José van Dijck is a distinguished university professor of Media and Digital Society at Utrecht University, specialising in media, social media, and media technologies. She served as the first female president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences from 2015 to 2018. In 2021, she was awarded the Spinoza Prize, the highest scientific recognition in the Netherlands, and the C. Edward Baker Award from the International Communication Association for her scholarly work. Her research focuses on the impact of online platforms on society, exploring how interfaces, reputation systems, and algorithms influence public interests such as accessibility, privacy, and democratic control. She co-authored “The Platform Society: Public Values in a Connective World,” examining the role of platforms in various societal domains.