The tech industry is the second-biggest lobbying power in Washington, but that wasn’t true 10 years ago. How did we get here? Where are we headed next?
@tristanharris
and Daniel Barcay discuss with historian Margaret O’Mara and journalist Brody Mullins:
Congratulations to
@HumaneTech_
supporters and friends
#HarryAndMeghan
for their cover story
#TIME100
recognition for their philanthropic work through Archewell Foundation!
(1/3) We are blown away by the response to
#TheSocialDilemma
. It’s our hope that this film is the beginning of a much broader, deeper and more inclusive cultural conversation about the harmful impacts these companies are having on our relationships, our health and our democracy.
#TheSocialDilemma
won 2
#Emmys
! This is a big moment for a film with a big message: Persuasive tech is affecting us all.
Watch and share the film with loved ones while it's free on YouTube for the next 2 weeks:
#Emmys2021
This week, the whole world witnessed the consequences of a broken, yet highly-profitable business model that rewards self-reinforcing cycles of outrage, rumors, and political and racial division.
Our new organization, the Center for Humane Technology, was formally announced today. Visit to learn more.
We will be thoughtful and intentional about using this space appropriately.
@safiyanoble
once again brilliantly emphasizes the unequal distribution of social media harms along racial lines. This time, when it comes to coordinated attacks which have detrimental online and offline consequences for black women:
On this very special episode of
#YourUndividedAttention
, the brilliant historian
@harari_yuval
guides us through the co-evolution of technology and democracy over the course of human history. Where do we go from here? Listen to the possibilities (~2 hr.):
From Prince Harry and Meghan:
“Today, we congratulate the incredible young people across California and the country who believe the same and took it upon themselves to ask the tech industry to better protect kids in the design of social media platforms.”
#TheSocialDilemma
is now free on YouTube to over 2.3 billion people!
Help us build on the momentum that's driving global leaders, technologists, parents, and educators to take action.
Tell your friends and loved ones — and watch here:
You can learn more about Archewell Foundation and its mission to uplift and unite communities — local and global, online and offline — one act of compassion at a time:
#TheSocialDilemma
is now available for educators globally in a free, abridged 40-min format that can be screened during a single class period. Thank you to the
@SocialDilemma_
team for making this possible. Access the film and other educational resources:
For those of you out there watching
#TheSocialDilemma
: Support
#StopHateForProfit
in pressuring Facebook to make real change to the policies that allow hate groups to thrive.
🌟 Just launched 🌟 Our course Foundations of Humane Technology. After 12+ months in development and hundreds of beta testers, we are thrilled to share a course that teaches how to build technology that serves humanity's best interests.
#BuildHumaneTech
:
An excerpt from “We’ve Been Sneaking Into Your Brains”
@HumaneTech_
Head of Education,
@MaxStossel
's talk to 800 middle and high school students in Braintree, Massachusetts.
Exciting news —
#TheSocialDilemma
won 2
#Emmys
! Thank you to all who supported the film, and to the ~100M people who watched to learn about social media’s hidden harms.
If you haven't seen it, now's your chance — it's free on YouTube until Sept 30:
Best-selling author of 'Sapiens',
@harari_yuval
gives us a two-million-year perspective on today’s headlines in one of our most timely and comprehensive
#YourUndividedAttention
podcast episodes to date. We're thrilled to share it with you (~2 hr. listen):
Mark Zuckerberg—we’re calling on you to make Facebook a safer platform by changing the share button to reduce virality. Currently, harmful posts spread widest, drowning out meaningful posts from users. It’s not the safe or healthy space you envision for your platform. 1/5)
(2/3) These problems exist in a much deeper economic and cultural context.
@Mozilla
put together an excellent reading list from leaders not in the film. We see this as foundational reading for those seeking to understand the problem and generate solutions.
Upcoming special interview with Facebook whistleblower,
@FrancesHaugen
on
#YourUndividedAttention
. Frances joins us to discuss Facebook’s priorities, the unequal distribution of harms, and, importantly, strategic solutions. Subscribe and stay tuned:
We urge those concerned about
#TheSocialDilemma
to
#StandWithTimnit
. The people holding Google's algorithms accountable, especially for their impacts on BIPOC women, must not be silenced. We support
@timnitGebru
's demands for transparency:
Ever wondered what all that time on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok was doing to you—and society?
