Regulating Platforms

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.

Preface

Acknowledgements

List of Tables and Figures



Chapter One: The End of the Libertarian Internet

Chapter Two: The Platformisation of Communications Media

Chapter Three: Issues of Concern

Chapter Four: Digital Platforms and Communications Policy

Chapter Five: Platform Regulation and Governance

Chapter Six: The Chinese Internet and the Future of Global Internet Governance

Chapter Seven: Platform Power and the Future of Internet Policy

Conclusion



Notes

References

Index

‘Platforms don't make us do things – they shape the ways in which we can do things. Fearing a loss of legitimacy and control, policymakers all over the world jump into action. The question is: what kind of internet will we end up with? Terry Flew carefully considers the road travelled and charts the road ahead.’
Mark Deuze, University of Amsterdam, author of Media Life

‘This well-written book, framed by a history of ideas, takes the measure of the current debate on platform power. Its focus on national regulatory responses by states with diverse and sometimes competing political systems captures the moment.’
Philip Schlesinger, University of Glasgow

Terry Flew is Professor of Digital Communication and Culture at the University of Sydney.