So I did a deep drive, and found a web version of the book I presume they're referring to, giving this definition;

"A network state is a highly aligned online community with a capacity for collective action that crowdfunds territory around the world and eventually gains diplomatic recognition from pre-existing states.

#BalajiSrinivasan, 2022

https://thenetworkstate.com/the-network-state-in-one-sentence

So ... it's a distributed diplomatic entity, whose population consists entirely of landlords?

(2/?)