By Imanol Ramírez*
This is a summary from the full article, available here.
I. Introduction
There is increasing public pressure on internet companies to aggressively intervene with content moderation, particularly to tackle disinformation, harmful speech, copyright infringement, sexual abuse, automation and bias, terrorism and violent extremism.[1] Events like the Russian meddling in the 2016 United States’ presidential election,[2] the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar in 2017,[3] and the live footage of the Christchurch terrorist attack in 2019,[4] among others, have fueled the push for more effective online content moderation across the world.
Governments are now requiring large digital platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, to act further and faster with demands for increased use of technology in combating perceived harms.[5] The massive “infodemic” arising from the Covid-19 pandemic[6] and possible interference with the 2020 United States presidential election have increased the questions over the accountability of large tech platforms. This has motivated public actors to become more willing to interfere with the moderation policies of internet companies.[7]
While there are undeniably legitimate policy objectives for state intervention in online content moderation, there is the risk of an adverse effect on competition. Government regulation could serve to benefit large incumbents by raising the industries’ cost of doing business, with these companies being better positioned to bear the costs. Legislators and policymakers need to be aware of the impact that increased regulation on private content moderation policies could have on competition, particularly with digital platform markets characterized by the existence of dominant firms and natural forms of market concentration. In the long run, stringent and divergent regulation across jurisdictions could help large incumbent companies cement their market position to the detriment of consumer welfare. [Read more…] about Online Content Regulation and Competition Policy
