Regulating Platforms (Digital Media and Society)

Description

We once thought of cyberspace as a borderless world. As the internet has become increasingly platformized, with a small number of technology giants that dominate the global digital economy, concerns about information monopolies, hateful online content, and the impact on media content creators and creative industries have become more marked. Consequently governments, politicians, and civil society are questioning how digital platforms can or should be regulated. In this up-to-the-minute study, Terry Flew engages with important questions surrounding platform regulation. Starting from the premise that governance is an inherent feature of digital platforms, he argues that the challenge is to develop the best frameworks for balancing external regulatory oversight with the internal governance practices of platform companies. The intersection of media policy, information policy, and economic policy is an important element of policy frameworks, as national authorities increasingly seek to engage with the power of global digital platforms. Lively and accessible, Regulating Platforms is a go-to text for students and scholars of media and communication. Series Title Title Page Copyright Page Preface Acknowledgements Figures Tables 1 The End of the Libertarian Internet Revisiting 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 2 The Platformization of Communications Media The 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 3 Issues of Concern Introduction: 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 4 Digital Platforms and Communications Policy Introduction 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 Interests Institutions 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 5 Platform Regulation and Governance Introduction: 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 6 The Chinese Internet and the Future of Global Internet Governance Introduction: 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 7 Platform Power and the Future of Internet Policy Powerful 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 Conclusion Competition, Content, and Data: Three Distinct Points of Platform Regulation Is Internet Governance Possible? The Politics of Platform Regulation Reappraising Regulators Notes References Index End User License Agreement