Terry Flew - Regulating Platforms

5 viii

6 ix

7 x

8 xi

9 xii

10 xiii

11 xiv

12 xv

13 xvi

14 xvii

15 xviii

16 xix

17 xx

18 xxi

19 xxii

20 1

21 2

22 3

23 4

24 5

25 6

26 7

27 8

28 9

29 10

30 11

31 12

32 13

33 14

34 15

35 16

36 17

37 18

38 19

39 20

40 21

41 22

42 23

43 24

44 25

45 26

46 27

47 28

48 29

49 30

50 31

51 32

52 33

53 34

54 35

55 36

56 37

57 38

58 39

59 40

60 41

61 42

62 43

63 44

64 45

65 46

66 47

67 48

68 49

69 50

70 51

71 52

72 53

73 54

74 55

75 56

76 57

77 58

78 59

79 60

80 61

81 62

82 63

83 64

84 65

85 66

86 67

87 68

88 69

89 70

90 71

91 72

92 73

93 74

94 75

95 76

96 77

97 78

98 79

99 80

100 81

101 82

102 83

103 84

104 85

105 86

106 87

107 88

108 89

109 90

110 91

111 92

112 93

113 94

114 95

115 96

116 97

117 98

118 99

119 100

120 101

121 102

122 103

123 104

124 105

125 106

126 107

127 108

128 109

129 110

130 111

131 112

132 113

133 114

134 115

135 116

136 117

137 118

138 119

139 120

140 121

141 122

142 123

143 124

144 125

145 126

146 127

147 128

148 129

149 130

150 131

151 132

152 133

153 134

154 135

155 136

156 137

157 138

158 139

159 140

160 141

161 142

162 143

163 144

164 145

165 146

166 147

167 148

168 149

169 150

170 151

171 152

172 153

173 154

174 155

175 156

176 157

177 158

178 159

179 160

180 161

181 162

182 163

183 164

184 165

185 166

186 167

187 168

188 169

189 170

190 171

191 172

192 173

193 174

194 175

195 176

196 177

197 178

198 179

199 180

200 181

201 182

202 183

203 184

204 185

205 186

206 187

207 188

208 189

209 190

210 191

211 192

212 193

213 194

214 195

215 196

216 197

217 198

218 199

219 200

220 201

221 202

222 203

223 204

224 205

225 206

226 207

227 208

228 209

229 210

230 211

231 212

232 213

233 214

234 215

235 216

236 217

237 218

238 219

239 220

240 221

241 222

242 223

243 224

244 225

245 226

246 227

247 228

248 229

249 230

250 231

251 232

252 233

253 234

254 235

255 236

256 237

257 238

258 239

259 240

260 241

261 242

262 243

263 244

264 245

265 246

266 247

267 248

268 258

269 259

270 260

271 261

272 262

273 263

274 264

275 265

276 266

277 267

278 268

279 269

280 270

281 271

282 272

283 273

284 274

285 275

286 276

287 277

288 278

289 279

290 280

291 281

292 282

293 283

294 284

295 285

296 286

297 287

298 288

299 289

300 290

301 291

302 292

303 293

304 294

305 295

306 296

307 297

308 298

309 299

310 300

311 301

312 302

313 303

314 304

315 305

316 306

317 307

318 308

319 309

320 310

321 311

terry flew

polity

Copyright © Terry Flew 2021

The right of Terry Flew to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2021 by Polity Press

Polity Press

65 Bridge Street

Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

Polity Press

101 Station Landing

Suite 300

Medford, MA 02155, USA

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3707-5

ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3708-2(pb)

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021940656

by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL

The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

The primary aim of Regulating Platforms is twofold. First, the book aims to provide an overview of the issues that are currently arising, as governments throughout the world address the social, economic, political, and cultural implications of digital platforms and their power to shape online interactions at a time when most of the world’s population relies on the internet more than ever before. The book asks practical questions such as how to define platforms and delineate their different types, what is the mixture of issues of concern about the power of digital platforms, and what can be learnt from the initiatives that both state and non-state actors – including the digital platform companies themselves and the third-party regulators they have summoned into existence – have thrown at the growing array of policymakers, politicians, regulators, corporate advisors, academics, and activists engaged with these issues.

The book also has a second, more normative focus. It asks the question: why now? After a period of over two decades of broad consensus, at least in the western capitalist world, that the best approach to the internet that policymakers could take was to do very little, why did internet governance and regulation surge onto the global agenda in the mid-2010s, and why has it remained there ever since? We are coming to the end of a long period of ‘soft globalism’ and polycentric governance of the internet at the international level, a period during which the prevailing view was that the best decisions were those made by ‘rough consensus’ in multistakeholder forums where governments were a relatively minor player. Why did we see the resurgence of tech nationalism? Why did governments start to ban the platforms of other countries, triggering concerns about a global ‘splinternet’?

It is not hard to see when the sea change in attitudes towards the regulation of online environments happened. In the United States, it can be located in the transition from the Obama administration to the Trump presidency and in the range of concerns that the 2016 presidential election raised, from the circulation of fake news on social media platforms to allegations of electoral interference by foreign powers. The European Union chose to act on widespread concerns about the misuse of personal data online; the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was enacted in 2016 and came into law in 2018, setting rules about how digital platforms and other online entities could make use of material provided by online ‘data subjects’. The GDPR demonstrated that the online environment, long held to constitute a realm beyond the territorial sovereignty and policy knowledge of governments, could in principle be regulated, and that digital tech giants would respond appropriately to the regulation of their activities by sovereign political entities. The GDPR preceded the Cambridge Analytica scandal – that is, the revelations of whistleblower Christopher Wylie to the Guardian ’s journalist Carole Cadwalladr, in 2018, about how data gathered through Facebook were onsold to political campaigns such as the Vote Leave group in the 2016 Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom and the Trump campaign in the United States. Even so, the scandal threw into very sharp relief a range of concerns that had been simmering about the power of digital platforms and the possibilities of misuing it. Discussion of a ‘global techlash’ and the rise of the FAANG or FAMGA – acronyms for Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google or, in a different version, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon – became commonplace.