Proposal Calls for Treating Digital Platform Design Standards Like Physical Infrastructure

The proposal, outlined by Tech Policy Press, argues that large social media and AI systems should be treated as critical infrastructure and subjected to engineering-style standards similar to those used for physical buildings, electrical systems and other safety-sensitive facilities. Rather than relying primarily on measures such as age verification rules or liability reforms, regulators would require companies to demonstrate that the structural design of their platforms meets baseline safety standards.

Advocates of the approach say many current regulatory initiatives address symptoms rather than the underlying mechanics of digital platforms. Governments in multiple jurisdictions have moved to impose age-gating requirements or to reconsider legal protections for online services. In the United States, state legislatures have adopted age-verification laws and Congress is considering legislation that would sunset the liability protections provided by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Other countries have enacted comparable measures, including the European Union’s Digital Services Act and the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act.

According to the proposal, however, these policy tools largely operate at the level of access control or legal accountability. They do not address how platform design itself shapes the behavior of users and the spread of information. As a result, even aggressive enforcement actions such as content removals or account bans may fail to reduce harmful activity because users can adapt to the system’s structural incentives.

The proposed building-code framework would shift regulatory oversight toward the architectural features that govern how digital systems operate. Under this model, platforms would be required to make the “blueprint” of their system design visible, including disclosures about how user participation, recommendation mechanisms and group structures influence the flow of information across the network. These disclosures would go beyond traditional transparency reports and focus on explaining how design choices affect system behavior.

The framework also calls for a new system of technical inspections. Instead of relying primarily on researchers’ requests for limited datasets, the proposal envisions standardized telemetry systems similar to “black box recorders.” These systems would capture high-fidelity data on how information moves through a platform, including network connectivity, path redundancy and the structural features that allow content cascades to occur.

Independent inspectors with expertise in network architecture would then review this information to determine whether a platform complies with established design standards. The goal would be continuous oversight of system structure rather than episodic investigations after a harmful event.

A central element of the building-code concept is the requirement that platforms design their systems for resilience. The proposal emphasizes that the objective is not to remove particular pieces of content or impose censorship rules. Instead, the focus would be on how system architecture influences the scale and speed with which information spreads.

The proposed framework draws on existing engineering governance models. Standards could be developed by technical bodies and professional organizations in a manner similar to the work of the International Code Council or the National Electrical Code, which establish baseline safety requirements for buildings and infrastructure. Governments could then determine whether compliance with those standards should be voluntary or incorporated into law.

Under such a regime, demonstrating compliance with the design standards could provide companies with a measure of legal protection while ensuring that digital systems meet minimum safety thresholds. In effect, the proposal frames digital platforms and AI systems as structures that must be designed, inspected and maintained according to clear standards, in the same way physical infrastructure is governed by building codes.