Regulatory digital artefacts: digital regulation with and without rules

ABSTRACT Regulatory digital artefacts (RDAs) are increasingly influencing daily life. Designed to guide behaviour, they structure routine actions such as scrolling through social media, where algorithmic moderation filters posts; booking a hotel on an e-commerce platform governed by contractual artefacts; or passing through automated border controls where passports are scanned and biometric data verified. While scholarship has shown growing interest in the social impact of digital technologies, a systematic analysis of these artefacts is still lacking. This article proposes a framework for investigating RDAs, drawing on the theory of regulatory artefacts. It seeks to lay the groundwork for such an analysis by identifying the main characteristics, outlining key domains of application, and examining their varied regulatory mechanisms. Such an approach is essential for understanding both the limitations and the potential of these tools of regulation.