{"id":472361,"date":"2022-07-09T18:10:09","date_gmt":"2022-07-09T15:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media-companies-should-be-converted-into-nonprofits\/"},"modified":"2022-07-09T18:10:09","modified_gmt":"2022-07-09T15:10:09","slug":"social-media-companies-should-be-converted-into-nonprofits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/social-media-companies-should-be-converted-into-nonprofits\/","title":{"rendered":"#Social media companies should be converted into nonprofits"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a367f99542dd\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a367f99542dd\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/social-media-companies-should-be-converted-into-nonprofits\/#%E2%80%9CSocial_media_companies_should_be_converted_into_nonprofits%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Social media companies should be converted into nonprofits&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/social-media-companies-should-be-converted-into-nonprofits\/#Thank_you_for_joining_TNW_Conference_2022\" >Thank you for joining TNW Conference 2022!<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/social-media-companies-should-be-converted-into-nonprofits\/#What_is_the_future_of_social_media\" >What is the future of social media?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/social-media-companies-should-be-converted-into-nonprofits\/#Free_expression_doesnt_mean_the_absence_of_moderation\" >Free expression doesn\u2019t mean the absence of moderation<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/social-media-companies-should-be-converted-into-nonprofits\/#Where_do_we_go_from_here\" >Where do we go from here?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CSocial_media_companies_should_be_converted_into_nonprofits%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Social media companies should be converted into nonprofits&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image?fit=796%2C417&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2022%2F07%2FUntitled-design-1.jpg&amp;signature=ae47aa8f859e367d8a6b54eb2bb4eeeb\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n                            <em>This <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/builtin.com\/founders-entrepreneurship\/social-media-companies-nonprofits-public-good\">article<\/a> was originally published on <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/builtin.com\/\">Built In<\/a> by David Ryan Polgar.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> should be a nonprofit,\u201d said the high-level Trust and Safety employee. We were standing in Twitter\u2019s San Francisco headquarters discussing the company\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2022\/05\/18\/twitter-musk-takeover-chaos\/\">current calamities<\/a>, namely high levels of hate and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2022\/05\/06\/twitter-harassment\/\">harassment<\/a> and low levels of actual <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/story\/the-odds-are-against-elon-musk-making-twitter-a-significantly-more-profitable-company-11652901703\">profitability<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Rumors were swirling about its <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/2016\/oct\/05\/twitter-sale-negotiations-salesforce-google-disney\">possible impending sale<\/a>. My companion clearly believed that the company was important to the future of communication and, by extension, of democracy itself.<\/p>\n<div class=\"inarticle-wrapper channel-cta\">\n<div class=\"ica-text\">\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Thank_you_for_joining_TNW_Conference_2022\"><\/span>Thank you for joining TNW Conference 2022!<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Let the reminiscing commence \u2192<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Unfortunately, its ad-based business model was in obvious conflict with serving the public interest. If a platform centers its revenue around engagement, it has a strong incentive to feed users engaging content that may be bad for civil discourse. And besides, despite its cultural significance, Twitter was struggling financially; perhaps it was in an ill-fitting business structure to begin with.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"c-richText__pullQuote\">\n<div class=\"c-richText__pullQuoteGradient\">\n<p class=\"c-richText__pullQuoteQuote\">That isn\u2019t a future I\u2019d want to live in.\n            <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ened in October 2016. Twitter was hosting the Digital Citizenship Summit, an event that I had co-founded and was organizing with speakers and attendees coming in from around the world to discuss online safety, digital well-being and media literacy. Two days before this conversation, as I was flying to San Francisco, the company\u2019s internal turmoil threatened to totally derail the gathering. Both Salesforce and Disney were rumored to be interested in purchasing the company.