Anticipatory governance of digital platforms: An analysis based on the UK's online safety act

The rapid proliferation of digital platforms has fundamentally restructured social, economic, and political life, simultaneously creating a significant regulatory dilemma for states—a challenge often termed a “governance capacity deficit.” To address this, there is a growing imperative to transition from reactive frameworks to a more proactive and future-oriented model. This study focuses on anticipatory governance, a crucial paradigm shift defined by the formulation and execution of risk-prevention plans. We first expand anticipatory governance's foundational three-system model (foresight, networked, and feedback systems) to a four-system framework by integrating an evidence system. We then apply this expanded framework to examine the UK's landmark Online Safety Act (OSA), tracing the institutionalization of the anticipatory paradigm within the digital realm. Our analysis argues that the OSA operationalizes this shift by constructing four key systems: (1) a foresight system for multi-level risk prevention; (2) a networked system leveraging multi-actor governance efficacy; (3) a feedback system for multi-loop regulatory adjustments; and (4) an evidence system essential for underpinning the operation of the other three. While the OSA's anticipatory mechanisms represent significant institutional innovation, their effectiveness is contingent upon navigating a complex set of structural factors. The findings contribute a conceptual and empirical framework to platform governance literature, elucidating the institutional mechanisms and implementation challenges of anticipatory governance.