The Internet: To Regulate or Not Regulate?

Abstract

This submission was prepared in response to a call for evidence launched on 29 March 2 by the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications entitled “The Internet: To Regulate or Not to Regulate?”. The broad inquiry sought evidence to explore how the regulation of the internet should be improved, and to consider whether online platforms which mediate individuals’ use of the internet have sufficient accountability and transparency, and whether they use fair and effective processes to moderate content. This collaborative response, prepared on behalf of NINSO (The Northumbria Internet & Society Research Interest Group), provides recommendations in relation to the wide range of issues raised by the Committee. The key themes that are highlighted by NINSO to be addressed by any reform are effective user education and the power imbalance between the platform and user. NINSO recommends that an empirical, holistic, evidence-based approach should be applied which is tailored appropriately to the size and resources of the platform as well as the context of the situation.

Keywords: internet regulation, house of lords select committee on communications, online platforms, transparency, accountability, algorithms