Decentralizing Platform Governance
Year: 2024
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: This chapter discusses how Chinese online platforms, driven by insecurity about government intervention and rampant market fraud, are decentralizing governance to diffuse platform-induced tensions. Alibaba, the forerunner in this decentralization, introduced a crowd-judging mechanism that encourages user participation in rule making and dispute resolution. Following this trend, numerous e-commerce, social media, and ride-hailing platforms have implemented similar legal schemes. This chapter illustrates that crowd-judging enhances efficiency in dispute resolution, improves procedural justice, and aids platforms in understanding community standards. China’s unique approach to platform decentralization showcases the power of user-generated justice in governing the digital economy. Interestingly, it also reveals that authoritarian state regulation can paradoxically stimulate more democratic, engaged platform self-regulation.
Source: Oxford University Press eBooks
Author: Angela Huyue Zhang
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4396532739