Terry Flew - Regulating Platforms

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2 Series Title

3 Title Page Regulating Platforms terry flew polity

4 Copyright Page Copyright Page 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

5 Preface

6 Acknowledgements

7 Figures

8 Tables

9 1 The End of the Libertarian InternetRevisiting the Californian Ideology The Three Is: Ideas, Interests, and Institutions Framing the Internet and Digital Platforms Free Minds and Free Markets The New Economy Freedom and Government The Open Internet and Romanticism Openness as Public Policy: Safe Harbour and the Communications Decency Act 1996 The Changing Internet Landscape From Innovation to Monopoly: The End of the Fifth Long Wave Platformization of the Internet Digital Platforms as Media Companies? Digital Platforms and Populist Politics Renewed Regulatory Activism Conclusion Notes

10 2 The Platformization of Communications MediaThe Platformized Internet What Is a Platform? The Evolution of Digital Platforms Types of Digital Platforms and Digital Platform Companies Platform Economics and Multisided Markets Platforms and Infrastructures Conclusion

11 3 Issues of ConcernIntroduction: Beyond the Techlash Privacy and Security Data Algorithms Disinformation and Fake News Hate Speech and Online Abuse Impact on Media and Creative Industries Information Monopolies Conclusion Notes

12 4 Digital Platforms and Communications PolicyIntroduction Law, Policy, and Regulation: Three Frames of Communications Policy National Communications Policy in the Twentieth Century The Three Is of Communication Policy: Ideas, Institutions, and InterestsInstitutions and the New Institutionalism Ideas and Communication Policy Interests and Public Policy: Pluralist, Elite, and Class Perspectives The Three Is in Action: Communications Policy in the Age of the Internet Conclusion Notes

13 5 Platform Regulation and GovernanceIntroduction: The Shifting Shape of Platform Governance The Governance Revolution The Platform Governance Triangle Regulatory Case Studies NetzDG Law (Germany) General Data Protection Regulation (European Union) News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code (Australia) The Facebook Oversight Board (Global) The Christchurch Call (New Zealand/International) Contract for the Web (Global) Classifying Regulatory Responses to Digital Platform Power Platform Governance or Platform Regulation? Conclusion Notes

14 6 The Chinese Internet and the Future of Global Internet GovernanceIntroduction: Liberal Institutionalism and Global Internet Governance Global Internet Governance under US Leadership The Internet in China Early Internet Development in China: Leapfrogging the Information Age Political Economy of China’s Digital Platform Giants Distinctive Features of the ‘Chinese Internet’ Model Fragmented Internet Governance and the Risk of a Global Splinternet Conclusion Notes

15 7 Platform Power and the Future of Internet PolicyPowerful Platforms The Regulatory Turn and the Return of State Actors Beyond the Platformized Internet Enhancing Competition in Digital Markets Content Regulation and Online Harms Who Regulates? Harmful and Illegal Content Internet Regulation and Media and Communications Policy Platforms as Intermediaries or as Publishers? Differentiating Types of Platforms Conclusion Notes

16 Conclusion Competition, Content, and Data: Three Distinct Points of Platform Regulation Is Internet Governance Possible? The Politics of Platform Regulation Reappraising Regulators Notes

17 References

18 Index

19 End User License Agreement

1 Chapter 2 Table 2.1Domains of Circulation and Platform Types. Source: Langley and Leyshon, 2017, p.... Table 2.2Three Taxonomies of Digital Platforms. Created by author.

2 Chapter 5 Table 5.1Classification of Six Case Studies of Digital Platform Regulation. Created by au...

3 Chapter 7 Table 7.1International Inquiries and Reviews of Digital Platforms up to August 2020. Sour... Table 7.2Variables Affecting Platform Governance. Source: Owen, 2019, p. 5.

1 Chapter 2 Figure 1.1Ideas, Interests, and Institutions. Created by author. Figure 1.2Trajectory of a Technological Innovation. Source: Perez, 2010, p. 187. Figure 1.3The Growth of the GAFAM in the 2010s. Source: Statista, 2019. Licensed under CC ... Figure 2.1Platforms as a Layer of Applications and Content. Source: Author. Figure 2.2Platform Business Models Based on Direct and Indirect Network Effects. Source: N... Figure 2.3Digital Platforms and their Relationships in Media Businesses. Source: Australia... Figure 2.4Interactions of Digital Platforms with their Users. Source: Australian Competiti... Figure 3.1Deanonymized User Data. Source: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, ... Figure 3.2Trust in Media across 26 Countries. Source: Edelman Data & Intelligence, 202... Figure 3.3Declining Trust in Newspapers and TV News in the United States. Source: Zuckerma... Figure 3.4Continuum of Discriminatory and Hateful Speech. Source: Adapted from Cortese, 20... Figure 3.5Decline in Journalism Employment in the United States, 2008–18. Sources: ... Figure 4.1Elements of a National Communications Policy. Source: Van Cuilenberg and McQuail... Figure 5.1The Platform Governance Triangle. Source: Gorwa, 2019a. Licensed under CC BY 3.0... Figure 6.1Number of Patents Filed for Different Offices by Earliest Priority Date, 1970... Figure 6.2Top Patent Offices by Number of Applications for Different AI Techniques, and Nu... Figure 7.1The New Free Speech Triangle. Source: Balkin, 2018, p. 2014. Figure 7.2European Union Regulatory Typology of Online Services. Source: European Commissi...

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