ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the construction of social realities on digital platforms through the analysis of two distinct cases: Right-wing discourses on Facebook and the governance of sexism-related policies on TikTok. Using communicative constructivism as a theoretical framework, alongside Hannah Arendt's concept of the public sphere, this chapter highlights how platforms, through their governance structures and technological frameworks, shape public discourse and influence the institutionalization of social norms. In the cases investigated on Facebook, loosely moderated right-wing narratives amplify exclusionary ideologies, fostering a discourse that limits pluralistic engagement. TikTok, by contrast, promotes a superficial image of diversity through vague guidelines around sexism that obscure the deeper governance mechanisms reinforcing patriarchal structures. Both platforms establish unspoken rules that form user interaction, shaping public discourse and contributing to the reproduction of social inequalities. Digital selves are continuously curated through platform-driven communicative structures that blur the boundaries between public and private selves and shape identities to align with commercial interests. By examining these processes, this chapter argues that the structures of Facebook and TikTok are influential in defining which voices are heard and which are silenced, ultimately influencing the nature of the public sphere and the democratic processes within it.
