This study is grounded in a discursive-material framework, which enables us to pay attention to the material as well as the discursive dimensions of the current rupture in democracy and media. Empirically it focuses on threats to the media landscape from the perspectives of regulatory institutions, news media organizations, and citizens. To this end, twelve interviews with editors-in-chief and journalists from leading news media outlets (print, TV, radio, online, and community media) and four interviews with representatives of major national media authorities were conducted in the spring and summer of 2024. Additionally, four focus group discussions with citizens (n=38) from heterogeneous socio-demographic backgrounds were carried out. We identify five threats to news media and their possible implications for democracy from the perspective of citizens. These threats all have their discursive and material components. Conversely, journalists identify additional threats, which they describe as manifestations of an ongoing crisis: the business-model fragility, media ownership concentration in the hands of a small group of investors, and populist attacks on public-service media. Media authorities also point to the material resources of the media landscape, with a discussion about the role of technology and the organizational infrastructures that support them. Building on our findings, we argue that the material and discursive implications of datafication – exemplified by the biggest Czech platform Seznam.cz and AI-driven workflows, not only intensify these two processes but have become crucial for understanding the rupture between media and democracy.

Smartphone bans or pledges signed by parents/carers to delay giving phones to young people are gaining international traction. Bans are usually based on arguments that smartphones are addictive, unhealthy and contribute to worsening educational outcomes. However, as a relatively new phenomenon, little existing research exists on the practical and experiential repercussions of these bans. Extant research shows that abstinence approaches to mitigating other potentially risky activities, including underage sex or drug and alcohol use, may increase harms, especially for vulnerable young people, and erode children’s rights. In this paper, we offer a preliminary analysis of our qualitative, multi-pronged study which seeks to better understand ‘on the ground’ experiences of the banning policies as they are rolled out in England. Working collaboratively with an educational charity, a media centre and a secondary school, our research explores the views of multiple actors and considers the varied contexts in which smartphone banning matters. We advance a sociodigital and postdigital approach, arguing that smartphones and people are engaged in complicated and processual human-media relations. We analyse the material and affective experiences of smartphone banning for young people, teachers and parents, exploring how banning smartphones doesn’t cut users off from digital mediation, but rather puts them in different relationships to these contexts. We offer some tentative recommendations for supportive structures in educational environments that are attentive to these sociodigital complexities, and which can help young people and adults navigate phone bans and the new relationalities around devices these set in play.

Social media platforms (SMPs) evolve rapidly and continually, impacting their affordances, user experiences, and societal interactions. Existing research has often analyzed these changes from organizational or technological innovation perspectives or examined SMPs and their policies in isolation, rather than within broader patterns. SMPs, however, are distinct in their logics, relevance, practices, and user engagement. Thus, we propose a taxonomy of SMP change, grounded in sensitizing concepts from literature on platform and technological evolution alongside an analysis of 400 public communication documents from Meta, YouTube, X, and TikTok. Our aim is to theorize SMP evolution and critically reassess its broader implications.

Our taxonomy categorizes SMP change into three interdependent dimensions: material, algorithmic, and ideological. Material changes involve modifications to platform features, interfaces, and user experiences. Algorithmic changes refer to backend modifications that are often less transparent and largely invisible, yet they significantly shape user interactions and content visibility. Ideological changes reflect shifts in governance priorities and policy frameworks, often driven by political and economic pressures. These dimensions are not mutually exclusive but intersect in ways that redefine SMP values, affordances, impacts, and potential harms.

By theorising SMP change, our taxonomy highlights the embedded politics of digital platforms and their role in shaping contemporary information ecosystems as infrastructures. This hopes to provide researchers with lens and language to critically examine how platform changes influence societal structures. We also emphasise the importance of such a language to study their growing relevance, particularly as corporate-state collaborations within SMP industries expand in unprecedented ways.