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Reinstating Trump On A Musk-Led Twitter | Ayman\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" srcdoc=\"&lt;style&gt;*{padding:0;margin:0;overflow:hidden}html,body{background:#000;height:100%}img{position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;transition:opacity .1s cubic-bezier(0.4,0,1,1)}a:hover img+img{opacity:1!important}&lt;\/style&gt;&lt;a href=\" https:=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/jrl2aTM99FQ\/hqdefault.jpg\" style=\"top: 50%;left:50%;width:68px;height:48px;transform:translate3d(-50%,-50%,0)\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>David Ryan Polgar speaks on MSNBC<\/p>\n<p>Since that time, Twitter has posted a profit loss <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.barrons.com\/news\/can-twitter-become-more-profitable-under-elon-musk-01650998108\">almost every year<\/a>. Disney pulled out of negotiations because of its concerns that abuse on the platform would be bad for its squeaky clean image.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike a lot of these platforms,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.nl\/disney-ceo-bob-iger-abandons-twitter-deal-over-abuse-problem-2019-9?international=true&amp;r=US\">remarked Disney CEO Bob Iger<\/a>, referring to social media in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>, \u201cthey have the ability to do a lot of good in our world. They also have an ability to do a lot of bad. I didn\u2019t want to take that on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Five-plus years later, we\u2019re still in the same predicament. Social media companies like Twitter have morphed \u2014 whether their founders intended them to or not \u2014 into <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/builtin.com\/corporate-innovation\/social-media-needs-governance\">important social institutions<\/a> with grave consequences for both <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/builtin.com\/software-engineering-perspectives\/social-media-democracy\">the future of democracy<\/a> and the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/builtin.com\/corporate-innovation\/not-all-tech-problems-are-engineering-problems\">human condition<\/a>. Yet these platforms still remain constrained by their structures as for-profit companies with a duty to their shareholders.<\/p>\n<p>Whether Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk (<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/business\/2022\/06\/elon-musk-twitter-stock-deal-wall-street.html\">if the Twitter deal goes through<\/a>) are acting in the best interest of the public as they lead their respective companies is missing the larger point: They should never have such unchecked power. To allow such is to enter a future where the public is vulnerable to billionaires\u2019 whims as they shape the future of communication. That isn\u2019t a future I\u2019d want to live in.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_the_future_of_social_media\"><\/span>What is the future of social media?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Social media companies like Twitter have morphed into important social institutions with grave consequences for both the future of democracy and the human condition. Yet these platforms still remain constrained by their structures as for-profit companies with a duty to their shareholders. Their growth into de facto public town squares should necessitate radically reimagining their business structure, transforming into nonprofits or benefit corporations.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Free_expression_doesnt_mean_the_absence_of_moderation\"><\/span>Free expression doesn\u2019t mean the absence of moderation<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.law.ox.ac.uk\/research-and-subject-groups\/digitalisation-human-rights\">Free expression<\/a>\u201d is a phrase getting <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2022\/05\/16\/twitter-elon-musk-india\/\">tossed around a lot<\/a> today in relation to social media platforms, particularly regarding content moderation decisions. Unfortunately, the phrase tends to be misconstrued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFree speech isn\u2019t about saying whatever comes to mind,\u201d said <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pen.org\/user\/suzanne-nossel\/\">Suzanne Nossel<\/a>, CEO of PEN America, a nonprofit organization that works to defend and celebrate the free expression of writers across the globe. \u201cIt\u2019s about protecting the right to engage. That\u2019s what makes deliberation and democracy possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"c-richText__pullQuote\">\n<div class=\"c-richText__pullQuoteGradient\">\n<p class=\"c-richText__pullQuoteQuote\">No single person should ever have that much power in a healthy democracy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Nossel was <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jEDUGb_xkYQ\">speaking<\/a> at the recent <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/alltechishuman.org\/responsible-tech-summit-may-20th-in-nyc-improving-digital-spaces\">Responsible Tech Summit: Improving Digital Spaces<\/a> event organized by All Tech Is Human, the nonprofit I run that is dedicated to improving the responsible tech ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>Elon Musk\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialmediatoday.com\/news\/musk-discusses-his-views-on-content-moderation-as-twitter-deal-inches-close\/623524\/\">entire argument<\/a> about Twitter is based on a flawed premise: He seems to believe that reducing the number of content moderation decisions and guidelines promotes free speech. It doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, it simply transfers the power to make complex decisions about free speech from the public domain to a mercurial billionaire. That\u2019s not progress; it\u2019s a dystopian future. Society becomes trapped in a \u201cbenevolent dictatorship\u201d where we have to hope that he makes the right decision. No single person should ever have that much power in a healthy democracy.