Fragmentation: a necessary complexity in regulation

When we think about fragmentation, we usually mean the differences between regulatory rules or systems. These differences show the various focuses of policymakers and the challenges they address. They also reflect the different approaches and methods used by regulators. Often, these differences are influenced by the cultural norms of different societies, which shape regulatory priorities and implementation. For this reason, fragmentation can be seen as both inevitable and appropriate. Trying to eliminate it could be insensitive or even harmful.

However, finding common ground on key issues can benefit major stakeholders, including regulators, the public, and businesses, especially in the context of online safety. Global digital businesses face significant challenges in meeting their obligations to both regulators and the public across different countries. These companies may have to comply with a wide range of expectations that sometimes conflict with each other. As a result, their services must vary, leading to inconsistent user interfaces or redress mechanisms.

In the context of online safety, this fragmentation can have immediate and harmful effects on users. Different regulatory expectations across regions can lead to inconsistent protection levels for users, depending on where they are located. A user in a region with stricter online safety regulations may be less likely to encounter illegal or harmful content and may benefit from better redress systems. In contrast, a user in another region may not have the same level of protection or improved systems. This inconsistency is even more problematic for child users in different locations.

The diversity in international digital regulations is likely to increase. This issue extends beyond digital services to the infrastructure that allows users to access them. For example, incoherent hardware standards can result in incompatible devices, preventing interoperability and the rollout of universal safety features. This patchwork approach leaves users unevenly exposed to online harms, limits user choice, stifles innovation, and complicates international relations, leading to more incoherence.

Efforts to address fragmentation are also visible within the EU, where policymakers and experts are beginning to adopt more systemic approaches. Dr Rachel O’Connell, an online safety expert and the technical author of the PAS 1296 Age Checking Code of Practice, is currently working to address the challenges of fragmentation in digital regulation in the EU. “At an EU level, we are seeing this fragmentation being addressed by lawmakers who have introduced laws such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act, the Network and Information Systems Directive and the Cyber Resilience Act.

“These acts, when taken together, place obligations on all companies within a digital supply chain and represent the adoption of a systemic approach to regulation that, to a degree, addresses issues of fragmentation. Each aims to harmonise existing standards within a unified framework and reduce ambiguity by setting consistent standards across the digital ecosystem. However, supervisory fragmentation may persist due to reliance on national authorities, complicating enforcement. To resist a patchwork approach to enforcement, we need cross-regulatory co-operation and multi-pronged investigations to achieve cross-border consistency.”

We are now seeing greater momentum toward international collaboration between regulators. The Global Online Safety Regulators’ Network exemplifies this trend. Launched in 2022, it is a global forum dedicated to enabling the sharing of evidence and expertise between regulators of online safety. Its members include regulators from the UK, Australia, South Korea and South Africa and its mission is to “develop regulatory coherence across jurisdictions and to promote compliance with rights-respecting online safety regulation”. These efforts reflect a broader imperative: holistic and coordinated approaches to regulatory expectations in the digital sector must be adopted in order to resist siloed thinking that reduces our ability to combat harms online. Greater alignment, across both borders and sectors, will be critical to creating a safer and more coherent digital environment for users.