Skip to content
>> Home > Policy > Policy Briefs > The Regulation of Online Platforms: Mapping an emergent regulatory field

The Regulation of Online Platforms: Mapping an emergent regulatory field

neon light of speech bubble with heart shape inside

This policy brief is designed to accompany the Discussion Paper,The Emergence of Platform Regulation in the UK: an Empirical-Legal Study.

Both this brief and the Discussion Paper will be vital reading for policymakers, regulators, and industry representatives. It is the first attempt at mapping the digital platform regulatory landscape, creating a taxonomy of 80 distinct online harms, eight areas of law that need to considered by regulators, nine different agencies who are responsible for regulation, and a diverse range of different regulatory tools that can be used and policy levers that can be pulled. 

Through an analysis of 8 different UK government reports, issued over an 18 month period, researchers have found that policymakers are focusing on two key areas, Online Harms and Competition. 

US multinationals – Google and Facebook in particular – have captured regulators’ attention, and they dominate references in the official literature. 

The authors consider some of the outcomes for the UK’s regulatory authorities, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the UK’s multi-agency approach, splitting responsibility among multiple department and arms length bodies. 


This policy brief is designed as a summary for the full discussion paper, The Emergence of Platform Regulation in the UK: an Empirical-Legal Study, which you can dowload here

Photo by Prateek Katyal on Unsplash


Related Policy Briefings

Policy Brief: Insights from the Northern Creative Corridor Workshops Sprint

The Northern Creative Corridor is an initiative aimed at connecting creative clusters across Norther…

Policy Brief: International Trade and the UK Creative Industries

This policy brief examines international trade in the UK creative industries. Drawing on our UK Trad…

Policy brief: Audiences and Workforces in Arts Culture and Heritage

This policy brief uses census data to provide, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of audie…

National Theatre London -courtesy of Samuel Regan Asante
Policy Brief: Transitioning to Sustainable Production across the UK Theatre Sector

This policy brief outlines recommendations for transitioning to more sustainable theatre production …

interior of library
Authors’ Earnings in the UK

This policy briefing sets out areas for possible policy action, proposed by the researchers at CREAT…

TV with streaming app logos on screen
Television production, international trade and pressures to consolidate

The UK television production sector is one of Britain’s leading creative export sectors. This briefi…

person sewing a leather belt on sewing machine
Three ways to support growth in the creative industries

Three ways to support growth in the creative industries The Creative Industries are an economic powe…

coastal village scene with waves lapping sea wall
Policy briefing: Creative industries innovation in seaside resorts and country towns

This policy brief is based on a PEC Discussion Paper: Creative Industries Innovation in Seaside Reso…

person in grey body suit moving past stage set of forest
Policy Briefing: R&D in the Creative Industries

The creative industries are one of the fastest growing sectors of the UK economy. One in eight UK bu…

people in large lecture theatre
A global agenda from the PEC’s International Council

You can now read the report in A Global Agenda for the Cultural and Creative Industries is the …

neon light of speech bubble with heart shape inside
The birth of neo-regulation. Where next for the UK’s approach to platform regulation?

A new era of tech regulation is about to begin. However, planned legislation is leading to a tension…

view across Albert Docks Liverpool
Placemaking, Culture and Covid

In September 2021, we consulted a Panel of our Industry Champions on their experiences of …

Authors

Sign up to our newsletter