It is unlikely that there is anyone who has not seen this familiar message. And, of course, many others like it. Even the logo of this site is meant to resemble a computer error message. The fact is that computer errors happen all the time, and we have grown accustomed to them. However, when it comes to online services and these errors are permanent, they can block our activities and the completion of tasks for long periods of time. This is especially true when the service in question has no alternative and we depend on it.

The last time this happened to me was when I tried to access information related to my Google profile. In my case, the error turned out to be permanent, and every time I have attempted to do the same, I have seen this very message. Which, de facto, blocks this possibility indefinitely. But how can we, the users, be sure that this is truly a system error on the part of a digital monopolist, and not censorship disguised as a technical problem, or deliberately created obstacles? Is it excluded that, de facto, this could be a case of discrimination and denial of service based on the monopolist’s own considerations? How could the authorities that are supposed to inspect and regulate these monopolists ever prove intent in such a case? In the world of digital monopolism in which we live, this would hardly be possible. And with the ever-growing penetration of digital technologies into our lives, and our increasing reliance on them in everyday life in every one of its aspects, this amounts to power and control in the hands of these digital monopolists—power they should never be allowed to possess.

Now imagine that the online services and applications we use are programmed to influence us in certain unprovable ways, according to someone’s social strategy and policy toward the individual. Would it be an error, or an “innocent” suggestion, some detail or image that resonates with us in a specific way, because digital monopolists know us better than we know ourselves—and perhaps have a plan for us, deciding where to place us as standardized bricks within their social and economic “construction”? How can we prove this? How can we stop it? Perhaps we need “Digital Socialism”?