Here’s an
#infographic
on what you need to know about the dark side of social media. (Follow the 6 part thread for close ups of the bigger file)
Could 2024 be the year democracies implement upgrades to become future-proof to the potential harms of
#AI
?
@AudreyT
, Taiwan’s Minister of Digital Affairs, returns to
#YourUndividedAttention
to discuss how she understands this moment in AI development.
(3/3) Changing business models from extractive to humane won't be easy, but together we can chart the path forward. We’ve updated our website to illustrate the role we all have to play in changing how tech is built and regulated.
How does the tech which connects us also control us? In a special bonus episode,
@tristanharris
and
@aza
discuss the new documentary
#TheSocialDilemma
, available now on Netflix.
IT’S HERE: Listen to our special interview with the whistleblower herself, Frances Haugen. Frances dives into some of the biggest problems Facebook is navigating and offers her insights on immediate, researched-backed solutions. Listen here:
Hi all 👋 We’ll be taking the next two weeks off of social media to read, recoup, and ready ourselves for the humane tech work to come. Wishing everyone good health and peace of mind as we enter the new year.
What does the Chinese government's crackdown on big tech have to do with the rest of the world?
Listen to
@tristanharris
explain in his latest conversation with
@joerogan
and Daniel Schmachtenberger.
One year ago,
#TheSocialDilemma
was released on
@Netflix
. We hoped the film would help some people better understand the hidden harms of social media.
Never did we expect it be viewed by ~100M people! Thank you to all who have watched, shared, and cared.
We are proud to co-host the first-ever Designing Tech for Social Cohesion!
Collaborate with
@tristanharris
,
@audreyt
, and other leaders as they explore a new generation of tech products - one that brings society together instead of polarizing it.
Social media platforms use intentionally addictive designs to keep kids online longer and profit from their attention.
That's why alongside
@fairplayforkids
, we're asking the FTC to ban such manipulative, engagement-maximizing practices aimed at kids & teens.
🚨NEW: Fairplay and our friends
@DigitalDemoc
are leading a coalition in asking the FTC to ban manipulative tech design aimed at keeping kids and teens online and using digital platforms.
Check out this excellent infographic from
@OAmorowson
explaining themes from our recent
#YourUndividedAttention
episode "A Problem Well-Stated Is Half-Solved" with Daniel Schmachtenberger
The
@WSJ
article proving
@instagram
knows it's damaging teen girls’ mental health should cause shock and horror but sadly, that isn’t news.
We already felt this dark truth for a long time. It is the predictable outcome of maximizing profit at all costs.
This analysis, published in Nature, shows that information flow between individuals in a social network can be ‘gerrymandered’ to skew perceptions of how others in the community will vote — which can alter the outcomes of elections. (6 min. read)
Brain hacking, tech addiction, social isolation, polarization…how can we make meaningful change?
We’ve put a lot of heart into the presentation
@TristanHarris
is giving today, Tuesday 23 April. You can watch our livestream at from 11am to 12pm PT.
Tech companies colonize our virtual lives, but what about the physical infrastructure of the internet?
@JulieOwono
warns that we’ll sleepwalk into an age of “digital colonialism,” if we don’t give civic activists a seat at the table. (37 min. Listen) >
Every 40 seconds, our attention breaks. It takes an act of extreme self-awareness to even notice. That’s why Gloria Mark, a professor in the Department of Informatics at UC Irvine, started measuring the attention spans of office workers with scientific precision.
We agree
@tim_cook
… “A social dilemma cannot be allowed to become a social catastrophe.”
@apple
’s announcement pushes the ecosystem to limit the malicious effects of mass profiling and microtargeting. It’s a step in creating a safer and more humane tech ecosystem.
Tech giants are responding to the harms caused by a business model that still extracts data from our lives at a massive scale. Acknowledging the problem may be the first step, but we must hold Big Social accountable & push for reform, today & every day.
Technology is never neutral. Learn about how algorithms affect all our daily lives, and how you can join the movement to protect civil rights. Get tickets to
#CodedBias
by
@shalinikantayya
opening tomorrow, 11/11, here:
TikTok is now the most popular app for teens in the U.S., but its parent company is based inside our main geopolitical rival — China. On
#YourUndividedAttention
@tristanharris
&
@aza
explore the nature of the TikTok threat and how we might address it.
