It’s clearly a dark pattern thought up by shitbags because users are more likely to create an account after they’ve typed something out vs. leaving when they find out an account is required to participate.
Even the shitbags over at Mozilla are doing it.
Company computers are different, I definitely don’t trust them. That said managers like that are not good managers. Measure outcomes, not time. When a problem occurs and I can’t figure a solution I go for a walk. 5 maybe 10 minutes. You would be amazed how often I think of the solution on said walk. Yeah it might look like a waste of time but clearing my head is a huge value to the company.