Democratic Antitrust for Digital Markets: Leveraging Competition Law for Liberal Democracy (Hart Studies in Competition Law)

Today’s digital environment constantly tests democratic liberties and processes: Can competition law make digital democracy more resilient?Drawing on contemporary competition law in Canada, the EU and the US, this book offers a multi-jurisdictional perspective on this pressing issue. Digital platforms increasingly shape public discourse and influence electoral outcomes.By controlling the infrastructure and the data required for this interference with democracy, they hold a power that is not democratically legitimised.Multidisciplinary research has revealed the serious implications of this imbalance for democratic liberties, processes and values. Leveraging competition law is one way forward. Competition law is rooted in an understanding that economic power needs to be kept in check to prevent it from morphing into unwarranted political power, and it has long shaped the behaviour of digital platforms.The book negotiates the boundaries of competition law and develops a comprehensive fram