Talking at Cross Purposes? A Computational Analysis of the Debate on Informational Duties in the Digital Services and the Digital Markets Acts

Technology and Regulation, DOI: 10.26116/techreg, ISSN: 2666-139X

46 Pages Posted: 4 Jun 2021 Last revised: 7 Mar 2022

See all articles by Fabiana Di Porto

Fabiana Di Porto

University of Salento ; Luiss Guido Carli University; Law Faculty, Hebrew University

Tatjana Grote

Algorithmic Disclosure PRIN project, University of Salento

Gabriele Volpi

Algorithmic Disclosure PRIN project, University of Salento

Riccardo Invernizzi

Algorithmic Disclosure PRIN project, University of Salento; University of Pavia - Department of Mathematics; Institute of Advanced Study IUSS

Date Written: January 18, 2022

Abstract

In the latest Commission proposals, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA), ex ante informational obligations for online intermediaries, platforms, and ‘gatekeepers’ figure prominently. Some are new, others are already state-of-the-art for many operators. Because the efficacy of these duties is widely questioned, one wonders how they are implemented in the normative proposals. The question is largely uncovered in the literature. To fill this void, the paper investigates whether there was any agreement among the stakeholders who participated in the consultation over the DSA and DMA proposals. We do so by using NLP techniques to analyze whether key terms of transparency are used in the same way by different stakeholders.
We find significant differences in the employment of terms like ‘simple’ or ‘meaningful’ in the position papers that informed the drafting of the two proposals. These findings are informative for both rule-makers and legal scholars, and may explain why informational duties fail so often to reach their goal.

Keywords: Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, Big Platforms, Computational Analysis, Machine Learning, Transparency Duties, Law and Technology, Natural Language Processing, Word Embedding Model; Regulation

JEL Classification: K3, K4, O3

Suggested Citation

Di Porto, Fabiana and Grote, Tatjana and Volpi, Gabriele and Invernizzi, Riccardo, Talking at Cross Purposes? A Computational Analysis of the Debate on Informational Duties in the Digital Services and the Digital Markets Acts (January 18, 2022). Technology and Regulation, DOI: 10.26116/techreg, ISSN: 2666-139X, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3851657

Fabiana Di Porto (Contact Author)

University of Salento ( email )

Via per Monteroni
Lecce, Lecce 73100
Italy

Luiss Guido Carli University

Viale Romania
Rome, Roma 00100
Italy

Law Faculty, Hebrew University ( email )

Mount Scopus
Mount Scopus, IL 91905
Israel

Tatjana Grote

Algorithmic Disclosure PRIN project, University of Salento ( email )

via Taranto 35
Piazza Tancredi, N.7
Lecce, Lecce 73100
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://www.lawandtechnology.it

Gabriele Volpi

Algorithmic Disclosure PRIN project, University of Salento ( email )

via Taranto 35
Piazza Tancredi, N.7
Lecce, Lecce 73100
Italy

Riccardo Invernizzi

Algorithmic Disclosure PRIN project, University of Salento ( email )

via Taranto 35
Piazza Tancredi, N.7
Lecce, Lecce 73100
Italy

University of Pavia - Department of Mathematics ( email )

Pavia, 27100
Italy

Institute of Advanced Study IUSS ( email )

Italy

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