The next working group meeting on Digital Activities will take place on Tuesday, 3rd June from 5.30pm to 7pm
Speaker : Charlotte Ducuing - KU Leuven
Paper : Democratizing the regulation of Big Tech as public utilities
Abstract : Legislatures worldwide face the challenge of regulating Big Tech, companies that have gained vast influence through technology. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act acknowledge their infrastructural role and aim to steer them toward the general interest, including fundamental rights and especially the mitigation of ‘systemic risks’ to society. These frameworks grant Big Tech significant discretion, encouraging them to embed public interest objectives, particularly systemic risk mitigation, into their risk management practices. This is epitomized by the DSA’s systemic risk management provisions (Art. 34/35), which blend public (European Commission) and private (platforms) regulation, raising concerns over democratic accountability. This situation illustrates a regulatory trilemma: maintaining Big Tech as infrastructure for social functions, addressing systemic risks, and preserving democratic control. Resolving this requires embracing the idea of Big Tech as private infrastructure and drawing regulatory insights accordingly. The U.S. legal realist tradition of public utility regulation offers a useful model, originally developed to govern private providers of essential services. The key question: despite the novelty of Big Tech, what regulatory lessons can be drawn from other infrastructure sectors like railroads.
Relevant information:
- Here the Microsoft Teams link. The session will cover 90 minutes (questions and answers included).
- The working group is part of the activities of the Governance and Regulation Chair at Paris Dauphine-PSL University. The group meets once in two weeks to discuss, share, and present working papers and/or ideas surrounding recent developments in the domain of platform regulation. We have both internal and external presenters to share their work.
- If you would like to present your work or have anyone in mind to present, please send an email to lucas.eustache@dauphine.psl.eu.
