Fabian Wiedemann

Based on the fundamental thesis that social media and search engines distort the democratic opinion-forming process through the design of their recommendation and moderation systems, the dissertation is structured along two interlinked research axes. The first axis concerns the question of the extent to which intermediaries actually impair the functioning of opinion-forming processes according to the standards of deliberative democracy theory (e.g., with regard to diversity, accuracy of information, civility) and whether this could give rise to positive obligations on the part of the German state or the European Union to protect freedom of communication. The second research axis responds to the question of the extent to which functioning economic competition and its protection by antitrust law can make a complementary contribution to fulfilling these positive obligations regarding the opinion-forming process – in addition to platform regulation law. To this end, theories of harm arising from the interrelationship between private power and democracy are analysed, the potential influence of fundamental rights on the interpretation of antitrust law is defined, and these findings are applied in concrete terms to the intermediary economy.