What question did this study set out to answer?

The central aim is to explore the tension between individual autonomy and the coercive designs of digital systems.

February 27, 2026Open Access

Autonomy and the System's Coercion

Key Points

The central aim is to explore the tension between individual autonomy and the coercive designs of digital systems.
Analyzes the relationship between user autonomy and digital system architecture.
Maps structural features that influence user behavior.
Assesses how design choices create a perception of freedom.
Identifies coercion as a hidden aspect of system architecture rather than overt force.
Argues that autonomy is influenced by digital infrastructures, affecting perceived agency.
Highlights the erosion of autonomy through design choices, even without explicit policy enforcement.

Abstract

Autonomy and the System’s Coercion is a canonical SignalRupture essay examining the structural tension between individual agency and the coercive architectures of modern digital systems. While platforms present autonomy as a user‑level attribute—choice, customization, personalization—the underlying infrastructures narrow the field of possible actions through defaults, friction, incentives, opacity, and dependency. Coercion no longer appears as force but as architecture: a governance strategy embedded in system design rather than explicit policy. The essay argues that autonomy in the post‑web era is not a personal trait but a systemic condition, one that can be eroded without ever being formally removed. By mapping how platforms shape behavior while preserving the sensation of freedom, this work situates autonomy as an infrastructural phenomenon and exposes the asymmetries that define post‑web agency.

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