‘Trust and safety’: exchange, protection and the digital market–fortress in platform capitalism

Abstract

Abstract As a space of exchange that transcends historic jurisdictions, the Internet lacks a dominant security provider. This research examines how and why firms in platform capitalism have developed their own method and means of protection. ‘Trust and Safety’ (T&S) is a novel division of labour that has become nearly ubiquitous in the industry, encompassing many of the concerns raised about the influence of technology on politics, society and economy. The making of capitalist exchange online requires a similarly discrete making of protection beyond the state. T&S work ensures that interaction and exchange are sheltered, doing so by curating trust between atomized individuals, and asserting what belongs and what does not. T&S’ centrality to platform capitalism can be explained—in part—by Weber’s notion of the city as market–fortress; a spatialized condition of exchange protection that is foundational for fastening capitalism together and seeking to make it, and inequality, inevitable.