This article examines the societal affairs arising from the digital economy and how these influence the system of state regulation. The authors propose and justify a structural model of a legal mechanism to regulate the digital economy based on results of a critical analysis of Russian Federation and European Union experiences. The research indicates the need to include both centralized and decentralized elements in a mechanism for such regulation and to reconcile these elements by balancing the legislative potential of private entities and the conservative justice approaches of legislators.