TY - JOUR
T1 - EU digital economy competition policy
T2 - From ex-post to ex-ante. The case of Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Meta
AU - Nicoli, Nicholas
AU - Iosifidis, Petros
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Since 2007, the European Commission (EC) has opened numerous competition cases regarding Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Meta (AAAM). Enforcement, however, has remained elusive, prompting a new regulatory paradigm in the EU known as the Digital Markets Act. In this study, we analyze the EC’s competition policy approach regarding big tech with an emphasis on AAAM. Rather than implementing a consumer welfare friendly neoclassic economics analysis, we adopt a critical political economy of communications (CPE) approach to analyze these cases. The article explores whether EU competition policy does enough to yield the required measures to preserve a healthy digital economy sector for political and social welfare as much as for consumer welfare.
AB - Since 2007, the European Commission (EC) has opened numerous competition cases regarding Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Meta (AAAM). Enforcement, however, has remained elusive, prompting a new regulatory paradigm in the EU known as the Digital Markets Act. In this study, we analyze the EC’s competition policy approach regarding big tech with an emphasis on AAAM. Rather than implementing a consumer welfare friendly neoclassic economics analysis, we adopt a critical political economy of communications (CPE) approach to analyze these cases. The article explores whether EU competition policy does enough to yield the required measures to preserve a healthy digital economy sector for political and social welfare as much as for consumer welfare.
KW - Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta
KW - communications policy
KW - digital economy sector
KW - digital markets act
KW - EU competition policy
KW - platformization
KW - political economy of communication
KW - public interest
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85146545911&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/20594364231152673
DO - 10.1177/20594364231152673
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85146545911
SN - 2059-4372
JO - Global Media and China
JF - Global Media and China
ER -