Analysis of platform terms of use: inequalities, literacy and platformization

• Grant number: 24/13980-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: October 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology
• Principal Investigator: Carolina Parreiras Silva
• Grantee: Giovanna Corrêa Otsuka Marques
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/06857-7 - Digital inequalities and ethnography: the internet, its uses, possibilities and agency in Rio de Janeiro`s favelas, AP.JP

Abstract

This scientific initiation research project aims to propose an exploratory mapping and analysis of the terms of use of platforms, in order to discuss digital inequalities and literacy from an intersectional perspective. This is justified because it is a means of understanding how these terms are organized, what they say and how users lack clarity regarding what they agree to when using the platforms. It is worth noting that these terms are already conflicting in legal terms, in many cases. This lack of knowledge is a facet of digital literacy, and when markers such as class, income and race appear more strongly, there seem to be even more consequences. Furthermore, thinking about terms of use opens up space to discuss what has been called platformization (Helmond, 2015; Nieborg and Poell, 2018), which refers to an "infrastructural and economic" transformation of the web to the platform model .