What world are we living in when 13-year-olds are waking up, scrolling through social feeds and seeing videos of live assassinations? Videos of the Charlie Kirk assassination ran across TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and Bluesky, reaching more than a billion people. Many of these videos are still live across these platforms. And with every view, these platforms make more money as they serve more ads and profit directly from tragic loss of life.
Trolling, abuse and public death threats reign free on these public platforms, causing harm to millions on a daily basis and accelerating an epidemic of suicide and self-harm. And now public assassinations and public celebration of these heinous crimes.
As government leaders around the world call on social platforms to remove harmful content and improve moderation for the protection of people, the tech leaders continue to ignore these urgent requests and further reduce protections.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
I saw this problem seven years ago and set about working on an alternative. A better way. Young people don’t have to be lying in their beds feeling lonely and isolated. I thought that they – and all people – could have a choice.
I knew it could be done and that the tech billionaires wouldn’t do it because “not protecting” people is making them too much money.
In fact, in his speech to the crowds at the Tommy Robinson march in London yesterday, Elon Musk, the owner of X, actually called for violence. Truly horrific. He was inciting civil unrest.
To offer a social media alternative to what we currently have, I put together a team and, with my chief technology officer and engineering team, we designed and built a solution.
The result is WeAre8, a social media platform that takes all the positives on social media and eliminates the negative.
Its AI models detect abuse and inappropriate content, and protect all users from harmful content and trolling.
What all big tech CEOs say cannot be built has now been built – and I have reengineered the platform’s social tech, AI and the economic models at the same time.
WeAre8 is the only social platform that wants you to put your phone down after eight minutes and go and live. It also allows people to earn money by watching an ad.
My vision is to empower and unite hundreds of millions of people and bring them the social alternative that supports and protects all users, and redirects billions of advertiser dollars back to people, communities and projects that help the planet.
I laugh at the illusion of freedom that the US tech leaders preach. They do this while controlling us completely – what we see, how we feel, who sees us – and they control 100 per cent of the money. We the people have become the largest controlled and unpaid workforce in human history – all under the guise of freedom.
But people have a choice. And together we can speak with our actions.
I don’t really see WeAre8 just as a social platform but a tech bridge that reconnects people with their friends and things they love – it reconnects people with life.
After this week’s assassination, hitlists of other targets are now being shared across social platforms, and Bluesky users have publicly celebrated the death of Charlie Kirk.
At the same time, I am also seeing my journalists at WeAre8 getting trolled and abused on social media.
But I choose to say no – and stand on the right side of history, where people unite and reclaim our real freedom from big tech.
The only ones who are being elevated by big tech are the ones creating the division. And they are loud.
People can rebel by standing together on technology that brings them together in conversation and does not incite division and violence.
Zoe Kalar is the founder and CEO of the social media platform WeAre8
