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For a on platforms, sustainability and the climate crisis editors Rianne Riemens, Donya Alinejad, Judith Keilbach and Anne Helmond invite contributions from a diverse group of authors using a range of methods, working in different regional and institutional contexts, and focusing on a variety of case studies.

Rationale

Digital technologies, including cloud services and artificial intelligence (AI), are often framed as indispensable allies in the fight against climate change. At the same time, these technologies have an enormous negative environmental impact through their high demands for energy, water, and their reliance on critical raw materials. In recent years, tech companies have increasingly positioned themselves as environmentally responsible actors, working towards decarbonizing their businesses. 

However, these same companies have reported rising emissions linked to their AI products, still depend on fossil fuels, and continuously expand their infrastructures. Meanwhile, as knowledge brokers, they fail to address climate disinformation circulating on their platforms. Nevertheless, sustainability scholarship has a demonstrated tendency to celebrate platforms as drivers of sustainable societal change (Kuntsman and Rattle 2019; Mouthaan et al., 2022).

This special issue invites contributions that critically engage with the complex and often contradictory relationship between platform companies, the climate crisis, and the pursuit of just, sustainable futures. We seek papers that explore the role of platform companies in the challenge of greening the digital society.

Interested?

Interested authors are invited to submit abstracts (400-500 words excl. references) to Rianne Riemens until May 23rd. After acceptance, authors will be asked to discuss first full drafts of papers during a hybrid workshop in January 2026, with official submissions due in March 2026. We aim to publish the special issue in Platforms & Society in winter 2026/2027.

More information can be found on .