How do language and social media interact to create our sense of reality? On
#YourUndividedAttention
with
@leraboroditsky
learn how language itself is a technology and how it can be both weaponized and humanely designed.
Social media platforms have asymmetric power over us because they:
- Construct our reality
- Mine our attention
- Prey on social exclusion
.
What can we do? Listen to
@tristanharris
and
@simonsinek
discuss service and human connection as a path forward:
Authoritarian cults and social media platforms share a similar goal: influencing people. This creates parallels between social media features and cult techniques:
.
Thank you to
@CultExpert
for guiding this work. Learn more:
Huge, huge congratulations to activists
@mariaressa
and Dmitry Muratov for your extremely hard-earned win of the
#NobelPeacePrize
!
Learn more about Maria's heroic work in our
#YourUndividedAttention
interview with her, "The Dictator's Playbook"
What if technology could amplify our agreements, instead of our conflicts? What if it could help us make laws? Hear
@audreyt
, Digital Minister of Taiwan, talk about how she is already making this happen in her country (46 min. Listen) >
We need to understand our own limits and biases in order to upgrade our medieval institutions and zombie values. On
#YourUndividedAttention
@aza
and
@tristanharris
follow up on
#ElonMusk
’s acquisition and what it means for global digital democracy.
In this episode of
#YourUndividedAttention
with NYU social psychologist
@JonHaidt
, we examine the mechanics of manipulation that have led to a generation wide shift in mental health harms. Listen, share, and start a conversation with your family.
AI experts
@timnitGebru
&
@mmitchell_ai
on the dangers of anthropomorphizing AI:
"Ascribing 'sentience' to a product implies that any wrongdoing is the work of an independent being, rather than the company ... that created it."
Full piece here 👉
How do we evolve our capacity to collectively problem-solve? In this episode of
#YourUndividedAttention
,
@DanielSchmacht1
shares his vision for a new form of global coordination.
Listen:
TikTok is on track to have 1.8 billion users by the end of 2022. Teens in the United States now spend more time on TikTok than YouTube. On
#YourUndividedAttention
, we explore the TikTok threat, and how we might address it.
@travis_view
studies the cryptic appeal and cult-like dynamics of QAnon and what happens as Q followers leave their screens behind, arm themselves, and take their extremism into the real world. (59 min. Listen) >
Researchers have found that disinformation grabs our attention more than authentic information. In a system where disinformation travels 6x faster than real news, we are worse off making sense of an already complicated world.
#GPT
-4 is here, and we don’t fully understand its capabilities. On
#YourUndividedAttention
,
@tristanharris
and
@aza
present The AI Dilemma, a briefing that voices the concerns of people who work on
#AI
risks. We must move at the speed of getting it right.
Tech employees have access to crucial information that the general public does not.
#FacebookFiles
whistleblower
@FrancesHaugen
urged them to come forward during her Senate testimony.
We're experiencing our own ‘Oppenheimer moment’ – the experts who created the basis of today’s AI technology are also the ones calling for its control. To avoid repeating history we must work together to deploy this tech at a pace where we can get it right
How is social media eroding our democracy? CHT co-founder
@tristanharris
and CHT advisor
@JonHaidt
join
@60Minutes
to discuss social media’s impact on polarization and what needs to change so that democracy can thrive.
Check out the trailer for The Social Dilemma, an
@ExposureLabs
film about how social media monetizes our attention while harming mental health, eroding relationships and amplifying hate. Premieres on Netflix Sep 9, featuring CHT co-founders and advisors.
We tweet, we like, and we share— but what are the consequences of our growing dependence on social media? Silicon Valley insiders reveal how social media is reprogramming civilization.
#TheSocialDilemma
Only on Netflix, September 9th.
We made a mistake with social media. By the time we realized platforms profit from harming children, sowing division, and promoting violence, it was too late.
The same is happening with AI, but we have a chance to change it ➡️
Brain hacking, tech addiction, social isolation, polarization…how can we make meaningful change?
Join our livestream at on April 23 from 11am to 12pm PT.
Today’s extremists don’t need highly produced videos like ISIS or deep pockets like Russia. They can reach a nation of users for the price of a used car. Listen to how he counters the extremists on our new episode:
Quote from our founder
@tristanharris
in the
@nytimes
: "Tech addiction, polarization...micro-celebrity culture...These are not separate problems. They’re actually all coming from one thing, which is the race to capture human attention by tech giants.”
