GOOGLE, Facebook and other online giants like to see their rapid rise as the product of their founders' brilliance. Others argue that their success is more a result of lucky timing and network effects-the economic forces that tend to make bigger firms even bigger. Often forgotten is a third reason for their triumph: in America and, to some extent, in Europe, online platforms have been inhabiting a parallel legal universe. Broadly speaking, they are not legally responsible, either for what their users do or for the harm that their services can cause in the real world.
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