Platform Brutality: Closing Down Internet Toxicity

by Geert Lovink

The internet has become an integral part of all human activities. Its toxic aspects have fully permeated our personal, social and political lives, with people using it to attack others, normalize violence, spread fake news and make propaganda for extreme-right causes, to name just a few. This brutal turn ultimately affects all: social media no longer just distracts—it injures. This technological violence is essentially remote, invisible and indirect. Encoded within the platforms we use every day exist exclusion, isolation and echo chambers on sites that promise enhanced connection. Platform Brutality does not just offer critical analyses but also dives into alternatives. Topics range from the violent turn of the internet and techno-feudalism debates, to loneliness on social media, radical data critique or even how to dream in the computer age. This hyper-contemporary reader offers offline romanticism to question how to leave the platforms, bring back social networks and strike a new balance between analog and digital.

304 pages, Paperback

Published June 2, 2026

About the author

Geert Lovink is a Research Professor of Interactive Media at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (HvA) and a Professor of Media Theory at the European Graduate School. Lovinl is the founding director of the Institute of Network Cultures, whose goals are to explore, document and feed the potential for socio-economical change of the new media field through events, publications and open dialogue. As theorist, activist and net critic, Lovink has made an effort in helping to shape the development of the web.