Tyranny of the Internet

The coercive power exercised through internet infrastructure, protocols, and corporate platforms over communication, information access, and social participation. This tyranny includes surveillance capitalism (tracking every click), algorithmic manipulation (shaping what you see), content moderation (private companies deciding speech), and the digital divide (exclusion of those without access). It also operates through addiction engineering, where platforms are designed to capture attention and extract data. The internet is presented as free and open, but its actual operation imposes hidden constraints on autonomy, privacy, and democratic discourse.

Example: “She was banned from a platform for a comment taken out of context, losing her livelihood—the tyranny of the internet, where corporate moderators wield power without accountability.”

Tyranny of the Internet by Dumu The Void April 21, 2026