Platforms and the Planet: Big Tech, Digital Platforms and Environmental Responsibility (Digital Materialities and Sustainable Futures)

There is a growing public and scholarly attention to the environmental footprint of digital technologies, and to the climate responsibility of technology corporations and social media platforms specifically.Developing a critical understanding of the environmental responsibility and accountability of digital platforms, Platforms and the Planet focuses on the environmental responsibility of the so-called Big Tech, their digital media platforms and their role in the sustainability transition as a discursive, material, and ethical question. Written from a much-needed critical and cross-disciplinary perspective, challenging the prevailing perspective on digital platforms as “green” and non-material entities, the chapters unpack their non-sustainable, material essence.Bridging critical platform studies with environmental studies and environmental communication studies, the chapters explore three broad themes.First, the chapters unpack what environmental sustainability means in relation to pl