Legal Protection of Competition in the Emerging Digital Markets

At a new stage in the development of digitalization, the main challenge is the expotential growth of quantity, quality, diversity of links between citizens, organizations, development institutions and legal regulation, public authorities. Interrelations are dynamic and unstable due to a number of factors because of insufficient synchronization between all elements of socio-economic systems and institutions. The paper examines topical issues of competition law in terms of legal regulation of digital markets. The authors provide for the legal interpretation of the digital market. Key aspects of legal regulation of digital markets are defined. The authors propose instruments of legal regulation of emerging digital markets for the Russian Federation. Their proposals are based on generalization of European experience and practice of the OECD countries. The authors substantiate that widespread digitalization threatens to monopolize economic relations. And this is monopolization of a new, not classical character. Therefore, it is important to identify properly the forms and methods of legal protection of competition in specific digital markets. Based on the results of the study, the authors conclude that the development of the digital economy and the formation of new market relations establish prerequisites for the improvement of antimonopoly regulation, legal rules unification for the protection of competition in global digital markets. Digital markets differ from traditional ones. Therefore, they need special legal regulation. The practice of antimonopoly regulation in the OECD countries should be considered in the context of their consistency with Russian legislative conditions.