Imagine if society could learn to treat human attention as something sacred. LISTEN:
@TristanHarris
speaks to
@tferriss
— Fighting Skynet and Firewalling Attention (
#387
)
(2 hours 6 mins listen)
8 ways social media distorts our realities, breaking down our ability to find shared understanding.
.
Deep dive into how social media's advertising-driven, engagement-maximizing business model perpetuates this 👉
On Jul 27th,
@humanetech_
and our allies will be gathering people who have experienced harms of technology with people changing how it's built. Join us to share human stories.
Learn more:
What if the news we consumed left us more hopeful and more equipped to respond to the issues of our time?
Listen in to learn about a different type of journalism — Solutions Journalism — from
@tirosenberg
and
@HeleneBiandudi
of
@soljourno
.
This episode’s guest, AI expert, Guillaume Chaslot,
@gchaslot
, helped write YouTube’s recommendation engine & explains how the engine's priorities spin up outrage, conspiracy theories and extremism. (54 min. listen)
Click here to listen to the podcast >
Amazing to see such bipartisan support of scaling back tech giants' unchecked power. Kudos again to
#FacebookFiles
whistleblower
@FrancesHaugen
for your courage in the name of public safety.
We've expanded our scope from the harms of social media to the systems that enable those harms. In a special
#YourUndividedAttention
, Executive Producer
@stephlepp
interviews
@tristanharris
and
@aza
on this evolution, our biggest questions, and what's next
⏰ People are waking up– tune into
@60Minutes
to watch CHT co-founder
@tristanharris
and CHT advisor
@JonHaidt
discuss the movement to stop social media from further undermining our democracy– this Sunday, Nov 6 at 7 PM ET/PT.
.
@MariaRessa
, co-founder and CEO of the media site
@rapplerdotcom
, is arguably one of the bravest journalists working in the Philippines today. (50 min. listen)
Click here to listen to the podcast >
#AI
is the most powerful technology humanity has ever created - and it’s being deployed faster than any other tech in history.
@tristanharris
distills our current thinking and framing regarding
#AI
on ON with
@karaswisher
Large language models are so powerful that people may form relationships for which they're willing to sacrifice important things. On
#YourUndividedAttention
,
@aza
and
@tristanharris
unpack how
#AI
is changing how we approach technology and each other.
In order to reap the benefits of
#AI
, we need to learn how to contain it. On
#YourUndividedAttention
, Mustafa Suleyman argues that it’s possible to leverage the unprecedented ways AI could empower us while avoiding dystopian outcomes.
Join
@tristanharris
and leaders in AI for the first annual Wisdom & AI Summit this October in San Francisco, organized by
@Wisdom2conf
.
We'll explore how we can foster Genuine Intelligence in this emerging age of Artificial Intelligence. Learn more at
New
@WSJ
article how how digital devices drown us in dopamine -- from Dr. Anna Lembke, Stanford psychiatrist and professor, who also discusses this topic in
#TheSocialDilemma
. via
@WSJ
Great news! We've just learned
#TheSocialDilemma
is free on YouTube for one more month — a huge thanks to
#Netflix
!
Over half of the world’s population is on social media. It's time we all understand its hidden effects. Watch & share here:
On this Spotlight episode of
#YourUndividedAttention
,
@tristanharris
and
@aza
expand upon The Three Rules of Humane Tech they recently developed for an
#AI
risk presentation. Technologists can avoid repeating past mistakes by internalizing these rules.
When it comes to children, our standards need to be higher, and our burden of proof lower. Listen to this episode of
#YourUndividedAttention
with NYU social psychologist,
@JonHaidt
, for a look at the research on teen mental health and social media use:
@tristanharris
discusses the harms of the Metaverse on the
@MegynKellyShow
: “If you build a virtual reality that doesn’t care for the real reality underneath ... it’s not really a humane system ... And that’s my worry.”
If there was ever a time we need humane technology, this is that time. The tech industry exerts enormous power and can move society in this direction of putting humanity's interest first.
Mental health data shows a contrast between Gen Z & Millennials unlike any demographic divide researchers have seen since World War II.
@JonHaidt
discusses his work investigating this division on this episode of
#YourUndividedAttention
. Listen (40 min.):
Just 4 more days to watch the Emmy-winning documentary
#TheSocialDilemma
for free on YouTube.
Learn how social media is impacting our children and our communities by watching the film today: