The Code of the Platform

Digital platform-based businesses such as Uber,eBay, and Google have become ubiquitous in our dailylives. They have done so by expertly harnessingtechnology to bring supply- and demand-side userstogether for commercial and social exchange. Users arehappy to let these platform companies play“matchmaker” because transaction costs are lowered—itis easier to find or give a ride, buy or sell a product, orobtain almost any kind of information than ever before—and platforms are happy to be at the center of theexchange, taking advantage of network effects to becomewildly successful. Despite the success of these platforms,however, there is an increasing unease with the methodsthat platforms use to sustain their multi-sidedmarkets—namely, users question whether they are beingmanipulated by some of their favorite companies.

ThisArticle offers a first-of-its kind analysis into both thelegality and ethicality of platform companies,specifically their use of technologically enhanced behavioral science to mediate user transactions. Afterproviding a descriptive account of how platformcompanies operate and succeed, including an in-depthanalysis of the choice architecture platforms employ tostructure almost every decision made on the platform,this Article evaluates whether platforms manipulateusers. Various activities of platform companies areassessed and charted on a platform manipulationmatrix as part of an integrated framework thatevaluates the autonomy costs platforms impose uponusers. Once done, it becomes clear that much of whatplatforms do is indeed manipulative; yet much is alsobeneficial to users and companies alike.

This Articlethen offers a path forward: an ethical foundation to beused by platforms, users, and regulators aimed atreducing manipulative practices—a new Code of thePlatform.