Regulation fails – platforms are too diverse and market conditions change rapidly. Liability solves better

This article advances the idea that liability can play an instrumental role making platforms safer for users and for society more broadly. An open question is whether civil liability is the best mechanism to accomplish these goals, or whether regulation would prove more effective. Social media and other platforms share similarities to common carriers and public utilities and so, by analogy, one could in principle regulate them in similar ways. Platform liability arguably has substantial advantages over regulation. Specifically, given the complexity and diversity of platforms, it would be difficult (and perhaps inadvisable) for regulators to set uniform safety standards.123 Moreover, given the rapidly changing market conditions, regulators would be chasing a moving target. Platforms, especially big tech platforms, have the relevant information to weigh the social costs and benefits. Liability would give platforms financial incentives to use their discretion for the greater good.