CREATe’s work on platform regulation for the AHRC Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre (PEC) is being discussed in international contexts.
Neo-regulation of internet platforms discussed in Oxford
In a further development of his work, Philip Schlesinger presented an invited paper on ‘The neo-regulation of internet platforms? The British model considered’, in the session on ‘Internet regulation: issues and challenges’, at The Oxford Internet Policy & Politics Conference 2023 on 21 January 2023. The presentation drew on work conducted under the AHRC-funded Policy and Evidence Centre’s programme of work.
UK-KOR Creative Forum of Development and International Cooperation
Martin Kretschmer spoke on 6 December at the UK-KOR Creative Forum of Development and International Cooperation, a forum between South Korea and the UK to “exchange policies in response to situational changes in the cultural content industry”.
| Platform regulation and creative industries (Abstract)
We are in the midst of a global paradigm shift in the regulation of online platforms. Since the late 1990s, the dominant liability regime for internet intermediaries was a ‘safe harbor’, requiring action ex post, i.e. after notification of unlawful content. Recent interventions in contrast establish a special status and ex ante obligations for strategic platform firms. Prominent examples include the EU’s 2019 Copyright in the Digital Single Market (CDSM) Directive, establishing primary copyright liability for ‘Online Content-Sharing Service Provider’ (OCSSP) under Art. 17. In 2022, the EU also enacted the Digital Markets Act (DMA) with a focus on Gatekeepers and the Digital Services Act (DSA) with a focus on content moderation by Very Large Online Platforms (VLOP) and Very Large Search Engines (VLSE). Following Brexit, the UK articulated a policy of regulatory divergence, pursuing a pro-competitive regime differing from the EU. However online platforms by their very nature operate across borders. Transnational regulatory coordination is needed, in particular to facilitate cross border trade in the creative industries. The talk assessed the implications of the UK’s recent interventions, such as the creation of the Digital Markets Unit (DMU) and the Online Safety Bill in this light. |
Neo-regulation of internet platforms discussed in the Digital Activities Working Group convened by Paris Dauphine University’s Chair in Regulation
Philip Schlesinger presented his current thinking on the neo-regulation of internet platforms to the Digital Activities Working Group convened by Paris Dauphine University’s Chair in Regulation. In a lively exchange on 13 December the enduring value of international comparison was highlighted. The distinctive policy frameworks and administrative traditions of France and the UK and their implications for institutional innovation in the regulatory field was a key theme. So too was Philip Schlesinger’s contention that we must rethink the boundaries of the regulatory field as national security increasingly takes centre stage at a time of major geopolitical challenge.
Paper “The Emergence of Platform Regulation in the UK: An empirical-legal study” (co-authored by Martin Kretschmer, Ula Furgał and Philip Schlesinger) published in Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society
Kretschmer and Schlesinger’s initial “regulatory field” paper (co-written with Ula Furgal in 2021 as an AHRC PEC discussion paper and policy brief) traced the emergence of platform regulation in the UK. A revised version is now published in Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society – special issue: “Democracy in Flux – Order, Dynamics and Voices in Digital Public Spheres” (2022).
