Policy Responses to Digital Communication Platforms with a Focus on Europe

Recent years since 2016 (Brexit referendum, US elections) have demonstrated how operations of digital communication platforms have fundamental implications on democracies of various kinds. While political campaigns have been “engineered” by the use of digital platforms and algorithms, political practices have challenged democratic virtues and values in unprecedented ways. It has become clear that technology can be used to undermine democracy and citizenship. As a counterweight for misleading, false or polarising information, watchdog journalism is suffering from economic weaknesses, intensified by the economic crisis following the Corona pandemic. Moreover, information as key feature of democratic legacy media is facing decreasing trust by users, open attacks by powerholders and widespread disinformation campaigns online. This chapter asks for challenges for news and information created by digital platforms, what policy options are currently discussed and how effective they might be. European norms, values and best practices in media and communications obviously are in conflict with the market realities created and globally implemented by US platforms. So far, the European Union has been slow to find effective means to challenge the platforms’ aims to dominate the European media and communication market. However, measures like the Digital Market Act (DMA), Digital Services Act (DSA) as well as new VAT rules agreed among European finance ministers to allow zero-rating for journalistic productions send encouraging policy signals.