Big
tech
and
social
media
giants
are
inflicting
profound
damage
on
our
society.
We
do
believe
in
the
promise
of
technology
to
lead
us
to
a
new
era
of
human
progress
and
prosperity.
We
also
believe
technology
can
deliver
unimaginable
destruction
and
harm,
accelerated
by
the
power
of
AI.
We
believe
the
internet
was
created
over
half
a
century
ago
to
connect
machines
to
machines
and
data
to
data,
not
people
to
people.
Its
outdated
design
has
reduced
people
to
users.
It
has
become
a
techno-capital
engine,
incentivized
to
stalk,
manipulate,
and
prey
upon
people
–
and
it
has
dehumanized
us.
Frank
McCourt
is
the
founder
of
Project
Liberty
and
author,
with
Michael
J.
Casey,
of
the
forthcoming
book
OUR
BIGGEST
FIGHT:
Reclaiming
Liberty,
Humanity,
and
Dignity
in
Our
Digital
Age
to
be
published
by
Crown
in
2024.
We
believe
it
has
become
an
insatiable
machine
that
harvests
our
identities
to
generate
enormous
wealth
for
tech
and
social
media
Goliaths.
We
cannot
unsee
the
price
the
world
is
now
paying
for
their
profits.
The
harm
is
real
We
believe
the
breakdown
of
civility
and
democracy,
our
cultural
and
political
polarization,
the
radicalization
of
our
neighbors,
the
censorship
of
free
speech,
the
increase
in
mass
shootings,
our
inability
to
agree
on
what
is
good
and
true,
the
displacement
of
parents
from
their
rightful
role
in
protecting
their
children,
and
AI’s
threat
to
millions
of
livelihoods
are
all
in
large
part
consequences
of
our
digital
dehumanization.
We
believe
our
children’s
mental
health
is
under
attack
by
a
system
that
so
powerfully
exploits
their
vulnerabilities
and
self-doubts
that
their
brains
are
being
altered.
Children
are
harming
themselves
and
committing
suicide
at
record
rates.
We
believe
our
society
and
democracy
cannot
survive
such
autocratic,
centralized
technology.
We
are
more
than
big-tech’s
data
We
believe
people
have
been
stripped
of
their
rights
on
the
internet
because
it
doesn’t
see
us
as
human
beings
at
all.
It
sees
us
only
as
data,
which
Big
Tech
manipulates
and
monetizes.
Until
we
are
recognized
as
people,
not
just
producers
of
data,
we
will
not
reclaim
our
voices
or
our
rights.
We
believe
a
small
group
of
techno-capital
innovators
have
been
incentivized
to
rule
as
kings,
exploit
us,
and
rationalize
our
exploitation
as
progress.
The
Techno-Optimists
will
say
everything
is
fine.
They
mean,
“Don’t
touch
the
money
we
are
making
from
your
data.”
We
believe
millions
of
Davids
can
regain
their
voices,
overcome
these
Big
Tech
Goliaths,
and
bring
a
better
web
to
life.
Urgency
We
believe
owning
your
own
data
is
the
first,
indispensable
step
in
creating
a
better
internet
and
a
healthier
world.
We
believe
you
should
own
you.
We
believe
you,
not
Big
Tech,
should
own
your
data.
We
believe
the
modest
reforms
tech
giants
have
touted
are
deceptive
band-aids
that
allow
them
to
continue
to
profit
from
exploiting
children
and
society
at
large.
We
believe
our
need
to
act
is
urgent.
AI
is
a
powerful
accelerant.
And,
in
recent
days,
this
technology
has
been
leveraged
to
fuel
Big
Tech’s
further
growth.
If
we
do
not
put
people
at
the
center
of
the
internet,
AI
will
pour
gasoline
on
the
digital
fire
that
is
already
searing
our
children,
communities,
and
workplaces.
The
bright
promise
of
generative
AI
will
not
be
worth
the
human
cost.
The
future
We
believe
it
doesn’t
have
to
be
this
way.
We
don’t
have
to
settle
for
today’s
dehumanized
digital
world.
We
believe
people
have
inalienable
rights.
We
do
not
surrender
these
rights
merely
because
we
are
active
on
the
internet.
We
must
take
back
what
is
ours:
We
should
own
our
identities,
whether
in
the
physical
or
digital
world.
We
believe
a
better
web
is
not
only
possible;
it
is
happening
now.
A
uniting
purpose
We
believe
a
healthier
and
more
human
internet
is
not
a
cause
belonging
to
any
political
party
or
ideology.
It
is
the
uniting
purpose
of
everyone
who
imagines
we
can
do
better.
We
believe
“moving
fast
and
breaking
things”
must
have
a
limit:
Tech
elites
should
not
profit
from
destroying
democracy
and
breaking
human
lives.
We
believe
a
better
web
will
empower
people,
not
soulless
digital
machines.
We
believe
we
can
revive
innovation,
competition,
and
capitalism
by
building
a
better
digital
ecosystem,
not
by
expanding
the
broken
one.
We
believe
you
should
have
a
voice
in
governing
the
platforms
that
use
your
data.
We
believe
you
should
have
a
stake
in
the
profits
your
data
generates.
We
believe
the
ability
to
own
and
control
your
data,
the
essence
of
who
you
are,
is
the
digital
age
expression
of
liberty.
We
believe
we
should
be
free
digital
citizens,
not
Big
Tech’s
digital
serfs.
We
can
build
a
better
world
where
technology
is
celebrated
for
uniting
us
rather
than
rewarded
for
breaking
us.
A
new
and
better
web
is
being
built
now.
Join
us.
Demand
to
own
your
data
and
take
back
your
digital
rights.
