Digital Platforms, Physical Emissions: Investigatingthe Environmental CDR in Social Media and AI Practices

This study investigates how leading Social Media companies address Corporate Digital Responsibility(CDR) from an environmental perspective, with a particular focus on the role of Artificial Intelligence(AI) in amplifying energy consumption and emissions. While the literature on CDR is growing, littleattention has been paid to its concrete application in specific sectors, especially in service-orienteddigital platforms such as social media. To fill this gap, a Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA) wasconducted on publicly available documents (sustainability reports, investor communications, andofficial corporate disclosures) from major Western Social Media Companies. An analytical frameworkwas developed to map how environmental CDR is articulated across the three foundational layers ofcorporate culture (Schein, 2004; Lobschat et al, 2021): shared values, specific norms, and observableartifacts and behaviors. The findings highlight a significant gap between strategic intentions andoperational implementation, with most companies concentrating their efforts on the normative levelwhile neglecting strategic vision and measurable outcomes. The analysis identifies three clusters ofcompanies based on their level of CDR integration and highlights key priorities and implementationgaps, referencing Herden et al. (2021) framework. The study contributes to advancing sector-specificCDR research and provides actionable insights for firms seeking to align their digital growth withenvironmental sustainability goals.