Shadow Blocking of Social Media Content as a Threat to the Freedom of Expression

Shadow banning is the practice of restricting the distribution of a users’ content without notifying them. Shadow banning can take the form of excluding content from the recommendations page, search results, etc. Platforms driven by business interests use shadow banning tools to restrict the dissemination of controversial viewpoints and political content. This practice is an example of the exercise of platforms’ power, which can be limited by means of constitutional law. This article uses a comparison of the legislative regulation of social media in the European Union and Russia to assess the effectiveness of domestic legislation in limiting shadow banning. The author concludes that recent changes in Russian legislation will not be an obstacle to the implementation of shadow banning by digital platforms.