Market for Speech and Freedom of Expression (MSaFE)

Market for Speech and Freedom of Expression (MSaFE) will develop, validate and operationalise a legal-economic “market for speech” framework enabling competition authorities to address expressive harms caused by dominant social media platforms. AI-assisted moderation increasingly shapes whose lawful speech is visible and who can reach audiences, yet competition law lacks an operational method connecting platform dominance with freedom of expression. MSaFE addresses this gap, supporting fundamental rights and a resilient digital public sphere. The project will establish the foundations of a market for speech and “expressive competition”, identifying competitive parameters and forms of harm; validate and refine the framework through 13–15 interviews with content creators, digital-rights organisations and competition authorities; and translate it into an enforcement strategy with a decision tree, evidentiary checklist and remedy framework, tested through two illustrative cases. MSaFE will advance research by integrating competition law, economics, fundamental rights and communication studies and translating expressive harms into assessable competition parameters. It will provide authorities with evidence-based tools for proportionate enforcement. The fellowship will strengthen the researcher’s expertise in EU constitutional law, empirical research and policy engagement, consolidating an independent interdisciplinary profile at the intersection of competition law and digital rights.