Platform Regulation

Platform regulation covers the rules that apply to the large digital companies that host commerce, communication, and content for hundreds of millions of Americans. These businesses often argue they are neutral technology providers rather than the retailers, taxi services, or publishers that older regulations were written for, and that gap between how a company describes itself and what it actually does drives much of the debate over how it should be governed.

Marketplace platforms raise questions about who bears responsibility when transactions happen through an app rather than a storefront. Short-term rental and ride-hailing services have reshaped housing and transportation in ways that local and state governments are still working out how to oversee, covering issues like worker classification, safety standards, and neighborhood impact. These questions are explored in pieces on How Should Airbnb Be Regulated? and How Should Uber Be Regulated?.

Dominant tech companies face a different set of concerns, largely centered on market power, data collection, and control over information. Search, advertising, cloud computing, online retail, and social media each raise their own version of the question of how much influence one company should hold over a market or over public discourse. These debates are covered in How Should Google Be Regulated?, How Should Amazon Be Regulated?, and How Should Meta Be Regulated?.

National security and foreign ownership add another layer when a platform’s parent company is based outside the United States, raising questions about data access and government influence that go beyond ordinary antitrust or consumer protection concerns, as explored in How Should TikTok Be Regulated?.