Online Platforms

"Online platforms are forcing policy makers to fundamentally rethink traditional forms of intervention and the balance between different public policy goals"

Online platforms have become rooted in our lives and some of them are becoming a ‘commodity’ on which millions of people and businesses rely on every day. They span a wide range of activities starting from search to online marketplaces, social media, platforms for the collaborative economy to app stores. 
It has now become obvious that online platforms are forcing policy makers to fundamentally rethink traditional forms of intervention and the balance between different public policy goals. To cite a few:

  • the role of ex post competition law remedies v. ex-ante regulation
  • the roles of platforms v. the role of the state, and new forms of co-regulation
  • the need to ensure transparency and fairness for business users v. freedom of enterprise
  • the interaction between sector specific legislations and horizontal legislation
  • the need to protect citizens from illegal and harmful content v. censorship
  • the level playing field between traditional players and OTTs
  • the enforceability of rules and the roles of national and supra-national regulators
  • the articulation between media content/plurality and online platforms

The CRIDS is actively contributing to the debate at the EU, national and regional levels through studies, working groups, publications and conferences.

Latest publications

A. MICHEL, Y. POULLET, « À partir de l’affaire Kairos, quelques réflexions sur les débats autour de la modération des contenus en ligne : note d'observations sous Tribunal de l’entreprise de Bruxelles (cess., 9e ch.), 8 novembre 2021, A/21/01898 et Tribunal de l’entreprise de Bruxelles (cess., 16e ch.), 2 mai 2022, A/21/01898», R.D.T.I., 2023, n°90, pp. 79-121.

H. PETEN DE PINA PRATA, M. HANOT, A. MICHEL, EU Report Articulations between self-regulation and regulation in the field of information and journalism : a comparative analysis of european practices followed by observations and recommendations, Bruxelles, Conseil de déontologie journalistique, 2023, 77 p.M. LEDGER, S. BROUGHTON MICOVA, Overlaps - services and harms in scope : comparison between recent initiatives targeting digital services, Bruxelles, CERRE, 2022, 52 p.

P. LIMBREE, « Arrêt Möbel Kraft de la C.J.U.E. : l’exception au droit de rétractation dans les contrats de vente dont l’objet est un « bien confectionné selon les spécifications du consommateur », note sous C.J.U.E.(1re ch.), 16 juillet 2020», D.C.C.R., 2021, n°133, pp. 31-46.

J. BARATA, O. BUDZINSKI, A. DE STREEL, M. LEDGER, T. MCGONAGLE, K. PENTNEY, E. ROSATI, Décrypter la législation sur les services numériques, Iris Special, Strasbourg, Observatoire Européen de l'Audiovisuel, 2021, 154 p.

A. DE STREEL, C. HOCEPIED, « The EU regulation of electronic communications networks and services », Research handbook on EU media law and policy, Cheltenham, Elgar, 2021, pp. 110-140 

Latest reports

MICHEL, L.-A. DENIS, Towards a sustainable social media archiving strategy for Belgium : BESOCIAL : WP7 – Helpdesk for legal enquiries : version 2.0, s.l., s.n., 2022, 50 p.

MICHEL, L.-A. DENIS, Towards a sustainable social media archiving strategy for Belgium : BESOCIAL : Task 5.1. Legal recommendations concerning social media archiving, s.l., s.n., 2022, 7 p.

MICHEL, L.-A. DENIS, Towards a sustainable social media archiving strategy for Belgium : BESOCIAL : annex to the global legal report : the archiving of illegal or harmful contents, s.l., s.n., 2022, 12 p.

A. DE STREEL, M. GIORGIO, Improving Institutional Design to Better Supervise Digital Platforms, Bruxelles, CERRE, 2022, 66 p.(FREE PDF HERE)

Key publications

H. JACQUEMIN, M.LEDGER, « Consumer rights and the digital market », Electronic communications, audiovisual services and the Internet, London, Sweet and Maxwell, 2020, pp. 367-392.(FREE PDF HERE)

M. LEDGER, S. BROUGHTON MICOVA, Overlaps - services and harms in scope : comparison between recent initiatives targeting digital services, Bruxelles, CERRE, 2022, 52 p.(FREE PDF HERE)

A. DE STREEL, M. BOURREAU, S. BROUGHTON MICOVA, R. FEASEY, A. FLETCHER, J. KRAMER, M. GIORGIO, M. PEITZ, Effective and proportionate implementation of the DMA, Bruxelles, CERRE, 2023, 187 p. (FREE PDF HERE)

A. DE STREEL, M. GIORGIO, Improving Institutional Design to Better Supervise Digital Platforms, Bruxelles, CERRE, 2022, 66 p.(FREE PDF HERE)

A. DE STREEL, A. KUCZRAWY, M. LEDGER, « Online platforms and services», Electronic communications, audiovisual services and the Internet, London, Sweet and Maxwell, 2020, pp. 125-157. (FREE PDF HERE)

A. DE STREEL, E. DEFREYNE, H. JACQUEMIN, M. LEDGER, A. MICHEL, Online Platforms' Moderation of Illegal Content Online : Law, Practices and Options for Reform, Luxembourg, European Parliament, 2020, 99 p (FREE PDF HERE)