Phd in PUBLIC, COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

Thesis title: La regolazione delle piattaforme digitali

The aim of this work is to outline lines of enquiry to improve our understanding of the development of large digital platforms, by analysing the nature of their power, the legal issues they raise, the doctrinal opinions and regulations that have favoured their development, and the instruments that regulate them at national, regional and supranational levels. The first chapter defines large digital platforms and their relationship with the state system, studying the characteristics of their business model and the impact of their activities on the political and social spheres. The second chapter examines the development of large platforms resulting from the commercialisation of the internet and techno-optimistic and neoliberal doctrinal and regulatory developments between the 20th and 21st centuries. It also explores the evolution, objectives and characteristics of current privacy, digital markets and services, and artificial intelligence regulation in the United States and the European Union. The third chapter assesses the adequacy of the current regulatory framework for managing the digital phenomenon at a global level. Particular emphasis is placed on the theory of «global administrative law» to describe the regulatory dimension of platforms and subject them to the principles of public law.