Transparency Discourse on Digital Platforms: A Comparative Textual Analysis of Platform Reports and Regulatory Texts in the EU and Türkiye

This study examines transparency reporting in digital platform governance through a comparative analysis of platform reports, the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), and Türkiye’s Law No. 7253. Drawing on surveillance capitalism, disciplinary power, and critical platform studies, the research employs systematic qualitative content analysis using MAXQDA software. The analysis covers 65 transparency reports and two regulatory texts published by Meta, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, and TikTok between 2017 and 2025. Inter-coder reliability was determined as κ = 0.82 (Cohen’s Kappa), indicating strong agreement. The findings show that platforms construct an illusion of algorithmic neutrality through a demonstrative and metric-based discourse, framing automated systems as neutral and objective while leaving moderation processes insufficiently explained. Comparative analysis indicates that EU regulatory texts place greater emphasis on accountability, while Turkish regulatory texts focus more on content removal and procedural compliance. The study argues that transparency reports primarily function as tools for demonstrating accountability and regulatory compliance rather than as mechanisms of democratic oversight. It contributes to debates on platform governance and regulatory accountability across different regulatory contexts. The findings further suggest that transparency is often limited to measurable metrics. This allows platforms to report activity without meaningfully explaining how moderation processes function.