La tutela del contraente debole nella platform economy

In these last years entirely new business models have emerged in recent years, whereby online platforms use digital technologies to connect distinct groups of users in order to facilitate transactions for the exchange of assets and services. In front of this dramatic shift in business organisation, forms of employment and market structure, widespread calls for a more “levelled playing field” makes a strong argument for deregulating many economic sectors and delegating reg- ulatory responsibility to the platforms. Responses to these conclusions only focus on em- ployment issues, whilst a more general analysis of bargaining power in the platform econo- my is still lacking. This essay calls into question these conclusions and offers some critical reflection on disparities of bargaining power between digital platforms and their users, whether providers (employees or independent contractors) or customers. It demonstrates that platforms make frequent use of boilerplate, architecture and algorithms to leverage their power over users and presents some brief recommendations.