Privacy Governing Knowledge in Public Facebook Groups for Political Activism

Preprint of article published by Taylor & Francis in Information, Communication and Society, Sept. 26, 2019

NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 20-12

23 Pages Posted: 9 Mar 2020 Last revised: 17 Jun 2020

See all articles by Madelyn Sanfilippo

Madelyn Sanfilippo

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; CITP, Princeton University

Katherine J. Strandburg

New York University School of Law

Date Written: September 26, 2019

Abstract

Social media is increasingly used to share information about political issues and coordinate political activism. This paper examines privacy as governance in online knowledge sharing and organizing within the Day Without Immigrants, March for Science, and Women’s March movements. Structured by the Governing Knowledge Commons (GKC) framework, the study illustrates how rules-in-use creatively support appropriate information flows and govern information resources to balance community objectives and privacy. Interviews, contextualized by participant surveys and Facebook data, illustrate: the importance of (1) polycentric governance and (2) private decision-making in public Facebook groups used by activists, and (3) privacy protecting institutions around common knowledge resources shared within and across movements.

Keywords: commons, privacy, online activism, knowledge commons

Suggested Citation

Sanfilippo, Madelyn and Strandburg, Katherine J., Privacy Governing Knowledge in Public Facebook Groups for Political Activism (September 26, 2019). Preprint of article published by Taylor & Francis in Information, Communication and Society, Sept. 26, 2019 , NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 20-12, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3546342

Madelyn Sanfilippo (Contact Author)

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ( email )

601 E John St
Champaign, IL Champaign 61820
United States

CITP, Princeton University ( email )

22 Chambers Street
Princeton, NJ 08544-0708
United States

Katherine J. Strandburg

New York University School of Law ( email )

40 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012-1099
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
74
Abstract Views
644
Rank
576,524
PlumX Metrics