Some power is exercised by a person making a decision. Some is built into how a system is arranged and keeps working whether or not anybody intends it. The second kind is harder to see and harder to argue with.
The same outcome produced twice — once by a decision, once by a structure nobody decided.
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How structure produces power
- Network effects. A service is useful because others are already on it, so the largest becomes hard to leave regardless of how well it treats anyone.
- Switching costs. Your photos, contacts and history sit inside one service, so leaving costs something the service never has to charge you for.
- Infrastructure position. Whoever runs the layer everyone else builds on — an app store, a cloud, a payment system — sets conditions for businesses that are not their customers.
Why this matters in an evaluation: You cannot fix structural power by replacing the people in charge. A kinder owner of the same position holds the same power — which is why remedies here are about data portability and interoperability rather than about conduct.
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Real-world examples you can name
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — in force since May 2018
A regulation giving people rights over data held about them — to see it, correct it, have it erased and take it elsewhere — and requiring a lawful basis before an organization may process it at all. Fines can reach 4% of a company's worldwide annual turnover.
Who it affected: Everyone in the EU, and any organization anywhere that handles EU residents' data.
Australia's News Media Bargaining Code — passed February 2021
A law designed to make large platforms negotiate payment with news publishers for content that appears on their services. Facebook briefly blocked news for Australian users while it was being debated; the law passed in amended form and several deals followed.
Who it affected: News publishers, platform users, and regulators elsewhere who copied the model.
Precision agriculture and the right to repair — memorandum of understanding with US farmers January 2023
Tractors guided by GPS apply seed and spray field by field, cutting inputs. Because the software is locked, farmers could not repair their own machines; after years of pressure the manufacturer agreed to make tools and manuals available.
Who it affected: Farmers whose harvest window does not wait for an authorized technician.
| Remedy | What it attacks | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Portability | Switching costs | Lets you take your data out |
| Interoperability | Network effects | Lets services talk to each other |
| Alternative stores | Infrastructure position | Adds a route that does not pass through one company |
How this is tested — part c asks you to evaluate remedies, and remedies that target behaviour when the problem is structural are the standard weak answer. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 — structured question
- Part c: evaluate a proposed regulation
- Part b: explain why a problem persists after a company changes
Paper 2 — source-based question
- Q4: synthesise sources on regulating large platforms
- HL Paper 3: recommend an intervention and defend it
The trap: “they should behave better”: If the position produces the outcome, replacing the occupant changes nothing. Say what in the structure the remedy alters.
Explain one reason why a platform can remain dominant even when users are unhappy with it.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Evaluate a requirement that large platforms allow users to move their data to a competitor.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.