In a world where technology is becoming more “intelligent” and threaded  into almost everything we do, I think Verbeek is really asking us to look honestly at how power is shifting. If the state is losing some of its influence while technologies quietly shape our choices, behaviors, and even our understanding of public issues, then we can’t rely on old-school regulation anymore. Laws alone can’t keep up with systems that make decisions in milliseconds or platforms that influence millions of people without anyone noticing.

For markets and businesses, this means we need more than just rules about products or profits, we need accountability for how their technologies shape the public sphere. Companies build algorithms that decide what we see, who gets heard, and what counts as “important.” That’s a huge amount of power, and it shouldn’t sit in the hands of a few people behind the scenes. Their design choices should be transparent, open to public scrutiny, and held to ethical standards that prioritize people, not just engagement or revenue.

Groups and communities need the ability to understand and challenge these systems too, especially when certain voices are being pushed to the margins. And individuals shouldn’t be left alone trying to “make good choices” in a digital environment designed to influence them. We need stronger digital rights and protections that acknowledge how much technologies guide us before we’re even aware of it.

Overall, I think Verbeek is saying that regulation has to move into the design layer itself. If technologies help create our public world, then the people who design them share political responsibility. Regulation should be collaborative, ongoing, and built into the systems we depend on, not something added after the damage is already done.