Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology

The global battle among the three dominant digital powers—the United States, China, and the European Union—is intensifying, with each advancing a competing vision for the digital economy and attempting to expand its sphere of influence. In Digital Empires, Anu Bradford explores the rivalry that will shape the world in the decades to come, examining three competing regulatory approaches and discussing how governments and tech companies navigate the inevitable conflicts that arise when these approaches collide in the international domain. The book highlights 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.

Format: Hardback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 26 September 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

The global competition among the three dominant digital powers, the United States, China, and the European Union, is intensifying. All three regimes are rushing to regulate tech companies, each advancing a competing vision for the digital economy while attempting to expand their sphere of influence in the digital world. In 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. She 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 offers a roadmap for navigating the digital landscape in the years to come.

Weight: 868g
Dimension: 164 x 245 x 52 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197649268