Capitalismo de plataforma e tipologia constitucional das plataformas digitais: entre mercados, praças públicas, anfiteatros e estradas

Abstract

This text deals with a proposed classification of digital platforms, based on a constitutional typology and represented by the archetypes of the “Market”, the “Public Square”, the “Amphitheatre” and the “Roads”. The article begins by analyzing the heuristics for understanding the digital age (speed, complexity, ambivalence, and uncertainty). In sequence, the industrial and communication revolutions are covered, until the advent of the digital age. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that technological progress is not a simple deterministic march but is also subject to political and social choices. It continues with the exposition of the evolution of the concept of platform, its main characteristics (network effects, non-neutrality of prices, scalability at “almost zero” marginal cost, intensive use of data and algorithms, and tendency to concentration in quasi-natural monopolies). Moreover, the current concept of the multilateral digital platform is presented, as well as its main functions (coordination, governance, and dispute resolution). The article ends with an analysis of the main classifications already presented for digital platforms, as well as proposing the outline of a new classification, based on the aforementioned constitutional typology.