Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology
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- Create Date：2023-10-26 15:21:39
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Anu Bradford
- ISBN：0197649262
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Summary
The global battle among the three dominant digital powers―the United States， China， and the European Union―is intensifying。 All three regimes are racing to regulate tech companies， with each advancing a competing vision for the digital economy while attempting to expand its sphere of influence in the digital world。 In Digital Empires ， her provocative follow-up to The Brussels Effect ， Anu Bradford explores a rivalry that will shape the world in the decades to come。
Across the globe， people dependent on digital technologies have become increasingly alarmed that their rapid adoption and transformation have ushered in an exceedingly concentrated economy where a few powerful companies control vast economic wealth and political power， undermine data privacy， and widen the gap between economic winners and losers。 In response， world leaders are variously embracing the idea of reining in the most dominant tech companies。 Bradford examines three competing regulatory approaches―the American market-driven model， the Chinese state-driven model， and the European rights-driven regulatory model―and discusses how governments and tech companies navigate the inevitable conflicts that arise when these regulatory approaches collide in the international domain。 Which digital empire will prevail in the contest for global influence remains an open question， yet their contrasting strategies are increasingly clear。
Digital societies are at an inflection point。 In the midst of these unfolding regulatory battles， governments， tech companies， and digital citizens are making important choices that will shape the future ethos of the digital society。 Digital Empires lays bare the choices we face as societies and individuals， explains the forces that shape those choices， and illuminates the immense stakes involved for everyone who uses digital technologies。
Across the globe， people dependent on digital technologies have become increasingly alarmed that their rapid adoption and transformation have ushered in an exceedingly concentrated economy where a few powerful companies control vast economic wealth and political power， undermine data privacy， and widen the gap between economic winners and losers。 In response， world leaders are variously embracing the idea of reining in the most dominant tech companies。 Bradford examines three competing regulatory approaches―the American market-driven model， the Chinese state-driven model， and the European rights-driven regulatory model―and discusses how governments and tech companies navigate the inevitable conflicts that arise when these regulatory approaches collide in the international domain。 Which digital empire will prevail in the contest for global influence remains an open question， yet their contrasting strategies are increasingly clear。
Digital societies are at an inflection point。 In the midst of these unfolding regulatory battles， governments， tech companies， and digital citizens are making important choices that will shape the future ethos of the digital society。 Digital Empires lays bare the choices we face as societies and individuals， explains the forces that shape those choices， and illuminates the immense stakes involved for everyone who uses digital technologies。
Reviews
Celeste
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Dense， essential reading if you want to catch up on regulation over the digital space — with some additions in AI — by the three largest states today: US， China and the EU。 I would highly recommend this book but with some caution: while Bradford’s research is impressive， it feels like an info dump of research — that could use way more culling and editing。 While some parts were engrossing， others felt like a repetition and could be shortened。 What I found compelling about this book was Bradford’s Dense， essential reading if you want to catch up on regulation over the digital space — with some additions in AI — by the three largest states today: US， China and the EU。 I would highly recommend this book but with some caution: while Bradford’s research is impressive， it feels like an info dump of research — that could use way more culling and editing。 While some parts were engrossing， others felt like a repetition and could be shortened。 What I found compelling about this book was Bradford’s central thesis — which honestly brought me back to A levels history — on the nature of the rivalry between US， China and Europe。 This book builds on Bradford’s previous thesis called the Brussels Effect， a phenomenon where “the EU often shapes the global business practices of leading tech companies， which often extend these EU regulations across their global business operations in an effort to standardize their products and services worldwide”。 This is due to the size of the EU market， the affluence of European consumers， and the high cost of customising digital products to different geographies。Moving on to the thesis， Bradford posits that each state is trying to build their empire by exporting their view of the world: market-driven （US）， state-driven （China）， rights-driven （Europe）。Next， she introduces the matrixed concept of horizontal vs vertical battles: “There is a horizontal battle among different governments， as illustrated by the conflicts among the US， China， and the EU over the norms and values that govern the digital economy。 However， this horizontal battle among the governments is shaped by—and often fought through—vertical battles between governments and the tech companies that these governments are seeking to regulate。 These vertical battles have evolved differently in each jurisdiction， consistent with the differences in the three regulatory models。[…] Tech companies are both targets as well as tools for governments。 Governments seek to restrain these companies while simultaneously deploying them in fighting horizontal battles， turning the vertical relationship into a delicate balancing act。[…] For example， China relies on its tech companies to conduct surveillance and enforce censorship， the US harnesses its tech sector to pursue its national security goals， and the EU delegates to these companies the task of enforcing many of its data privacy and content moderation norms。”Then Bradford goes into impressive research by digging deeper into the history and current state of regulation in the US， China and the EU， covering their pros and cons。 In the final chapter， she concludes that “these balancing impulses within each jurisdiction moderate the extremes and pave the way for a world characterized by limited cooperation， managed conflict， or bearable coexistence。 These forces of restraint also explain why the continuing conflicts are unlikely to lead to full technological decoupling。”As such， we continue to live in “the age of unpeace: a geopolitical order where states are too interconnected to fight an all-out war but too discordant to live in genuine peace。” Great topic， definitely one that all business schools should include in their curriculum。 。。。more
