The state as a digital platform?

The digital world may have made the definition, and true nature, of the state finally visible, but has it also affected it in any significant way? Although private online platforms strive to mimic state functions within their (digital) territories (through the unique identification of their users and creation of their digital ecosystem), they have affected the relationship between the state and its citizens only superficially. Private online platforms may individualise and identify their users; however, they do this on the basis of credentials issued by these users’ states and, in any case, not uniquely—in the sense that a user can have many profiles on the same platform. In addition, although individuals may well live large parts of their lives today on online platforms (for work, study or entertainment), humans are still anchored in the analogue world not only biologically (i.e. digital money earned on a digital platform is still needed to buy groceries in the analogue world), but also socially (i.e. humans still interact physically with each other on a daily basis). Therefore, for the moment, at least, neither the state’s definition nor the state’s nature has been gravely affected by the digital world. In essence, the digital world affects the government more than the state: because the state is natural to humans and it is humans that had the will to create, and live in, the digital world, their relationship with their states remains intact.

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