style="font-size:15px;"> 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
Regulating Platforms
terry flew
polity
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
Preface
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
