Legal vacuum

Scientifically speaking, a “vacuum” is a space with nothing in it–not even air. It makes sense, then, that a “legal vacuum” refers to a situation or activity that is not covered by or addressed by any laws.

New technology often produces a legal vacuum. Child labor laws protect children from working in factories. But kidfluencers work inside the home, often for their parents’ YouTube channels. They operate in a legal vacuum: in most places, there are no laws that regulate that activity.

Here’s another example: There are no laws about submersibles that operate in the middle of the ocean. OceanGate, the company behind the Titan submersible, took advantage of the legal vacuum to avoid safety regulations.