Holding back the tides? Applying the Canute paradox to the regulation of cyberdeviance

Despite how ubiquitous it is in daily life, there has been little criminological theory developed which accounts for the unique conditions of cyberspace, and how the online environment informs or shapes deviant behavior. Building on Goldsmith and Brewer’s digital drift theory, this article proposes the Canute paradox, which contends that despite our expectations that online platforms have great power to act against cyberdeviance and choose not to, the reality is that—for all their power—there is little that can be done to comprehensively combat online harms. It is argued that the strong pull of online deviance comes from various environmental factors that converge online, creating significant barriers to effective responses. It does not argue against responding to cyberdeviance, but rather highlights the scale of the issue, and the need for collaborative whole-system responses rather than reliance on industry-centric solutions alone.