Digital Protectionism: Myth or Reality?

Abstract

Many governments continue or even return to protectionism, with a special influence on digital protectionism that has emerged in the era of digital development. Compared to the traditional protectionism the digital one usually differs due to the expansive growth of digital companies and the enormous amounts of data they gather. The authors focus on the two main elements of digital protectionism – a regulatory regime that creates barriers to cross-border data transfer and benefits in antitrust legislation in respect of internal companies. The purpose of the article is to identify the risks of applying special regulation of personal data protection and using antitrust policy to regulate digital companies functioning as means of protectionism. The analysis includes two stages: comparing of personal data protection and digital protectionism aims, assessing the protectionism motives within the framework of antitrust regulation. Based on the results of the study the authors come to the conclusion that industrial and antitrust regulators should take into account the risks of implementing digital protectionism to the competition.