Online platforms create immense social value by making it easier for their users to find each other and engage in mutually beneficial arrangements, explained ITIF in comments filed with the United Kingdom’s House of Lords. There is no indication that platforms need special regulation at this point. Instead, the evidence shows that regulators already have sufficient powers to deal with actual problems as they arise. Restricting competition from platforms may help some incumbent industries, but it will reduce total welfare and hurt small businesses and consumers.
