CERRE think tank Logo
  • About us
    • About CERRE
    • Our team
    • Board of Directors
    • Annual Review
    • Careers
    • Transparency & Independence
    • FAQs
  • Areas of expertise
    • Energy & Sustainability
    • Mobility
    • Tech, Media, Telecom
    • Cross-sector
  • Publications
  • Events
  • News
  • Membership
    • Our members
    • Become a member
  • Contact
Menu
  • About us
    • About CERRE
    • Our team
    • Board of Directors
    • Annual Review
    • Careers
    • Transparency & Independence
    • FAQs
  • Areas of expertise
    • Energy & Sustainability
    • Mobility
    • Tech, Media, Telecom
    • Cross-sector
  • Publications
  • Events
  • News
  • Membership
    • Our members
    • Become a member
  • Contact
Filter by Sectors





Cover of the CERRE publication "What is the harm in size?" - white and blue abstract triangles with the title of the publication bottom left and a aerial colour photo of a group of people in a courtyard
Publications
#Tech, Media, Telecom

What is the harm in size?

  • October 19, 2021
Share.
Document(s)
ISSUE PAPER | What is the harm in size?

When it comes to digital services, what exactly is the harm in largeness and is size systemically problematic? These are key questions raised in CERRE’s latest Issue Paper “What is the harm in size?”.

The proposed Digital Service Act (DSA) would create a specific category of digital services called ‘Very Large Online Platforms’ (VLOPs). These are set apart as ones where the risk of harm from the dissemination of content is higher. They are defined on the basis of reach, determined by number of users. But what exactly is the harm in being large and are other considerations besides reach perhaps needed to gauge the level of risk?

The Issue Paper, authored by leading academic Sally Broughton Micova, examines the topic from the perspective of social and political theory. Its aim is to introduce a new perspective to discussions about the regulation of online content platforms and provide a nuanced understanding about the relationship between large size and the potential for systemic harm.

Looking at the connection between harm and size purely from a market perspective is inherently problematic because, of course, it is not the job of markets to protect privacy, family life, expression, public health, or democracy.

Broughton Micova highlights that platforms could be considered of greater risk of harm if they are public, which is not only a matter of the size of their audience and the extent to which that results in them being a public space, but also the extent to which any harm associated with them “contagion” affects public institutions, public or societal systems. Or if they facilitate the accumulation of harms to a degree that impacts the wider social environment, for which scale of content and users may not be the only indication.

Importantly, in order to identify platforms that pose a systemic risk and are, therefore ‘large’ enough to require additional measures a simple calculation of individual users may not be sufficient.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The DSA’s approach to harm is a risk-based one that connects largeness with systemic risk in three areas of potential harm (public institutions, societal systems, and social context). However, based on an extensive literature review of systemic risk and harm, when looking at the DSA legislation in particular Broughton Micova concludes that:

  • Member State level systems should be accounted for in the designation of VLOPs;
  • Some measure of interconnectedness should be part of the definition of VLOPs; and
  • Media pluralism should be included as a distinct risk category for assessment.

This Issue Paper was presented and debated amongst academics, regulators, and industry actors during a CERRE webinar on 19 October 2021.

Author(s)
Loading...
Sally Broughton Micova
Sally Broughton Micova
CERRE Academic Co-Director
University of East Anglia

Sally Broughton Micova is a CERRE Academic Co-Director and an Associate Professor in Communications Policy and Politics at the University of East Anglia (UEA). She is also a member of UEA’s Centre for Competition Policy.

Her research focuses on media and communications policy in Europe.

She completed her PhD in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), after which she was an LSE Teaching and Research Fellow in Media Governance and Policy and Deputy Director of the LSE Media Policy Project.

Sally Broughton Micova is a CERRE Academic Co-Director and an Associate Professor in Communications Policy and Politics at the University of East Anglia (UEA). She is also a member of UEA’s Centre for Competition Policy.

Her research focuses on media and communications policy in Europe.

She completed her PhD in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), after which she was an LSE Teaching and Research Fellow in Media Governance and Policy and Deputy Director of the LSE Media Policy Project.

More publications

on #Tech, Media, Telecom

The European Standardisation System at a Crossroads
2 May 2023

Tech, Media, Telecom

Data Act: Towards a Balanced EU Data Regulation
28 March 2023

Tech, Media, Telecom

Access to Data and Algorithms: For an Effective DMA and DSA Implementation
16 March 2023

Tech, Media, Telecom

Effective and Proportionate Implementation of the DMA
11 January 2023

Tech, Media, Telecom

Digital Industrial Policy for Europe
13 December 2022

Tech, Media, Telecom

Overlaps – Services and Harms in Scope: A Comparison Between Recent Initiatives Targeting Digital Services
22 November 2022

Tech, Media, Telecom

Global Governance for the Digital Ecosystems
11 November 2022

Tech, Media, Telecom

eIDAS 2.0: Digital Identity Services in the Platform Economy
24 October 2022

Tech, Media, Telecom

Open Interfaces and Innovation in Telecommunications
29 September 2022

Tech, Media, Telecom

Interoperability in Digital Markets
21 March 2022

Tech, Media, Telecom

Stay informed

Subscribe to our newsletters for our latest updates

Subscribe now

Centre on Regulation in Europe asbl (CERRE)

Avenue Louise, 475 (box 10)
B-1050 Brussels – Belgium
T.: +3222308360
E-mail: info@cerre.eu  

Twitter Linkedin-in Youtube
  • Copyright CERRE 2010-2023
  • BE 0824446055 RPM Bruxelles
About
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Board of Directors
  • Annual review
  • Careers
  • Transparency & Independence
  • FAQs
Expertise
  • Energy & Sustainability
  • Tech, Media, Telecom
  • Mobility
  • Cross-sector
More
  • Publications
  • Events
  • News & Insights
  • Privacy & Legals

Centre on Regulation in Europe asbl (CERRE)

Avenue Louise, 475 (box 10)
B-1050 Brussels – Belgium
T.: +3222308360
E-mail: info@cerre.eu 

BE 0824446055 RPM Bruxelles

Twitter Linkedin-in Youtube
About
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Board of directors
  • Annual review
  • Careers
  • Transparency & Independence
  • FAQs
Expertise
  • Energy & Sustainability
  • Tech, Media, Telecom
  • Mobility
  • Cross-sector
More
  • Publications
  • Events
  • News & insights
  • Our members
  • Become a member

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience.

OK
CERRE Privacy Policy