Rebalancing power in digital franchise platforms through socio-technical smart contract governance for consumer protection
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Digital franchise platforms do more than match buyers and sellers because they configure a socio-economic order in which rights, obligations, and trust relations are governed by system design. Concentrated control over data visibility, decision authority, complaint pathways, and contractual terms can produce procedural vulnerabilities for consumers and franchisees when they make decisions and seek redress. Drawing on scholarship in platform governance, digital economic law, and procedural justice, this study examines how governance by design can redistribute authority and embed protection for weaker actors in digital franchise ecosystems. Using a design-oriented case study of a digital franchise platform, the analysis focuses on three mechanisms: role-based constraints on decision-making authority, a finality-based accountability lifecycle, and algorithmic consumer fairness. These mechanisms are interpreted not merely as technical features, but as emerging institutional arrangements that determine who may decide, when a decision becomes legitimate and irreversible, and how consumer harm is acknowledged and addressed. The findings suggest that computational architectures may function as governance instruments that complement positive law by embedding principles of fairness, transparency, and contestability into platform interactions. This study offers a socio-technical lens for understanding consumer protection in the platform economy.
Institution: Universitas Harapan Bangsa
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,180
OpenAlex ID: W7223083389