Moderation, metapolitical platforms and the battle over the means of signification

Digital platforms play a central role in contemporary politics. Politicians, activists, movements, and individuals use digital platforms to find support for their positions, acquire electoral capital, mobilize people, and produce messages. In other words, platforms are central in the discursive battle for meaning that attunes people affectively and ideologically. In the last years, we've seen that this political battle is not just about signification through digital platforms, but increasingly takes the form of a battle about the means of signification. The rise of metapolitical platforms—that is, platforms that are ideological in nature and aim and are designed to shift cultural and political discourse to the right—is emblematic of that shift.