TORT LIABILITY OF DIGITAL PLATFORM OPERATORS FOR USER CONTENT

Abstract

This article examines one of the most complex and relevant problems of modern tort law, namely the distribution of responsibility for harmful content posted by users on digital platforms. The author analyzes the contradiction between the need to protect the rights of victims of defamation, hate speech, and intellectual property infringements, on the one hand, and the imperatives of safeguarding freedom of expression and fostering the development of the digital economy, on the other. Based on a comparative legal analysis of the legislation of the USA, the European Union, Great Britain, Germany, and other jurisdictions, the author identifies three main models of legal regulation: the American model of broad platform immunity in accordance with Section 230, the European model of exemption from liability based on the notification and removal of content (notice and takedown) mechanism, and the German model of differentiated liability. During the study, it was revealed that the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan critically lacks special norms regulating the responsibility of digital platforms, in connection with which a set of measures to modernize national legislation in this area was proposed.