Antitrust shrugged? Boycotts, content moderation, and free speech cartels

Jan Polański

European Competition Journal, 2023, vol. 19, issue 2, 334-358

Abstract: Antitrust and free speech may seem to have little in common. Yet, they may start interacting more often as Big Tech undertakings might have incentives to coordinate their content moderation policies and collectively suppress unwanted information. Such coordination might be desirable, but in some cases it may lead to antitrust and free speech concerns. Against this backdrop, the article attempts to provide a framework to analyse this type of cases from the point of view of European Union competition law. It identifies five types of agreements that may be entered into by undertakings and provides outlines on possible ways of approaching them. It concludes that while content moderation is often seen as a free speech issue, antitrust should not shrug off such concerns as out of its scope. Yet, it also suggests that these types of cases are not straightforward and that both more research and vigilance on the part of antitrust authorities might be advisable.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1080/17441056.2023.2200612

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