Private Law Regulation of Digital Intermediaries

Abstract

Communication in the digital world depends on Internet intermediaries. By means of technology they control access to information and function as creators of the public. In particular, platforms for social networks do not just facilitate communication but they shape sociality. However, as important as online intermediaries are for the entire spectrum of social life, they create autonomous normative orders, the rules of which they can self-enforce based on their control of the logical architecture. Under these circumstances the law should be cautious not to confuse the autonomisation of emergent normativity and private regulation with their naturalisation. The article enquires into the options of private law to regulate the regulatory activities of digital intermediaries. In order to apply private law review to digital regulation, it is essential to understand the terms of use and running code as manifestations of the autonomy of the digital. Private law would then act as a kind of constitutional law for the digital medium. In the context of such social constitutions, protection of freedom is primarily accomplished through developing standards of due process for private regulation. The focus of private-law instruments should be to induce procedural and participatory innovations in the normative orders of transnational media.