Yaël Eisenstat: Why we need more friction on social media

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode Friction.

Facebook profits from being frictionless, says Yaël Eisenstat. But without friction, misinformation can spread like wildfire. The solution, Yaël says, is to build more friction into social media.

About Yaël Eisenstat

Yaël Eistenstat is a democracy activist focusing on transparency and accountability in tech. In October 2022, she became vice president of the Center for Technology & Society at the Anti-Defamation League.

In 2018, Eisenstat worked for Facebook for six months before leaving the company and speaking out about their fact-checking policies regarding U.S. elections. Prior to that, she worked as a CIA intelligence officer, a foreign diplomat in the State Department, and a White House advisor.

Eisenstat earned her master's in international affairs from Johns Hopkins University.

Disclaimer: Facebook parent Meta pays NPR to license NPR content. NPR reached out to Meta for comment on Yaël Eistenstat's allegations but, as of this recording, received no response.

This segment of the TED Radio Hour was produced by Rachel Faulkner and edited by Katie Simon. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at TEDRadioHour@npr.org.