Code of Ethics

Why is ‘The Social Dilemma’ on social media?

While we hope The Social Dilemma will inspire people to spark conversations “IRL”, we believe it is especially important to reach people where they need to hear it most – on social media.

In service of that goal, we plan to use social media to advance our impact campaign while adopting and modeling the principles of humane technology. Our focus will be on getting the film out to new audiences that might not otherwise seek it out, increasing the public’s understanding of the dilemma faced by our increased reliance on technologies that have become exploitative and extractive, and providing tools and resources to realign our relationship with these platforms. 

Why is ‘The Social Dilemma’ releasing on YouTube?

Our team recognizes the value of making The Social Dilemma accessible to as many people as we can. If society is going to wake up from the spell of persuasive technologies and build a movement that can demand humane alternatives, we need to reach critical mass. While our release on Netflix afforded us a global reach since the film launched one year ago, there are still barriers that may limit some groups from easily accessing the film. This includes schools that block access, individuals that don’t have an account, and groups in need of a widely accessible platform for remote screenings. 

Screening the film on YouTube allows us to expand access to the film, reaching people where they are, inviting new voices into the discussion and, ultimately, bringing the conversation to where it may need to happen most – on social media itself. When interacting on social media, we are doing so carefully and thoughtfully with a focus on using it to increase the public’s understanding of our increased reliance on technologies that have become exploitative and extractive. The Social Dilemma will not be monetized on YouTube – it will be hosted on YouTube purely to serve our educational mission.

Rules of engagement

We will not:

• set posting quotas to optimize for the algorithm.
• further amplify sensational stories, employ opaque “curiosity gaps”, or use copy as clickbait.
• collect any data that isn’t provided with your express consent or necessary for the basic management of our web properties (more in our privacy policy).
• monetize our content through the use of interruptive or targeted ads, or any ads for that matter.

We will:

• set our north star to sharing genuinely valuable content about the film and the issues – even if it means you don’t hear from us from time to time. 
• do our best to clearly explain the purpose of each post we share.
• work to include context within our posts that help you manage your own attention e.g., estimated read times, etc.
• invite in dialogue and commenting on our posts, but will not stand for hate speech or other inflammatory attacks e.g., revealing personal information, using obscene language, etc.
• be as responsive as possible while respecting and supporting the mental health of those on our team who are managing our social properties

We hope you join us and welcome your input. We plan to revisit this regularly so that we remain accountable to it and we invite you to hold us accountable as well. Feel free to send us a note if you have feedback or suggestions.