About
Accountable Tech calls for social media companies to strengthen the integrity of their platforms and our democracy.
The Problem We Face Today
Major social media platforms serve as information gatekeepers, putting awesome power in the hands of tech giants with little oversight. These companies – like Facebook, Google, Twitter – were not fundamentally designed to serve the public good, but to generate growth and profits.
Their surveillance-advertising business model relies on harvesting and monetizing data, so they developed products and algorithms to maximize engagement. Those algorithms inherently reward outrageous content, reinforce biases irrespective of truth, and filter like-minded individuals into small echo chambers.
Moreover, bad actors are weaponizing these data-rich platforms to manipulate users – be it to suppress voters, prey on consumers, or promote extremism. Democracy requires a shared baseline of facts. But this online information landscape is instead creating a toxic patchwork of personalized pseudo-realities.
Social media companies face an undeniably challenging task in self-regulating. But they can and must do more to mitigate harms and promote the greater good.
Our Team
Nicole Gill
CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ACCOUNTABLE TECH
Nicole is an experienced campaigner, having led efforts around tax policy, marriage equality, and health care. She founded Tax March in 2017 and led the coalition opposing the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and most recently led strategic communications and external affairs for an international NGO focused on reproductive health care worldwide.
Jesse Lehrich
CO-FOUNDER AND SENIOR ADVISOR, ACCOUNTABLE TECH
Jesse is a co-founder of Accountable Tech. He has a decade of experience in political communications and issue advocacy, including serving as the foreign policy spokesman for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, where he was part of the team managing the response to Russia’s information warfare operation.
