API Governance: The Case of Facebook’s Evolution

Researchers, policymakers, and competition regulation authorities worldwide recognize the utility of application programming interfaces (APIs) in powering digital economy driving datafication platformization processes. However, it remains unclear how APIs leading social media relate to platform governance this relationship evolved. This article traces evolution Facebook’s APIs, which evolved from a relatively simple interface for data access into complex layered interconnected arrangement. The study draws on large corpus (archived) developer pages API reference documentation examine history governance; that is, by Facebook through its APIs. historical analysis emphasizes technical dimensions dynamics what, how, whom powerful platforms seek govern, thus highlighting technicity Because facilitate govern material conditions app development economic processes they sustain, influence their larger ecosystems. As such, represents major source platform’s “infrastructural power.”