Strategic Communication as Discursive Institutional Work: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Mark Zuckerberg’s Legitimacy Talk at the European Parliament

Abstract

Digital platforms are under public scrutiny and face a negotiation process regarding their social responsibility. In this institutional discourse about moral responsibilities, corporate actors aim at defending the legitimacy of digital platforms. This study conceptualizes strategic communication as a means for conveying conformity to legitimacy expectations, to shape legitimacy judgements, and to discursively conduct institutional work. A critical discourse analysis of Zuckerberg's testimony before the EU Parliament finds that pragmatic , moral, and cognitive legitimacy is signaled through corporate ability, responsibility, and conformity narratives, respectively. Moreover, Zuckerberg's techno-libertarian talk advocates Silicon Valley ideology through utility narratives of artificial intelligence. Thus, Zuckerberg conducts institutional work as an institutional entrepreneur whose strategic communication seeks to manipulate views as well as institutions.

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When Trust Fades, Facebook Is No Longer a Friend: Shifting Privatisation Dynamics in the Context of Cybersecurity as a Result of Disinformation, Populism and Political Uncertainty

“…At the centre of this deepening distrust is a perception amongst actors in the EU that many of the US‐based social media platforms do not share the EU's values where it comes to freedom of expression. Zuckerberg has stated in European Parliament hearings that Facebook should not regulate what is true or not, representing a philosophical ideal that all political speech should be permitted with a plurality of views being represented (Lischka, 2019), indicative of an understanding of expression more in line with a US regulatory approach under the 1st Amendment to the Constitution. This approach to speech is not perceived as conforming to EU principles of expression, in which speech that is considered to be actively harmful, such as hate speech or glorification of terrorism is explicitly illegal and should be actively regulated (Ross, 2019).…”

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“…harvest a variety of formats of data from a broad range of sources which serve multiple purposes such as advertising (Delacroix et al, 2019) Uber offers cheaper, more accessible, transportation options with a structural cost advantage to both taxi services and potentially even car ownership (Wessel, 2016) (Witt et al, 2015) Pragmatic (Keevers, 2019) Moral (Lischka, 2019) Cultural-cognitive (Hwang, 2019)…”