Guosong Shao · International journal of communication 2026 · 2026
DOI: 10.65476/wsdvv148
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Digital platforms and artificial intelligence (AI) systems have ceased to function merely as communication channels or informational tools; they have mutated into foundational sociotechnical infrastructures that organize public spheres, civic institutions, and everyday social relations.As Big Tech platforms mediate everything from labor markets and municipal services to pedagogy and democratic discourse, traditional paradigms of communication policy and governance face an unprecedented crisis of efficacy.Historical models of media regulation, largely premised on state-centric top-down legislation or corporate market selfregulation, frequently fail when confronted with structural opacity, algorithmic autonomy, and political-economic consolidation of contemporary tech monopolies.
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