I realize that most activists and politicians see this as part of the "contractor problem." IE many worker rights and protections are built into the permanent employee structure. They see employers shifting work from this structure to less protected structures, like contracting.

I think this is a narrow view. Other employment structures have benefits too. The gig economy is not going to replace the majority of work. It's a segment, like day labour, casual shiftwork, etc.

There are features to the gig economy that benefit different people. For some people, the low barriers to entry, no gatekeeping, no committment features of these gigs are valuable.

There is no reason not to legislate worker protection laws to cover these jobs, as they are. Currently, most pro-labour voices talking about legislation seem to be trying to effectively ban it, and force more conventional labour structures instead. I think this is misguided.