive after the law was in full effect (“chilling effects”). In addition, this study demonstrates the difficulties of the empirical evaluation of platform regulation. This raises the question how politicians can hold social media platforms accountable to protect users and their rights in the digital sphere.

Suggested Citation

  • Maaß, Sabrina & Wortelker, Jil & Rott, Armin, 2024. "Evaluating the regulation of social media: An empirical study of the German NetzDG and Facebook," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(5).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:48:y:2024:i:5:s0308596124000168
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2024.102719
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596124000168
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.telpol.2024.102719?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heldt, Amélie, 2019. "Reading between the lines and the numbers: an analysis of the first NetzDG reports," Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin, vol. 8(2), pages 1-18.
    2. Hunt Allcott & Matthew Gentzkow, 2017. "Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election," NBER Working Papers 23089, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Penney, Jonathon W., 2017. "Internet surveillance, regulation, and chilling effects online: a comparative case study," Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin, vol. 6(2), pages 1-39.
    4. Garz, Marcel & Sörensen, Jil & Stone, Daniel F., 2020. "Partisan selective engagement: Evidence from Facebook," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 91-108.
    5. Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2021. "Fanning the Flames of Hate: Social Media and Hate Crime [Radio and the Rise of The Nazis in Prewar Germany]," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 2131-2167.
    6. Griffin, Rachel, 2022. "New school speech regulation as a regulatory strategy against hate speech on social media: The case of Germany's NetzDG," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(9).
    7. Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2023. "From Hashtag to Hate Crime: Twitter and Antiminority Sentiment," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 270-312, July.
    8. Gorwa, Robert, 2021. "Elections, Institutions, and the Regulatory Politics of Platform Governance: The Case of the German NetzDG," SocArXiv 2exrw, Center for Open Science.
    9. Hunt Allcott & Matthew Gentzkow, 2017. "Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 211-236, Spring.
    10. Rauh, Christian, 2018. "Validating a sentiment dictionary for German political language—a workbench note," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 15(4), pages 319-343.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jiménez Durán, Rafael & Muller, Karsten & Schwarz, Carlo, 2024. "The Effect of Content Moderation on Online and Offline Hate: Evidence from Germany’s NetzDG," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 701, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    2. Sumit S. Deole & Yue Huang, 2024. "Suffering and prejudice: do negative emotions predict immigration concerns?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 1-39, June.
    3. Samira S. Abraham & Gianandrea Lanzara & Sara Lazzaroni & Paolo Masella & Mara P. Squicciarini, 2023. "The Spatial Drivers of Discrimination: Evidence From Anti-Muslim Fake News in India," Working Papers wp1180, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    4. Geraci, Andrea & Nardotto, Mattia & Reggiani, Tommaso & Sabatini, Fabio, 2022. "Broadband Internet and social capital," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    5. Thomas Fujiwara & Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2024. "The Effect of Social Media on Elections: Evidence from The United States," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(3), pages 1495-1539.
    6. Garz, Marcel & Szucs, Ferenc, 2023. "Algorithmic selection and supply of political news on Facebook," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    7. Marco Grotteria & Max Miller & S.Lakshmi Naaraayanan, 2024. "Foreign influence in US politics," Discussion Papers 2024-12, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).
    8. Leonardo Bursztyn & Georgy Egorov & Ruben Enikolopov & Maria Petrova, 2019. "Social Media and Xenophobia: Evidence from Russia," NBER Working Papers 26567, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Aridor, Guy & Jiménez-Durán, Rafael & Levy, Ro'ee & Song, Lena, 2024. "The Economics of Social Media," CEPR Discussion Papers 18821, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Ayesha Ali & Ihsan Ayyub Qazi, 2021. "Countering Misinformation on Social Media Through Educational Interventions: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Pakistan," Papers 2107.02775, arXiv.org.
    11. Eugenio Levi & Michael Bayerlein & Gianluca Grimalda & Tommaso Reggiani, 2023. "Narratives on migration and political polarization: How the emphasis in narratives can drive us apart," MUNI ECON Working Papers 2023-07, Masaryk University.
    12. Au, Cheuk Hang & Ho, Kevin K.W. & Chiu, Dickson K.W., 2021. "Stopping healthcare misinformation: The effect of financial incentives and legislation," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(5), pages 627-633.
    13. Dejean, Sylvain & Lumeau, Marianne & Peltier, Stéphanie, 2022. "Partisan selective exposure in news consumption," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    14. Thomas Fujiwara & Karsten Müller & Carlo Schwarz, 2021. "The Effect of Social Media on Elections: Evidence from the United States," NBER Working Papers 28849, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Ekaterina Zhuravskaya & Maria Petrova & Ruben Enikolopov, 2020. "Political Effects of the Internet and Social Media," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 415-438, August.
    16. Leopoldo Fergusson & Carlos Molina, 2020. "Facebook Causes Protests," HiCN Working Papers 323, Households in Conflict Network.
    17. Dean Neu & Gregory D. Saxton & Abu S. Rahaman, 2022. "Social Accountability, Ethics, and the Occupy Wall Street Protests," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 17-31, September.
    18. Robbett, Andrea & Matthews, Peter Hans, 2018. "Partisan bias and expressive voting," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 107-120.
    19. Henrik Skaug Sætra, 2021. "AI in Context and the Sustainable Development Goals: Factoring in the Unsustainability of the Sociotechnical System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-19, February.
    20. Fathey Mohammed & Nabil Hasan Al-Kumaim & Ahmed Ibrahim Alzahrani & Yousef Fazea, 2023. "The Impact of Social Media Shared Health Content on Protective Behavior against COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-16, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social media; Regulation; Hate speech; Deletion of contents; Chilling effects; NetzDG;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K29 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Other
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • L88 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:48:y:2024:i:5:s0308596124000168. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30471/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.