ONLINE PLATFORMS – SUBJECTS OF THE E-CONTRACTS OR INTERMEDIARIES?
ONLINE PLATFORMS – SUBJECTS OF THE E-CONTRACTS OR INTERMEDIARIES?

Author(s): Violeta Cojocaru, Aliona Cara-Rusnac
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence
Published by: Editura Universităţii »Alexandru Ioan Cuza« din Iaşi
Keywords: online platforms; online intermediaries; digital contract; legal status; DSA; DMA;
Summary/Abstract: The article will analyse the legal framework and trends of online platforms. There will be presented new directions of online platforms that have the role to connect and to facilitate the dialog between the sellers and consumers. The importance and usage of the platforms have accelerated at an unprecedented rate since the global pandemic started. Online platforms are gates to the new business stage for young companies. Taking into account the fact that online platforms include engines, social media, online financial services and more their status is still unclear, whether they are considered partners/subjects in e- contracts or intermediaries. Additionally, online platforms include specific risks and issues to the users as: dissemination of illegal content, products and service online, such as incitement to terrorism, infringements of IP rights, manipulation of platform’s system to amplify certain violence or self-harm messages, unfair business conditions for business users, unfair commercial practices, consumer protection rules ill-suited to digital world, tax avoidance, ineffective supervision of services, thus he Platform-to-Business Regulation, the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act aim to address some of these gaps and form three key legislative initiatives in the field of online platform regulation. Finally, the authors will compare the trends of the online platforms and will come up with solutions of the legal status of online platforms.

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