By the end of the second decade of the 21st century, the world is changing more rapidly than ever: just yesterday, humanity admired the opportunities of the digital era opening up to it - but today states are passing laws on “sovereign Internet”, social networks are becoming platforms for “new censorship”, and smartphones are turning into into global surveillance tools. How did this happen, how should we feel about it and what lies ahead for us? - This book is dedicated to the search for answers to these extremely pressing questions. Taking the dialectical methods of classical Marxism as a basis and starting from the circumstances of today, Vitaly Maltsev builds a logical picture of the future, consistently adding new facts and nuances to its vision, and also presents a wide spectrum modern research and ideas about possible options for the development of events from various political positions.