Online Platforms: Private Actors with State-like Power?
Early Career Platform Regulation Conference
Directions
- Start: May 21, 2026
- End: May 22, 2026
- Location: Freiburg/Germany, Fürstenbergstr. 19
- Room: Seminar room (F 113)
- Host: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Department of Public Law
- Contact: m.bovermann@csl.mpg.de
The concentration of legislative, executive, and judicial powers within online platforms raises profound questions about how they influence society. The assumption of state-like powers by companies such as Meta, Google, X, and TikTok invites critical examination of their impact on fundamental rights, governance, and democracy.
This conference explores the extent to which major platforms exercise functions historically associated with sovereign states, and the implications this has for law and policy. Through keynote speeches, panels, and discussions, we will examine how all three branches of state power are exercised in the digital sphere, and the legal consequences this might have.
Call for abstracts (pdf file)
Submission deadline: 12/19/2025
Registration form
Online registration form for conference participation