Reminds of similar separations in other industries:
- Newspapers: editorial and advertising (avoid that companies who pay for ads influence opinions)
- Banks: ‘origination’ and wealth management (avoid selling financial products created by bank to customers that trust the bank with managing their money)
Not sure if these dynamics are enforced by law, but pretty clear that there’s a need for the separation.
It's crazy that we don't have this kind of thing with digital platforms. Basically the platform owner is legislator and judge at the same time.
Let me say it again, if you hate government regulation then you haven't seen a company regulate a market.