Precarity and Prejudice: Media Narratives about Migrant Platform Workers in Poland

Although platform work is becoming increasingly important, and increasingly present in the public discourse, its representation in the media remains insufficiently researched. In Poland, the simultaneous changes brought about by platformisation and the growing diversification of society due to immigration are evident, with many migrants choosing platform work for various reasons. Media functions as a site where competing meanings of platformisation and migration are articulated, contested, and potentially normalised. This research paper examines how migrant platform workers are represented in Polish online media between 2022 and 2024, a period marked by significant changes in migration flows and platform labour regulation. Drawing on a corpus of 80 news articles published across outlets of diverse political orientations, the study applies a qualitative framing analysis informed by social constructionism and media theory. The analysis identifies three dominant frames – neoliberal, portraying migrants as flexible entrepreneurs and economic assets; solidarity, emphasising precarity, exploitation, and empathy; and securitisation, constructing migrants as sources of risk or threat. The findings highlight how narratives about platforms and migration are fragmented and often contradictory, oscillating between inclusion, protection, and exclusion. The study contributes to debates on platformisation and migration by showing how Polish media discourses not only reflect but also participate in the production of “common sense” understandings of digital labour, mobility, and worker rights.