“Dual‐Track” platform governance on content: A comparative study between China and United States

Abstract An Internet platform carrying information content has dual properties of content (information) and technology (medium). We deconstruct the complicated relationships of platform governance on content in China and the United States by building a theoretical framework of dual‐track governance of content and technology. China's mechanism of platform governance on content focuses more on content governance, while the U.S. focuses more on technology governance. China and the U.S. is dominated by the state and the market separately, forming the two mechanisms of “Statism with Content Regulation First” and “Marketism with Technology Governance First”, with four different characteristics. TikTok Path, following the "Separation Principle" of content governance and technology governance, is a feasible approach for the platform company that attempts to go abroad to adapt to different or even conflicting governance contexts.