Platforms and Protocols: Can Competition Law Help the De Centralisation of Social Media Platforms?

Abstract

Social media platforms have been criticised for their approach in moderating harmful content online and their power over online speech. It has been suggested that one solution could lie in opening platforms to a new layer of services that would provide better content moderation and user experience. Such efforts have already started, with one spearheaded by Twitter itself. The paper discusses whether such efforts correspond to the goals of EU competition law and whether the current competition toolbox could be used to achieve such de-centralisation. Following the Competition for the Digital Era strategy, it discusses the opening of social media platforms to a new type of services or turning current platforms into “protocols” with corresponding “applications". It will also look at competition law as an aid in maintaining such proposed regimes. It will argue that the latter option may be feasible with current tools; conversely the former could require a bold reimagining of competition law as well as ex-ante regulation.

Keywords: Competition law, Content moderation, De-centralisation of social media platforms