Jochem KA de Groot
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As Generative AI models keep being launched into the world at a rapid pace， debates about whether and to what extent AI should be regulated have also further intensified。 As #GenAI places powerful applications and tools in the hands of hundreds of millions of people globally， different paradigms regarding the regulation of technology around the world are becoming visible。 The timing of the launch of Anu Bradford's "Digital Empires: the Global Battle to Regulate Technology" last week is therefore As Generative AI models keep being launched into the world at a rapid pace， debates about whether and to what extent AI should be regulated have also further intensified。 As #GenAI places powerful applications and tools in the hands of hundreds of millions of people globally， different paradigms regarding the regulation of technology around the world are becoming visible。 The timing of the launch of Anu Bradford's "Digital Empires: the Global Battle to Regulate Technology" last week is therefore very much on point。 Bradford is known for her previous book "The Brussels Effect" （2020）， in which she elaborately argues how the EU applies its market power to export regulation worldwide。 The essence of the Brussels Effect is that compliance with European regulations and standards is inevitable for access to the EU's large internal market。 Non-European companies and governments alike consequently have various incentives to apply EU（-inspired） regulation outside Europe as well， such as on competition law， consumer protection， and the digital economy。In "Digital Empires"， Bradford delves deeper into global regulation of the digital economy。 She outlines the characteristic features of the three main regions: the free market-driven， hands-off model of the United States， the value-driven regulatory model of the EU， and the state-driven model of China。 At first glance， these may look like clearly distinct blocs， but using a wealth of detailed examples， Bradford demonstrates that in practice， the patchwork of mutual interests， alliances， deals， and investments can be nuanced， complex， and contradictory。She does so by distinguishing between different types of tech regulation battles。 Horizontal ones， amongst the three power blocs themselves， but also vertical battles， between governments and tech companies within regions。 Even "diagonal" battles can have significant impact， such as between American and Chinese companies and EU lawmakers。 Refreshingly， Bradford also pays ample attention to the influence of these three paradigms in other regions。 Africa， Asia， and Latin America have all to various extents been the subject of the US evangelizing global internet freedom， large-scale Chinese investments in digital infrastructure， and parliaments emulating （elements of） EU regulation in their own right。In the horizontal battle， from a global perspective， a lot of focus currently rests on the increasing technological power struggle between the US and China。 It is a core element of the broader decoupling of these two superpowers in their battle for global hegemony。 Their ongoing digital economic disentanglement is undeniable， Bradford argues。 But interestingly enough， this forces the US to uneasily embrace elements of the Chinese state-driven regulatory model: sanctioning and shielding Chinese infrastructure and investments are hard to reconcile with global free-market thinking。 At the same time， the mutual digital interdependence – financial， economic， and also in terms of research and talent - between the two countries is so strong that both blocs constantly have to balance their desire for autonomy with the need to keep their digital ecosystems profitable。Between the US and the EU， a diagonal battle has waged long between American tech companies and European regulators on issues including privacy， competition， and taxation。 Big Tech has lobbied strongly against European rules， accusing the EU of protectionism due to its inability to innovate and scale （AI） technology on its own。 Still， as soon as the dust of the legislative struggle for privacy settled， a company like Microsoft decided to conform globally to European privacy rules in the GDPR。 But in terms of data exchange between the US and EU， a lengthy horizontal power struggle revolving around the balance between surveillance （US） and privacy （EU） keeps dragging on， with European judges regularly declaring transatlantic data exchange agreements invalid， sending officials and lawyers in Brussels and Washington back to the drawing board。Despite disagreements on a variety of issues and levels， under the Biden-administration， additional communication channels were opened to seek transatlantic rapprochement on digital files。 And the belief in human-centric technology regulation is no longer confined to Europe， Bradford argues。 Faith in the American laissez-faire market-driven regulatory model is starting to wane， even in the US itself: a large majority of Americans now prefer strong AI regulation。 Still， to what extent the EU will also have a "Brussels effect" on federal AI legislation in the US remains to be seen: not only is the sharply polarized US Congress incapable of legislating AI swiftly， but critics also argue that the effect might be much weaker in the context of AI seen to Europe's industry lagging far behind China and the US in the global AI ecosystem。Notwithstanding economic leverage in AI， according to Bradford， the EU and the US have a much broader， ideological interest in rapprochement and cooperation。 After all， they both are techno-democracies: only together will they be able to make strides in the global battle against techno-autocracy China and the dozens of countries already implementing its surveillance model as part of its sphere of influence。 In doing so， the US and the EU must not only fight horizontally with China， but also show vertically that they， as democratic countries， can keep tech companies in check。 The Chinese government has recently succeeded in doing exactly that with its own industry。 And that raises the long-term question to what extent democracies， like autocracies， will be able to gain control over the digital economy， but then embedded within open， democratic societies。 。。。more
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