Constructing the Regulation–Innovation Dilemma in Big Tech Narratives:

a critical reading of technological co-regulation

Abstract

This article analyzes how the co-regulatory model adopted by the European Union in digital governance has reinforced the structural power of major technology platforms. Using a discourse analysis approach, it examines how the discourse around balancing innovation and regulation has been shaped by actors with significant economic, communicative, and lobbying capacity. While co-regulation is officially presented as an inclusive and flexible mechanism, in practice it reproduces asymmetries that benefit the tech sector by allowing it to actively influence rule-making. The dominant narrative links innovation with deregulation and efficiency, displacing concerns about fundamental rights and democratic oversight. The analysis concludes that the innovation–regulation dilemma, rather than being a neutral technical conflict, has become a strategic discursive tool that legitimizes the normative dominance of big tech. As a result, the European Union risks institutionalizing a model of digital governance that, in the name of competitiveness and innovation, undermines its ability to protect the public interest and ensure genuinely democratic regulation.