The era of “surveillance capitalism”: new forms of digital platform power and user manipulation

The article considers new tools and forms of digital control, as well as mechanisms of manipulation of behavior of users of digital platforms in the era of “surveillance capitalism”. The business model of operation of technological giants is analyzed, based on the retention of the user on the platform by filtering the information provided to him (“filter bubbles”), increasing the time of the user’s presence in the network, increasing the number of digital footprints left by him, which make the user “transparent” for the platform and allow to transform the collected data into forecast products for increase of incomes of “surveillance capitalists”. The article raises the problem of lack of ethical standards of data extraction and use, problems of control over “fate” of provided personal data and violation of privacy, and analyzes psychological hooks, used by technology platforms to keep users online, and possible strategies to resist the power of technology giants by fighting for a “new Internet” and spreading restrictive practices regarding digital media.