Detoxifying Social Media at Scale

About This Project

Summary

Social Media Detoxifier (SMD) is an innovative solution designed to counteract toxic, online political discourse and mitigate the harmful effects of polarization by leveraging advanced AI technology. By combining human intuition with advanced AI recommendations, SMD empowers users to inject prosocial content into divisive social media threads. SMD promotes healthier, more constructive conversations, helping to bridge divides and contributing to a more resilient and functional democratic society.

Goals & Objectives

The primary goal of Social Media Detoxifier is to empower human users, i.e. "counterspeakers," to identify and detoxify >70% of the most toxic, online political threads on major platforms by 2025, fostering healthier, more constructive online discourse and reducing societal polarization.

Results & Impact

Since launching, SMD has injected AI-boosted prosocial counterspeech into toxic posts viewed by over 249 million users. Early feedback indicates a measurable shift towards less toxic content, demonstrating SMD’s potential to significantly reduce online polarization and promote social cohesion.