威斯尼斯人(澳门)官网-App Store

On the evening of 26th April, 2024, ‘The Age of Digital Intelligence - Science and Technology and the Rule of Law Lecture’, which is a series of activities of Science and Technology Festival of Southeast University, and a series of lectures for postgraduates on humanities and scientific literacy were held through online Tencent conference at 19:00 pm. Mr Liu Quan, ‘Longma Scholar’ Distinguished Professor of Central University of Finance and Economics, Doctoral Supervisor, and Vice Dean of the Law School, was invited to give a lecture on the topic of ‘Autonomy of Online Platforms and Their Legal Regulation’ at Southeast University. This series of lectures on humanities and scientific literacy of postgraduates was hosted by the Postgraduate Association of the Law School of Southeast University, and more than 600 students from all over the university participated in the live broadcast of the lectures. Mr Liu Qichuan, Secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Law, attended the event.

Before the start of the lecture, Mr Liu Qichuan expressed his warm welcome to Professor Liu Quan and briefly introduced Professor Liu's profound academic accumulation and fruitful innovative achievements. Mr Liu Quan has made outstanding achievements in the fields of administrative law and digital law, and has published more than 60 papers in journals such as Legal Studies and China Law, and more than 30 articles in newspapers such as People's Daily and Guangming Daily, etc. He is a widely acclaimed academic leader among young jurists, and also the backbone of promoting the construction of the rule of law of the country, and has made remarkable contributions to the construction of the rule of law. Many issues of the right of autonomy of online platforms are closely related to students' lives, and this academic feast brought by Mr Liu can help students have a more in-depth and systematic understanding of this issue.

As online platforms play an increasingly important role in modern society, Professor Liu first clarified the definition of online platforms for the students. China's law defines an online platform as an information network system. The State Administration for Market Supervision and Administration (SAMSA) released the Guidelines for Classification and Rating of Internet Platforms (Draft for Public Comments) in 2021, which classifies e-commerce platforms into six types (online sales platforms, life service platforms, social entertainment platforms, financial service platforms, and computing application platforms) and three levels (super platforms, large platforms, and small- and medium-sized platforms). These categorisations aim to better manage different types of online platforms to meet the needs of users and sellers.

Professor Liu Quan then introduced the private power of online platforms. In the era of digital economy, online platforms undertake the public function of maintaining the order of the online market and protecting the rights and interests of users. Network platforms have strong dominance and influence over their users, especially over the operators within the platform, mainly including: firstly, establishing, changing and abolishing platform rules, exercising ‘quasi-legislative power’. Secondly, implementing specific control measures and exercising ‘quasi-administrative power’. Third, to resolve disputes online, exercising ‘quasi-judicial power’. The power of the platform belongs to the typical private power, neither can the power of the platform simply be regarded as the private right in the traditional sense, nor should the governance behaviour of the platform be regarded as the commercial behaviour in the traditional sense.

The exercise of private power by network platforms has important practical significance, but the private power of platforms is also prone to be abused. Professor Liu Quan analysed the dilemma of regulating the private law of network platform private power: firstly, it is basically difficult to obtain legal support for users to claim that the sanctions imposed by the platform are unreasonable on the ground that the ‘liability for breach of contract’ is too heavy. Secondly, it is basically difficult to obtain legal support for users to claim that the platform rules are unreasonable based on the theory of invalidity of form clauses.

Traditional private law has limitations in regulating network platforms, therefore, it is necessary to introduce the principle of public law and its value requirements to moderately intervene in the private power of the platform. Professor Liu Quan suggests that online platforms should follow basic standards of procedural and substantive justice when formulating and implementing rules. Courts should conduct the necessary judicial review of platforms' abuse of private power. Legislators should set the main responsibility of platforms in a scientific and reasonable manner according to the principle of unity of rights and responsibilities.

In the conclusion, Professor Liu Quan concluded that the government in the digital era should carry out comprehensive and effective public-private partnership governance with platforms to achieve a better combination of effective market and active government, and to promote the high-quality development of platform economy.

In the Q&A session at the end of the lecture, Prof Liu Quan gave a detailed answer to the students' questions about the main responsibility of platforms and the transparency of platform information. In this one and a half hour lecture, Professor Liu Quan used profound theoretical knowledge, comprehensive analytical perspectives, and interactive teaching through quotations to stimulate the students' interest in digital law, and make them have a deeper understanding of the autonomy of online platforms and their legal regulation. The lecture was a complete success.

Text: Wu Jiaxuan

Photo: Sun Huangbin Yu Xinhui