Allegedly the new democratized Internet allows anyone to publish. Yet, if this is true and the goal is to empower users, why are there so many walls around these walled gardens?

The design elements the author observes are only a symptom of the theme of centralization. The unwashed masses will be given information technology, but only as much as they need.

Where there are walls, there are gates and gatekeepers. It isn't enough to have an infantile design. Condescending 'fact checks' from trusted sources and manually ranked search results are there to keep the children from going astray. After all, you can't be trusted to examine and digest information without some parental guidance.

For severe offenders who peddle wrong-think, deplatforming is an option. Of course those who have been banished from the grace of the walled garden can always set up their own website. Users need only enter the URL.

Again, we've seen the minimization of the address bar as unfriendly and overly complex by Chrome. Better to turn everything into a Google search. Google will help you arrive at the safest destination.