London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

Ex-Google employee: Big Tech's biz model is 'a society that is addicted, outraged, polarized'

Ex-Google employee: Big Tech's biz model is 'a society that is addicted, outraged, polarized'

Algorithms and addiction were the focus of tech testimony on Capitol Hill

Ex-Google employee and Big Tech critic Tristan Harris on Tuesday said the business model of big social media companies "is to create a society that is addicted, outraged, [and] polarized," among other things.

Harris, co-founder and president of the nonprofit Center for Humane Technology, told the Senate Judiciary Committee during a Tuesday hearing on social media algorithms that companies like Google's YouTube and Facebook are profiting off of users' addiction to their platforms.

"It's almost like having the heads of Exxon, BP and Shell asking about, 'What are you doing to responsibly stop climate change?’" Harris said of social media companies' incentives for employees to increase user engagement on their platforms. "Their business model is to create a society that is addicted, outraged, polarized, performative and disinformed. That's just the fundamentals of how it works."

Harris added that experts want to "celebrate" companies' efforts to prevent "major harm" online, "they're trapped in something they can't change."

His response came after Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, chair of the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, asked Harris about his "understanding" of incentives for "employees and how it aligns with responsible growth versus growth at all costs."

"My understanding is, even to this day, there was a brief experimentation at Facebook with non-engagement-based performance incentives for social impact but that those have largely gone away and it's actually still a measure of engagement…things like not time on site but sessions, seven-day active users, growth, and that is still the focus," Harris said.

Facebook pointed FOX Business to an October statement saying its "News Feed product teams are not incentivized to build features that increase time-spent on our products" and the company instead wants to ensure it offers "value to people, not just drive usage."

Ranking member Sen. Ben Sasse, R-N.C., further pressed representatives from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube on whether their business models promote addiction.

Facebook Vice President for Content Policy Monika Bickert said that in January of 2018, Facebook announced that it would be prioritizing content from users' families and friends over news stories on its News Feed feature.

"We suspected that it would lead to less time on the service, and it did. It led to people spending tens of millions of fewer hours on Facebook every day, but that was something that we did because we thought that longer-term, it was more important for people to see that sort of content because people would find it meaningful and they would want to continue to use the site," Bickert said, adding that it is a "long-term picture" for the company.

Sen. Ben Sasse during an April 27, 2020, hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law


Twitter Head Of U.S. Public Policy Lauren Culbertson told Sasse that Twitter "has a ranking algorithm…designed to show you what might be most relevant to you," which can help users see what they want to see and log off without spending too much time on the site.

Sasse pushed back against Culbertson's comments, asking whether Twitter "capitalizes" on the "short-term rage" that draws users into arguments online. Culbertson responded by saying "connection and connectivity is a key to solving problems," which is what Twitter "does."

Alexandra Veitch, YouTube's government affairs and public policy director for the Americas and emerging markets, detailed the video service's features such as "timers" – a feature for users to turn off autoplay – and "reminders" for users to take breaks of which the company has "sent over a billion."

An estimated 5 to 10% of Americans have a social media addiction, which rewards the brain in a way that is comparable to other addictive substances rewarding the brain and causing dopamine levels to rise, according to the Addiction Center.

Tech experts including Harris and Harvard University researcher Joan Donovan argued Tuesday that algorithms meant to push relevant content to users may harm users who only follow certain people or engage in certain posts that promote violence or misinformation.

"We didn’t build airports overnight, but tech companies are flying the planes with nowhere to land," Donovan said. "The cost of doing nothing is nothing short of democracy’s end."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
×