Study highlights blind spots in digital regulation
Researchers warn legal frameworks miss how platforms shape innovation.
A recent academic study argues that legal frameworks fail to fully capture the power of cloud infrastructure in the digital economy. The research suggests that regulators focus too heavily on services and outputs rather than on the underlying systems that shape markets.
Authors highlight how major cloud providers influence innovation, data flows and technological development. Existing laws are said to overlook the ability of these actors to structure markets and define how digital systems operate.
The paper links these gaps to fragmented legal approaches, specifically in the EU, that treat technology as a series of isolated issues. Such perspectives risk missing broader forms of control embedded in infrastructure and platform ecosystems.
Researchers call for a shift in legal thinking to better recognise infrastructure-level power and its societal impact. Stronger frameworks are seen as essential as global digital systems become increasingly central to economic and political life.
Would you like to learn more about AI, tech and digital diplomacy? If so, ask our Diplo chatbot!