G-IPTech Lecture with Dr John Dooley:

"Understanding Digital Platform Regulation in the EU and Implications for National Implementation"

The rise of the digital economy is one of the defining features of the 21st century. Over the last twenty years, the digital economy, driven primarily through the large digital platforms, that have been largely unregulated to date, has brought enormous economic and societal benefits. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this trend by making digital platforms central to the global economy and society and highlighting further opportunities, but importantly too, risks and threats. Digital platforms, representing the increasingly important and maturing online platform economy, are now being described as critical infrastructure and even utilities. Digital platform policy and particularly the future regulation of the large far reaching dominant platforms is a major focus of the EU as part of the response to the Covid-19 crisis.

The literature on platform regulation highlights that two major themes emerge concerning digital platform regulation, and that consequently are the focus for their future regulation: competition and online content. I provide a significant contribution to the nascent but growing academic and professional literature in these areas through a critical analysis of and reflection on emerging digital platform regulatory practices being proposed under the groundbreaking EU Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act package. This includes assessing implications for national implementation, regulatory enforcement, and governance. A particular emphasis is put on the Digital Services Act where there is less literature, knowledge, and experience on how to best regulate online content. In this context, I provide insights into how Ireland, where many of the large platforms are established and so is the de facto regulator, is dealing with regulatory implementation issues driven by the EU.