The usefulness of market power in determining the legal nature of the services provided by digital platforms

Abstract

Determining the true legal nature of the services provided by digital platforms is one of the main issues raised by these new market players. This paper aims to advance our understanding of this issue. Specifically, it proposes the use of the criterion of market power, which is widely used in business competition law. In the author’s opinion, the greater the platform’s market power, the greater the level of influence it can exert over the providers of the underlying services. Conversely, the lower the market power, the greater the likelihood that the degree of influence exercised over the providers will not be significant and, therefore, their activity will qualify as mere digital intermediation.