Wild West

Wild West

1. (historical) The western United States during the 19th-century era of settlement, commonly believed to be lawless and unruly.
2. (by extension) A place or situation in which disorderly behavior prevails, especially due to a lack of regulatory oversight or an inadequate legal system.
   • 2012, Peter M. Haas, John A. Hird, Controversies in Globalization: Contending Approaches to International Relations, page 229:

     In the wild west of the Internet, states have been reluctant to work together for this common purpose. One example of closer state coordination came in 2011 at the London Conference on Cyberspace […]

   • 2018 November 16, Taylor Lorenz, “How Hackers Are Stealing High-Profile Instagram Accounts”, in The Atlantic‎, retrieved 2023-05-29:

     In the Wild West of “influencer” marketing, there are few protections and plenty of easy marks.

• Old West