oday many shout “No Kings” to reject the idea that all power should be in a few hands, but does that sentiment go beyond the physical world? In today’s digital reality, we have quietly accepted new kings: the platforms. They don’t wear crowns or rule with traditional authority. Yet, they have the power to dominate all aspects of our lives through algorithm shifts, API management and interface design. They decide what we see, when we work, how we spend our time and what we feel. Platforms are the modern kings that guide and monitor our everyday behaviour. The governance is effected by promising convenience and efficiency.

Refreshing, updating and agreeing to terms and conditions is now old conversation. It is no longer about just keeping up. From Facebook asking for personal identification to Google monitoring engagement patterns, our digital traces have become instruments of control. As new media scholars Thomas Poell and Jose van Dijck argue, platformisation has seeped into every sphere of our lives by affecting economies, institutions, cultures and governance. Platforms no longer compete with traditional institutions; they are the institutions. Their infrastructure decides what counts as news, what qualifies as work and who deserves visibility. The dream of democratisation through access to information has become invincible, not because it succeeded, but because it absorbed every alternative.

Unplugging is no longer an act of rebellion. As another new media scholar Tania Bucher reminds us, in the age of machine learning, “there is nothing to disconnect from.” In this case, even non-participation through silence, absence and deletion becomes data. The platforms feed on every trace of human behaviour. Whether you delete your Instagram, mute notifications or leave a conversation unfinished, your silence contributes to the system’s predictive model. Our refusal is fuel. The black box learns from what it cannot see. The algorithm trains on our ghosts.

As a result, the relationship between humans and machines has shifted from one of use to one of coexistence. This is what Bucher calls being-with. Our social lives, once grounded in being-with others, are now also being-with devices. When Netflix asks, “Are you still watching?” it’s not being polite. It’s tracking attention. When you skip a song or close a YouTube video, the system learns precisely what you don’t like. What looks like choice is training. What feels like frictionless freedom is governance through data.

The No Kings protest may have opposed centralised power, but in the digital era, that crown has simply changed hands. Codes are the new king. Their kingdoms are networks. Their subjects are governed by platform rules for engagement or non-engagement. 

Platforms rule their human subjects through algorithmic control masked as opportunity. Platformization researchers like Alex Rosenblat, Julie Chen and Katarzyna Gruszka have found that platform labour is given an illusion of freedom and choice while being controlled through the system, either in the form of key information denial, fragmented rush or invisibility. Platform labour like gig workers, Uber drivers and food delivery riders are the protagonists of platform capitalism yet remain most exposed to its perils. The workers are the engine, but the platform writes the story.

If in the 19th Century kings ruled through law and decree; today they rule through design in the form of nudges, push notifications and attention metrics. The tyranny of the feed is subtler than the tyranny of the throne. Neutrality is the greatest illusion created by the platforms. Researchers working on AI foundation models like, Sarah Burkhardt and Bernhard Rieder, discuss how the engines behind ChatGPT and other LLMs are built as platforms of platforms. They rely on endless data loops that draw from human input to refine machine intelligence. The black box isn’t static. It’s constantly being trained by us, through us, against us.

The No Kings protest may have opposed centralised power, but in the digital era, the crown has simply changed hands. Codes are the new kings. Their kingdoms are networks. Their subjects are governed by platform rules of engagement or non-engagement. Even rebellion and non-compliance become rich data. So, is leaving the kingdom the only true act of resistance? A better answer may be to call for reimagining the terms of citizenship. It could be along the lines of demanding transparency and accountability. Shared governance in a world ruled by invisible infrastructures may actually be good.

The writer is a doctoral student at Kent State University, USA. Her research interests includes media, gender technology and the Global South.