New ways of oversight for the digital economy

Oversight is a key component of successful regulation. Governments around the world are seeking to regulate digital platforms and – even if the regulatory framework is correct – success could be undermined by a lack of effective oversight. This CERRE Tech, Media, Telcom issue paper discusses how public authorities can oversee the application of the rules by digital platforms and encourage the emergence of an “ecosystem of oversight” with a cooperative relationship between oversight bodies, the platforms and their users to achieve public interest objectives.

With the European Commission’s landmark proposals for the Digital Markets and Digital Services Acts, the supervision of the platform economy in the European Union is set to change. The oversight of platforms is particularly challenging given the key characteristics of the platform economy, such as their global reach, information asymmetry, complex business models and their impact on fundamental rights. This means new ways of oversight need to be applied.

Authors Alexandre de Streel and Michèle Ledger aim to put forward some options for the oversight of the platform economy and to stimulate discussion, setting out the principles for good regulatory framework, authorities and oversight, making proposals for an “ecosystem of oversight”, and suggesting roles for digital technologies, big data and Artificial Intelligence.

This issue paper, which has since been referenced in the European Parliamentary Research Service briefing on the Digital Services Act, was presented and debated during a CERRE online webinar on 23 February 2021.