Mr. Roger McNamee:

The danger on a global basis is that each country experiences a different manifestation of the problem and so the tendency is to attack the symptoms. The problem could be with young people, teen suicide or bullying or, perhaps, elections and democracy or privacy. All of those problems derive from the underlying business model. It is a business model based on capturing and maintaining attention. Please do not be distracted by what in the United States we call First Amendment issues or free speech issues. Algorithmic amplification is a business choice. It is completely independent of speech. One can put all voices onto social networks without harm. Where the harm comes in is that the amplification looks to the most basic elements of evolutionary psychology, specifically , flight or fight. That is why outrage is so effective. The problem with outrage is that it is politically asymmetric. One does not see outrage being equally effective across the entire political spectrum and so it has resulted in a uniform shift to the far right globally. My observation is around how to stop this stuff happening.

It is very important to go after both algorithmic amplification and micro targeting because they together are what create the problem. The great, unique opportunity of the committee is that it is the only place where we convene people and bring together all the different experiences. It gives the opportunity for the political will to migrate to the root causes. I truly hope the committee will flourish and that we can do everything in our power to support it.