Facing Up To Internet Giants
Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law, Forthcoming
iCourts Working Paper Series, no. 320, 2023
40 Pages Posted: 13 Mar 2023
Date Written: March 8, 2023
Abstract
Mancur Olson claimed that concentrated interests win against diffuse interests even in advanced democracies. Multinational companies, for example, work well in unison to suit their interests. The rest of the public is not motivated or informed enough to resist them. In contrast, other scholars argued that diffuse interests may be able to fight back, but only when certain conditions prevail. One of the conditions for the success of diffuse interests is the intervention of national and international courts. Courts are able to fix problems affecting diffuse interests. Courts can also initiate deliberation that can indirectly empower diffuse interests by getting them informed. This paper investigates the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). It argues that these international courts help consumers, a diffuse interest group, to succeed in their struggle against internet companies, a concentrated interest group.
Keywords: international courts, internet regulation, interest groups
JEL Classification: K33
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation