Media regulatory indications in order to eliminate failures of digital attention markets

Abstract

The main failure of digital attention markets is the accumulation of huge amounts of data in the hand of US based private companies. This has two further negative consequences. One is strategic and seriously affects the European Union’s digital sovereignty. Although the Union’s digital exposure could in theory be reduced by addressing the fundamental rights concerns regarding problems that undermine sovereignty, the accumulation of European data assets in private hands still raises a second concern which stems from the free availability of data for future technological developments and competition. In the latter area, however, the Union’s existing and planned measures accept as given the most damaging consequence of the zero price business model of the attention traders, the accumulation of European data in the hands of a few tech giants, and seek to counteract it, instead of addressing the root cause of the process that leads to the damage. Recognising the analogous situation between digital attention markets and media markets will help to address this root problem.