Deregulation and the Global Shift from Stakeholder to Private Sector Governance

Abstract

What role is there for stakeholders as the responsibility for content online shifts to self-regulation by large hosting platforms? How do co-regulation and redress mechanisms for disputes work across borders? This chapter addresses these main questions with case studies on EU digital market regulation. It analyses redress mechanisms for cross-border disputes under the Audiovisual Media Services Directive; the shift in responsibility for content regulation and disinformation to online platforms in the Digital Services Act and Codes of Practice on Disinformation; take-down obligations under the Copyright Directive; the use of voluntary self-regulatory codes of conduct in the proposed Artificial Intelligence Act; the reliance on self-regulation by large platforms to comply with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); and the emergence of self-regulatory cloud stakeholder groups for development of codes of conduct and cloud security certification schemes under the Regulation on the free flow of non-personal data. The findings point to a redistribution of the power as the digital single market reorders the influence of market processes and resources available to actors. The chapter documents a shift away from scrutiny by traditional actors, most notably states and civil society, towards an increasing role for the private sector.