Iranian Journal of Public Policy

Iranian Journal of Public Policy

Criminal Policy Imperatives in Addressing Platform-Based State Crimes

Document Type : Research Article

Authors
1 Assistant Professor of Law, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
2 Ph.d. Student of Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
10.22059/jppolicy.2026.109044
Abstract
Employing a descriptive–analytical approach, this article conceptualizes platform-based state crimes, delineates the structural and functional features of platforms that enable such offenses, and situates these dynamics within the broader landscape of digital state crime. The findings highlight several pressing criminal policy imperatives: the inadequacy and fragmentation of existing criminal policy frameworks; the amplification of state power through platform infrastructures; society’s deep structural dependence on platforms and the resulting expansion of victimization; the multilayered and complex nature of platform-based state crimes; persistent ambiguities regarding state and platform responsibility for rights violations; the need for effective mechanisms of user redress; the imperative to safeguard digital human rights and prevent the consolidation of digital dictatorship; and the necessity of avoiding bias and discriminatory norm-setting in criminal policymaking. Collectively, these factors underscore the urgent need for coherent and robust criminal regulation in the domain of platform-based state crimes.
Keywords

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