Quasi-freedom as one of the characteristics of virtual reality

The article traces the transformation of ideas about the Internet space from the moment of its appearance to the present time. First, the author examines the reasons for the emergence of cyber utopianism at the beginning of the XXI century and its main provisions, the main of which was the belief in the possibility of the Internet to give a person freedom of speech, and the main values would be anonymity, confidentiality and simplified access to information. However, the digital data underlying the functioning of the computer allows the information received to be collected, stored and processed. That is, we can talk about algorithmic authoritarianism, which, thanks to computer technology, produces a set of restrictions, both in socio-political and everyday human life. Next, the author analyzes one of the aspects of digital capitalism that has formed in modern civilization - the ability to manage an individual’s free time from work. It is shown that the number of working hours spent by a person at the workplace has not increased, but the free time of a modern employee has become less, because, thanks to technical devices, he is actually always available to the employer. In conclusion, it is concluded that the dream of freedom turned into the emergence of quasi-freedom due to the peculiarities of the functioning of the Internet space.