The normative dimension of platform governance: big tech and digital platforms as normative actors

Abstract

Big tech and digital platforms are not only market players or even political agents, but also normative actors and sources of authority for users, consumers and even governments. Virtual communities shape a global public domain and transcend the private nature of the services and spaces of interaction provided by private corporations. In the global public domain of cyberspace, States appear as dysfunctional and heterogeneous entities for the regulation of content, whereas global platforms have become normative actors effectively shaping the behavior of individuals and groups of all sorts through code, algorithms and business models. The relevance of this normative dimension of platform governance deserves a normative acknowledgement as well as a critical consideration.