That said, my understanding of the meme is that it's a commentary/exaggeration on a nation state where the state controls all aspects of your lives.

I don't think it's terrible to highlight the parallel to the way private businesses are actively profiling all of their users in order to manipulate their behaviour through advertising.

While the state has the ability to remove your freedoms, incarcerate you, or even potentially execute you (depending on which state you live in, be it a US state, or a different nation state) that private companies do not have in quite the same way, think about what the implications of losing access to their Google / Apple account would have on the average person, and what 'crimes' are required in order to deliver that 'punishment'.

Algorithms or not, we now live in a world where punishments in the form of loss of access to vital services are dished out randomly, by the same people who are profiling and controlling our behaviour. Whether or not this is by design, it's also supremely effective in ensuring compliance. When the exact rules and limits are known, they can be worked around and/or contested effectively. When they are unknown, a wider berth becomes necessary in order to reduce risk.

This feels like it could be subject of a more light hearted academic paper investigating if there is a juxtaposition between "In Soviet Russia" memes and the FAANG world we live in today, or if they're similar than we would generally/comfortably like to think.