Platform Councils: Solving or Creating Regulatory Vulnerabilities? A Brazilian Perspective

Abstract

An old Soviet adage recommends that “If you do not want to solve a problem, then create a commission.” The hypothesis of this brief paper is that platform councils may not necessarily solve digital platforms’ deficit of democratic values accountability, and they might contribute to creating further regulatory vulnerabilities, unless legislators design them to be meaningfully accountable.

To this end, this essay provides a brief and non-exhaustive introduction to the types of platform councils developed so far. Subsequently, it explores the existing Brazilian platform regulation framework, and utilises the three main democratic values included in the title of the Brazilian Bill for Platform Regulation i.e., “freedom, responsibility and transparency”, to analyse how far platform councils might be useful to foster democratic values. Lastly, the conclusion highlights some relevant caveats, regarding the effectiveness – and, ultimately, advisability – of relying on self-regulation versus public regulation to establish platform councils.