General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6141 / JDOC6141 |
| Course name: | Contemporary Issues of Comparative Platform Governance |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
This course examines the legal backdrop of digital platforms and the way they are viewed by authorities and courts as distinct new regulatory objects that need to be addressed. The emergence of this new regulatory object is part of a global tendency that reflects a vital reassessment of tech power and state sovereignty. There are, however, considerable differences in the ways digital platforms are dealt with in different jurisdictions. The course compares the evolving legal regimes of the new digital age and covers principles that govern private and public relationships concerning digital platforms, deploying concrete examples – policy documents, technological developments, legal amendments – to make it obvious that this aspect of the economy is an important issue that lawyers need to be able to wrestle with.
The specific topics covered include: the distinctive legal features of digital platforms and their ecosystems; the layers of governance relationships structuring interactions between different parties, such as advertisers, consumers and users in today’s platform economy; the goals and enforcement of competition law and its intersection with related areas of consumer, data protection and intellectual property laws; the limits of competition and the rise of new types of regulatory instruments in national and international contexts such as the EU Digital Markets Act/Digital Services Act/Data Act/Data Governance Act/AI Act; the complementarities between economic and political power; and new issues regarding the development of Web3 and artificial intelligence.
The course will enable students to engage critically with key debates in contemporary platform governance and provide relevant background for those interested in cross-border legal work.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Adrian Kuenzler | kuenzler@hku.hk | CCT 408 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Describe and explain the various theories governing digital platforms.
CLO 2 Understand the regulatory issues and evolving legal regimes of the new digital age.
CLO 3 Apply the knowledge and understanding of new types of regulatory instruments in national and international contexts.
CLO 4 Demonstrate an awareness of the impact of key debates in contemporary platform governance within the broader economic and socio-cultural context.
2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link:
LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-plo/
JD – https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Class participation | N/A | 20% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Case commentary | TBC | 30% | 1, 2, 3, 4 | |
| Take home exam | TBC | 50% | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/