Influence without force: the law of the Internet The past year has seen increasing backlash and fear towards the Internet and its constituents. Calls for government-mandated regulation are coming from all sides while Silicon Valley wonders how influence campaigns have managed to sway an election. It is tempting, especially for the affected parties, to see Russian influence campaigns and lack of internet regulation as the culprit for the general sense of malaise in the Western World and its descent into populism but that would miss two much bigger phenomena: worsening living conditions and incorrect conceptualization of the internet.