Systemic Risks of Dominant Online Platforms: A Scoping Review

Abstract

The 2022 EU Digital Services Act (DSA) is a major milestone in the regulation of online platforms and search engines, and the way that they affect democratic societies. At its core, the DSA lays down rules and obligations for online platforms and search engines to mitigate "systemic risk" arising from their design or functioning. While the DSA defines this term, this definition has been criticised as being very broad and only providing limited legal clarity. In response, we conducted a PRISMA-based scoping review and thematic analysis of past literature and case law concerned with the definition of "systemic risk". We found no previous case law but found and reviewed 22 articles, which tend to deal with systemic risk in a financial context (e.g., the breakdown of the monetary system in response to a bank run). We conclude that much clarity on the meaning of systemic risks is needed in order to provide legal certainty, avoid evasion of the legal rules by the responsible platforms and search engines, and ultimately ensure sound protections of EU citizens online. In support of this endeavour, our findings provide a theoretical foundation that helps understand systemic risks and examine these risks from a legal, social, and technological perspective. Beyond the scope of this article, our findings are also relevant for the new EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), which relies on the concept of systemic risk for its regulation of "general-purpose AI" like ChatGPT.

Keywords: Platforms, Systemic Risk, Digital Services, Digital Services Act (DSA), Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs), Very Large Search Engines (VLOSEs), Disinformation, Illegal content, Fundamental rights, Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act)