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Securing the platform: how Google appropriates security

Google is increasingly developing a manifold of security products for its users, businesses, and national security actors like the US Department of Defence. However, the company and its employees struggle with whether, and how, it should be involved in practices of security, war or weaponry. To unpack how Google emerges as a security actor, I bring new media studies perspectives regarding the socio-political roles Google plays in today’s society to critical security studies. With this interdisciplinary approach to studying Big Tech’s role in security, this article analyses how Google appro priates security throughout its ecosystem of platforms, products and pro jects. The article illustrates that Google’s first and foremost objective is to secure its platform by carefully balancing between being perceived as both neutral and progressive. Google thus appropriates (in)security by develop ing seemingly mundane and neutral security products, services and projects that align with its platform logic. In doing so, Google locks in new users into its platforms, whilst reshaping (in)security issues into platform issues and identifying the platform as a public and security concern

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