Call for papers: fourth Arcom study day

Call for Proposals - 4th Arcom Research Day

The Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulation Authority (Arcom) is responsible for protecting creation and its key players, monitoring the economic balance of the audiovisual sector, supervising the actions of online platforms to protect users and ensure freedom of expression, and guaranteeing political pluralism in the broadcast media. More broadly, its action aims to protect all audiences in the audiovisual and online sectors.

The scientific community conducts research that examines the functioning of the audiovisual and digital markets, and various phenomena that may arise, such as the manipulation of information or online hate speech. Arcom is therefore committed to follow and draw on the contributions of the academic community on issues related to its fields of competence.

On 14 November 2024, the third Arcom Research Day was held. During this event, articulated around different themes, around twenty researchers from several disciplines (economics, sociology, information and communication, law, political science, computational social science...) and from five countries have presented their works, related to the challenges of the media and digital world. More than 100 people attended the event on site: widely followed on social networks as well, with approximately 2,500 unique visitors on LinkedIn and on Twitter. This event gave the opportunity to the research community to gather around a field of interest, through a multidisciplinary lens, to connect with stakeholders of the sector, and to exchange with the Arcom’s Board and members of the authority. The program of the Day, details on the presenters, and the recording of all the interventions are available on the Arcom’s website.

The Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority renews this event in partnership with the Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, and launches a call for contributions for the 4th Arcom Research Day to be held on 13 November 2025 in Paris.

At this occasion, researchers, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, basic sciences and engineering sciences, whose research interests lie in the field of audiovisual and digital media, are invited to apply to take part in this year's edition. French and foreign researchers are welcome to submit papers in French or English.

Research topics

The themes to be addressed may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Democratic issues : information, content moderation and freedom of speech. Transformations in the way information is consumed in the audiovisual and digital media; changes in the information and journalistic landscape (content creators, artificial intelligence, etc.); media concentration; cost of information production; work on the manipulation and virality of information; the spread of false information; disinformation; freedom of speech; measuring the pluralism of currents of opinion; editorial independence; opinion-making, electoral processes and effectiveness of democratic mechanisms.
• Social cohesion issues: protection of audiences, representation of society in the media and online. Digital platforms, social networks and systemic risks (in particular: public debate protection and elections integrity, minors protection, hate speech and health issues); algorithmic biases, persistence of stereotypes and discrimination; audit of platforms' algorithmic systems; representations and support for the ecological transition; work on consumption and regulation of harmful content; issues of education in audiovisual and digital media; uses, consumption and protection of young audiences; moderation, regulation and self-regulation of platforms.
• Cultural sovereignty issues: creation, production and illicit consumption. News and perspectives on legal supply; the economics of streaming, influencer marketing and alternative business models; the challenges of financing the production and promotion of European and French content; discoverability and promotion of content, the impact of artificial intelligence; copyright; the technical, legal and socio-economic issues surrounding piracy and the consumption of illegal content.
• Economic sustainability issues: digital transformation, regulation and the media economy. Evolution of the media landscape and distribution of value; functioning of the advertising and attention markets; socio-economic impact of artificial intelligence tools on the audiovisual sector; environmental issues of digital uses; studies relating to the application of the Digital Services Act.

Applications relating to technological and computer-related research (e.g. computational social sciences, algorithmic auditing) - covering more technical and methodological considerations (reliable/representative data collection methods, auditability issues, relevant data analysis framework, etc.) - are encouraged. Exploitation of the data made available by the DSA (advertising register, content moderation database, transparency reports from major platforms, etc.) is also expected.

How to participate ?

The works likely to be presented and discussed during the day can be recent research papers intended to be published in scientific journals or research projects at an advanced stage.

The call is open to the entire scientific community, and applications from both experienced and younger researchers (doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows), from France and abroad, are welcomed.

Researchers interested in presenting their work are invited to submit a unique document containing :

• the names and contact details of the author(s) (including details of the speaker(s)), and in particular their email address(es);
• a short biography or presentation of the contributor(s)' work, including their institution(s) or laboratory(ies) of affiliation;
• an abstract of the submitted paper, not exceeding two pages in length. This abstract should state a title, the research question, the methodology adopted and the main results of the article. The authors may indicate, if they wish, the stage of the paper in the academic publication process and provide, where possible, a full version of the paper.

The applications must be sent by September 7th 2025 to the following email address : journee-etudes@arcom.fr. Arcom, in collaboration with the members of its scientific committee and ENS Paris-Saclay, will proceed to a selection of the retained contributions for the Research Day.

Organisation of the day

The research day will take place in presence of the selected participants, the members of the Arcom Board and its scientific committee.

The day will be organised into several thematic sessions moderated by Arcom and ENS Paris Saclay. The presentations can be made in French or in English.

The sessions will be streamed online, using Arcom's video-conferencing software, with French subtitles.

Key dates

• 15 May 2025 : opening of applications
• 7 September (by midnight) : deadline for applications
• Mid-September 2024 : announcement of the selected contributions and opening of the registration for the event
• 13 November 2025 : holding of the event

Contact

For further information, please contact Arcom's Directorate of Research, Economics and Forecasting at the following address : journee-etudes@arcom.fr.