<\/p>\n<p>Musk, whether he recognizes it or not, has set up a paradox of sorts in his approach to Twitter. \u201cGiven that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1507777261654605828?lang=en\">he tweeted<\/a> on March 26.<\/p>\n<p>But for Musk to recognize Twitter\u2019s public role eliminates his very authority to privately govern it. In other words, public squares are governed publicly, not privately. To imagine ceding that authority to one person should send shivers down your spine.<\/p>\n<p>If Twitter is truly the de facto public square, that should necessitate far greater governmental involvement to ensure fairness, accountability and transparency. You know, the stuff we have in a functioning democracy.<\/p>\n<p>Twitter\u2019s growth into a \u201cde facto public town square,\u201d I would argue, should necessitate its radically reimagining its business structure, transforming into a nonprofit or benefit corporation, which is a legal structure that includes the overall benefit to society as an objective of the business, not just maximizing profits.<\/p>\n<p>If the platform immensely affects the public \u2014 as both <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/video\/2018\/09\/05\/jack-dorsey-twitter-users-consider-it-a-public-square.html\">Jack Dorsey<\/a> and Elon Musk argue it does \u2014 its business model should serve the public interest and not shareholders or the ego of a company leader.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_do_we_go_from_here\"><\/span>Where do we go from here?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I like to say that there\u2019s no magic button for fixing the problems facing social media platforms. The current state of social media is a Gordian Knot, an impossibly difficult, tangled web of complexity that humbles the countless thought leaders and organizations who offer solutions.<\/p>\n<p>To reduce hate speech on platforms is to surrender a substantial amount of power to those platforms in determining appropriateness. To tackle misinformation on social media turns companies with limited transparency and public accountability into arbiters of truth.<\/p>\n<p>It isn\u2019t that social media companies are making the wrong decisions, but rather that there are no right decisions to be made. Making determinations regarding speech means diving headfirst into a messy world of tradeoffs. The public allows the government to make these difficult decisions because we exercise power through the political process. That isn\u2019t the case with social media platforms, however.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"c-richText__pullQuote\">\n<div class=\"c-richText__pullQuoteGradient\">\n<p class=\"c-richText__pullQuoteQuote\">Anything less is anti-democratic.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In my opinion, the only way to undo this Gordian Knot is that social media must tie together the roles of government and platforms more closely. In order to untangle, we may need to become more tangled.<\/p>\n<p>What would this look like? Well, in the near term, it would mean that platforms continue building out the trappings of democratic structures to adjudicate issues of fairness and accountability and exercise oversight.<\/p>\n<p>We separate our branches of government in the U.S. into a group that makes laws (legislative), one that enforces them (executive), and one that interprets them (judicial). Social media platforms will need a similarly clear separation between departments that develop terms of service and community guidelines, enforce those rules, and interpret them when issues arise. This is exactly why the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/oversightboard.com\/\">Oversight Board<\/a> was originally dubbed Facebook\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cjr.org\/the_media_today\/facebook-supreme-court.php\">Supreme Court<\/a> \u2014 it has a similar structure and goal.<\/p>\n<p>Given that the general public often relates to platforms in a quasi-governmental fashion, platforms will increasingly move in that direction. What hasn\u2019t happened yet, however, is the creation of more reliable ways to ensure transparency. Right now, we tend to rely on platforms to develop their own advisory councils and provide reporting; in the coming years, this will likely be government-appointed officials and boards that are interwoven with tech companies to be social media ombudspersons.<\/p>\n<p>For any platform that evolves into a de facto public square, the public has to be involved in its oversight. Anything less is anti-democratic.\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/social-media-companies-converted-into-nonprofits\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Social media companies should be converted into nonprofits&#8221; This article was originally published on Built In by David Ryan Polgar. \u201cMaybe Twitter should be a nonprofit,\u201d said the high-level Trust and Safety employee. We were standing in Twitter\u2019s San Francisco headquarters discussing the company\u2019s current calamities, namely high levels of hate and harassment and low&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":472362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/07\/Untitled-design-1.jpg&signature=2f08b4feb4e13d70fb9604ee5de7f876","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-472361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}