{"id":100962,"date":"2025-11-05T23:23:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T22:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ictrechtswijzer.be\/?p=100962"},"modified":"2025-11-05T23:56:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T22:56:23","slug":"can-the-law-keep-up-with-big-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ictrechtswijzer.be\/en\/kan-het-recht-big-tech-wel-bijbenen\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the law keep up with Big Tech?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The influence of major technology companies such as Amazon, Google (Alphabet) and Meta is hard to overestimate<\/sup>. They have not only reshaped our online interactions and political debate<\/sup>, but also fundamentally changed the economy. Their business models, often based on swapping services for data <\/sup>, however, rarely fit within existing legal frameworks, which predate the data economy<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The common thread, then, is that one of conflict. This friction between rapid technological innovation and slower law leads to a vicious cycle of litigation and, most recently, a tsunami of new, complex and often overlapping EU regulations (such as the DMA, DSA and AI Act). The result, ironically, is increasing legal uncertainty, not just for \u2018Big Tech,\u2019 but for any company offering or using digital services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The inevitable spiral: innovation, conflict, and regulation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The interaction between technology and law follows a predictable pattern that has repeated itself constantly over the past few decades<\/sup>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Innovation:<\/strong> A new technology or service is launched that challenges existing legal concepts. The rules are often too old to correctly qualify the new activity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Conflict:<\/strong> A regulator, consumer organization or competitor starts an administrative procedure or lawsuit, arguing that the (old) law is violated .<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Clarification:<\/strong> The case leads to a court ruling (often from the European Court of Justice) that stretches or clarifies the old rules. This, in turn, can prompt the legislature to create completely new rules.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    However, this process leads to a plethora of complex, multi-layered regulations that undermine legal certainty<\/sup>. Its impact is felt in virtually every area of law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Battlefield 1: Competition law - from punishing after the fact to intervening beforehand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The competition law<\/a> is perhaps the clearest example of how Big Tech has overturned the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n