By Henri Piffaut –
In the past few months, the idea of regulating platforms has shifted from extreme to mainstream and initiatives are under way in a number of jurisdictions for various public policy objectives. This paper sets out some key elements to take into account when deciding to regulate platforms. It discusses first what digital platforms are: market designers and regulators and underlines that they are subject to complex dynamics due to their multi sided nature. This calls for a new form of data-based regulation of platforms, where public policy objectives are attributed to platforms and their achievement validated through data analysis.
