Law and Regulation of Online Platforms

Technology platforms — the intermediaries that shape as well as enable our social and professional interactions, media consumption and game playing, online purchases, and more — have long been treated with cautious deference by lawmakers and regulators concerned that government interference could hamper innovation. But that has changed in recent years, with calls from all sides of the political spectrum to rein in the power of today’s tech giants through a variety of different legal reforms addressing consumer privacy, freedom of speech, algorithmic bias, anti-competitive behavior, and more. This seminar will explore the legal framework for platform regulation in the United States, with an emphasis on platforms' role in enabling harmful third-party conduct. We will begin by contrasting the treatment of intermediaries under copyright and trademark law with the almost-complete immunity that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act confers for non-IP claims. We will then turn to current debates over whether platforms should face greater responsibility for preventing or limiting internet-related harms. Given the fast-changing landscape, precise topics will be determined in the lead-up to the semester, but they may include election interference, harms to children, privacy violations, perceived political bias, algorithmic amplification, and mis/disinformation. To provide a more robust experience in addressing complex issues at the intersection of law and technology, this course will include joint sessions and projects with a parallel computer science course at MIT, requiring law students and computer science students to collaborate to assess and develop proposals that address the technological as well as legal challenges in regulating platforms. RECOMMENDED COURSES: A previous course in Intellectual Property or Information Privacy is highly recommended. UPPER-CLASS WRITING REQUIREMENT: This class may be used to partially satisfy the requirement. GRADING NOTICE: This class does not offer the CR/NC/H option. ** A student who fails to attend the initial meeting of a seminar, or to obtain permission to be absent from either the instructor or the Registrar, may be administratively dropped from the seminar. Students who are on a wait list for a seminar are required to attend the first seminar meeting to be considered for enrollment.