Digital Regulation and Development: A Global Micro and Macro Comparison

Abstract

Regulation of the digital economy is receiving increased attention both domestically and internationally, but little scholarship exists assessing the degree to which these new rules effectively support economic, social, and sustainable development. Legal measures governing the digital economy are central to unlocking broad-based opportunity and protecting human rights, directly connecting digital rules and regulations with the operationalization of the United Nations’ seventeen Sustainable Development Goals. Domestic law has been an important driver of legal change in areas like data privacy, human rights, digital infrastructure, and access to finance. In many cases, domestic law has influenced rules at a regional level, highlighting how micro interventions can influence more macro-level rules. Trade agreements exhibit new approaches in development-focused digital regulation as well, including the recent trend to include provisions on “inclusive” digital trade, such as those that appear in the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, the New Zealand-UK Free Trade Agreement, and the Digital Trade Protocol to the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement. However, both domestic law and trade agreements contain notable gaps in linking digital rules to social and sustainable development. These include insufficient data privacy protection, particularly as it relates to artificial intelligence, and piecemeal focus on digital infrastructure and addressing the digital divide. Sustainability in the digital realm is an even more amorphous concept, and current national and regional rules largely overlook both environmental and social gains and losses resulting from increased digital activity. This Article explores domestic, regional, and international digital rules in the context of broad-based development, highlighting innovations in domestic law and trade agreements, along with alternative “micro” interventions, for future study and scaling.