Summary
- What’s a platform law?
- Platforms workers law
What’s a digital platform?
Uber and the driver transport, Amazon and the purchase of different products, Cocolis and the co-convey between individuals, Parcoursup and the students’ assignments for their studies, browsers, social networks, or crowdfunding platforms to fund a project… The diversity of digital platforms precludes a proper definition. Yet, these platforms have one common objective: to connect various economic operators digitally.
- Intermediary between goods or services users;
- Connection between users and a third-party
- Provision of a free service, funded by ad income
In fact, the law of the 7th of October 2016 about the digital Republic defines an online platform. However, it only applies to B2C platforms in their dealings with consumers. The law thus designates the natural or legal person offering, on a professional basis, an online public communication service based on:
- The rank or content referencing on which goods or services have been uploaded by third parties.
- The connection between parts to sell a good, a service, or sharing a content, a good, or a service.
What’s a platform law?
An emerging law
In the 2000s, the first platforms ever made were tailored without any specific norm. Initially based on general norms,regulation has developed as platforms have grown in power. Thus, it’s an under construction branch of law. We find it in the fundamentals texts of liability law, in the concepts put forward by internet law, as well as in the regulations applicable to certain specific business sectors. Platforms law bring up new questions:
- Platforms status as an entity or digital intermediary;
- Platforms obligations, based on equity and transparency;
- Platforms liability;
- Labor law and self-employed treatment;
- Platforms consumer law
- Specific rules in people and goods transports
A new innovation in litigation
Platforms’ appearance brings up new legal stakes:
- The development of an avoidance labor law strategy
- The quasi–monopolistic platforms’ position in their market;
- The liability for their content
In this way, new litigations come up:
- Reconsider the labor relationship.
- Unfair competition, especially in the hospitality trade and the cabs field;
- Illegal objects or content broadcasting
Platforms workers law
In a few years, the platform economy increased slightly. Indeed, there are 28 million people who work through a digital platform in the European Union. Figures should reach 43 million people in 2025. So, the quality of the self-employed on platforms is becoming a European true stake. A directive project aims to improve their working conditions and establish a correct qualification of their status. The major litigation in matters of platforms concerns the self-employed’s legal qualifications. Officially independent, a lot of workers have to respect the rules and platform restrictions. So, they have a subordinate relationship resembling to the salaried employee. That’s why the European law wants to set up an employee legal presumption. In this case, the platform will have to prove the absence of a subordinate relationship and a labor relation.
Digital Services Act’s respect
The Digital Services Act is an ensemble of measures that aim to make the platforms aware of their responsibilities regarding illegal content. This concerns all the operators, internet providers, marketplaces, social networks, content sharing platforms, and travel and hosting platforms. In practice, the main objective is to fight against illegal products and illegal content broadcasting:
- Hate incitement
- Racist attacks
- Child pornographic images
- Disinformation messages
- Drugs, arms or fake deal
This European regulation aims to protect European internet users and their fundamental rights (freedom of speech, consumer protection) and help small companies to develop and face European or any international platform. Contact your platform law lawyer!
Trial
Our victories in Platform law
Our dedicated team of lawyers work tirelessly to defend your interests, providing you with tailored legal solutions and high-quality representation
Platform law is an emerging law that is under construction. It generates litigation specific to innovation and questions specific to platform workers. Whether you are a platform player or consumer, contact our experts to answer your questions!
Why call on a lawyer specializing in platform law?
- Make a risks cartography;
- Elaborate a protection and valorisation of your activity strategy;
- Control the conformity of the contracts;
- Ensure the compliance of your legal status;
- Secure our SGC (Sales general conditions) and legal notices;
- Increase your growth;
- Improve the confidence of your clients and users.
- Define the legal status and the contractual architecture of your platform;
- Elaborate on all the contracts needed to make the platform operational.
- Ensure your platform project is GDPR compliant
- Start your drop-shipping website;
- Create your company with a legal conformity;
- Write legal notices, GTC (General Terms and Conditions of Sale), GTCS (General Terms and Conditions of Service), and GTU (General Terms of Use);
- Write the executive contract of your provider;
- Be informed about consumer law obligations;
- Ensure the GDPR conformity and cookies policy.
To face giant tourism operators like Airbnb, or another digital platform, your platform law lawyer will defend you in those laws:
- Consumer law for an important breach
- Labor law applied to a “false” self-employed person;
- Competition law for an unfair violation
They trusted us
Discover all our articles on commercial law.
No articles selected.