Free online platforms: Abuse of dominance under Art. 102

Sammanfattning: Data as a commodity is undervalued for its economic value. Moreover, the concept is difficult to define from the perspective of EU competition law. Increasingly, companies are relying on consumer data to streamline and modernize their business models and provide faster, more efficient and even cheaper services in some cases. In this thesis the role of data in digital markets will be assessed through the lens of EU competition law. However, the main subject of this thesis is assessing the applicability of Art. 102 of the Treaty of the functioning of the European Union with regards to free online platforms that rely on data as the driving force of their business model. The assessment of the data gathering of free online platforms in the light of Article 102 is explored in depth regarding data exploitation of users on the one hand and the exclusionary abuse of its competitors on the other hand. In particular, the theory of harm is assessed in contrast to these new business models and these new types of abuses. Furthermore, relevant caselaw is discussed. The findings include that data gathering of free online platforms can constitute both exploitative and exclusionary abuse of dominance according to Art. 102 but the need for modifications to the theory of harm is essential. Additionally there is reason to make regulatory changes in other areas of law such as data protection laws in order for the competition law and data protection law to complement each other and to limit legal uncertainty that currently is rampant in this discussion.