the Future of Change

Facebook is facing a potential reckoning, as the social media conglomerate must defend itself again a significant challenge from federal and state law enforcement officials claiming anti-trust violations. The litigation will no doubt take years to work through the courts, and will raise inevitable questions about market power, innovation, and consumer interests. Are the courts the best place to resolve such disputes and questions? In a recent article, forthcoming in the Florida State University Law Review, I analyze the different institutional settings that have, to date, played a role in oversight of Big Tech and conclude that it is, in fact, the courts that have played the most effective role in serving as a platform were the sector’s most serious abuses have been challenged and addressed most effectively. With such market power that shields them from market forces because of their dominant positions, and a Congress seemingly unable (or unwilling) to take serious action against such powerful interests (perhaps because of their market power and interests), courts, seem like the best place for these issues to play out, at least for now.