Digital platforms and the transformation of crime governance

Abstract In response to the crisis of organizational regulation posed by new forms of cybercrime, the imperative to sustain the so-called “miracle of sustained social stability” in the digital age has become central to the transformation of crime governance. Within the analytical framework of state capacity, I argue that platform-based governance offers a pathway for this transformation across technological, organizational, and institutional dimensions. This governance model encompasses both governance via mega-platforms and governance via integrated comprehensive platforms. These two modes of governance are characterized by technical arrangements centered on data control, organizational strategies aimed at social integration, and institutional mechanisms grounded in preventive legal norms. Their development follows a “technology → organization → institution” logic, which constructs a system of digital bureaucracy . The significance of this shift lies not only in addressing the crisis of governance capacity through governance through platforms , but also in aspiring toward governance of platforms , a normative turn that emphasizes principles of good law and governance ( liangfa shanzhi ) and rationality of value.