ICA@75: Disrupting and Consolidating Communication Research

75th Annual ICA Conference | June 15, 2025 | Denver, Colorado, USA

At the 2025 International Communication Association (ICA) Conference, CSINT Director, Dr. Samantha Bradshaw, presented her latest research examining the conditions under which social media companies comply with government requests to access user data.

When do Social Media Companies Comply with Government Requests?
Samantha Bradshaw, Assistant Professor, New Technology & Security
School of International Service, American University

Abstract : When do social media companies comply with government requests to access user data? Little is known about when platforms comply with government requests. However, this is an important area of inquiry because platform responses to these requests can vary widely, from cooperating with government surveillance efforts to resisting government overreach. One common argument for platform compliance is around the role of markets, where platforms will be more likely to comply with government requests in markets that generate (or have the potential to generate) advertising revenue. Conventional wisdom suggests that firms are more incentivized to make decisions that generate revenue, however, this claim has yet to be subject to rigorous cross-national testing overtime. Using econometric analysis of platform transparency data, this paper arbitrates between political and economic explanations of firm behavior, contributing to the scholarship around public-private data sharing as well as platform governance decision-making.

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