Jon Steinberg

Social Media and the Social Contract: Which Comes First?

Willow Bay, Tristan Harris, Chris Hughes, Om Malik, Jon Steinberg

Positioning social media as a global "behavior modification machine" with unprecedented reach, this panel features Tristan Harris and Chris Hughes arguing that current advertising models necessitate a fiduciary relationship akin to a priest-penitent dynamic to protect user autonomy. The speakers propose concrete structural reforms including a "data dividend" modeled on Alaska's Permanent Fund, the creation of a dedicated Data Protection Agency, and a legislative shift from Terms of Service to Terms of Trust to curb algorithmic manipulation. Ultimately, the discussion calls for a fundamental redesign of the technology stack to address the systemic Silicon Valley obsession with unfettered growth and the urgent need to mitigate ethical breaches before technological innovation outpaces governance.