Why Some Tech Leaders Are Pushing for Independent Social Media

Published: January 20, 2025

Why Some Tech Leaders Are Pushing for Independent Social Media

By Movieguide® Contributor

Many on social media have called for change in recent weeks, inspiring some tech leaders to advocate for independent social media not controlled by billionaires.

These tech leaders have created the Free Our Feeds initiative which seeks to crowdfund a $30 million project to create independent infrastructure for social media. This would allow anyone to easily create a new social media platform in the same way that creating a website has been streamlined.

“This isn’t just about bolstering one new social media platform,” the group explained. “Our vision offers a pathway to an open and healthy social media ecosystem that cannot be controlled by any company or billionaire.”

“For the first time, we have a clear pathway to securing the future of social media as a tool for communication, creativity, and joy,” said Nabiha Syed, the executive director of Mozilla Foundation. “But it will take community-driven resources and independent infrastructure to ensure it remains free from the pressures of venture capital and billionaire capture.”

Those involved in the project view it as a way to recapture the spirit of Silicon Valley as a place where humanity is bettered, rather than the profit mill it has become.

“We’ve gone a really long time since people in Silicon Valley actually solved a problem that existed,” said Roger McNamee, an early Facebook investor, adding, “We’re in a world right now where every startup is either crypto or AI. Show me something that might actually make the world a better place. If this works, it’s going to make the world a much better place.”

The public outcry for this type of project comes from the social media upheaval that has taken place within the past year. Many users have criticized the management of X since its takeover by Elon Musk, while more recently, users have felt blindsided by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg after he undid years of policy last week, announcing that the social media giant would remove fact-checking from its platforms.

These changes have come about from the whims of the billionaires who own these sites and often have political motivations. Meta’s changes, for example, are a clear ploy to cozy up to President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office. While these changes may end up being good, they could just as easily be reversed in four years when our country’s leadership changes hands again.

Rather than relying on the decisions of tech billionaires, the Free Our Feeds initiative would allow users to have a way to respond, even creating their own social media sites if they believed they could run a platform better.

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