Clash between law power and code power: The case of Norway vs. Meta

In this article, we analyse the controversies leading up to and following Meta’s introduction of the infamous “pay or okay model” for Facebook and Instagram users in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) region. In particular, we focus on the central role of the Norwegian data protection and consumer authorities and the unfolding of the events in the time period from the summer of 2023 to the spring of 2024. With a theoretical departure point in critical platform studies, we perform a framing analysis of the arguments employed by the central actors in the controversy in this period, which, in addition to the Norwegian authorities and Meta, include the European consumer umbrella BEUC. Furthermore, in the discussion section of the article, we address the dynamics between the various forms of power at actors’ disposal to understand the anatomy of the clash between code and market power on one hand and regulatory power on the other, or, in other words, between US Big Tech and European law and policy. Thus, the article is a contribution to knowledge about how powerful platform companies employ their code and market power in phases of discussing regulation of their businesses.