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Person

Yael Eisenstat

Nationality:

American
Employer:

Anti-Defamation League

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Yael Eisenstat works as the head of the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Center for Technology and Society. She advocates for social media platforms to censor alleged misinformation and hateful speech. 1 Eisenstat was previously the head of Facebook’s Global Election Integrity Operations, where she quit after six months because she believed the social media platform was not doing enough to limit the spread of content she deemed harmful to democracy. 2 3

Eisenstat gave a TED Talk in August 2020 discussing the lack of content moderation on social media, particularly on Facebook. She asserts that social media platforms must censor content deemed to be hateful, harmful to democratic processes, or misinformation. 4

Career

From 2000 to 2013, Yael Eisenstat served as a senior intelligence officer at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Counterterrorism Center. In this position, Eisenstat led interagency teams for the White House, State Department, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Additionally, she was then-Vice President Joe Biden’s special advisor for African policy and national security from 2009 to 2010. 5

From 2013 to 2015, Eisenstat worked for ExxonMobil as a corporate citizenship program leader. In this role, she worked with the ExxonMobil Foundation to evaluate external input on social issues. 6

From 2015 to 2016, Eisenstat served as managing director for Veracity Worldwide, overseeing the potential political risk of prospective global investments. From 2017 to 2018, she worked as an adjunct professor at New York University, where she taught graduate level courses on national security decision making. 7

In June 2018, Eisenstat was hired by Facebook as its head of Global Election Integrity Operations. She stated that she took on the role because Facebook plays a “major role” in supposed threats to America’s democracy. After six months, Eisenstat left Facebook, claiming the company was unwilling to “secure elections.” 8 9 10

From April 2019 to November 2019, Eisenstat worked as a global policy advisor for the Center for Humane Technology. 11

From April 2021 to March 2022, Eisenstat served as a future democracy fellow for Berggruen Institute, where she worked with policy makers to articulate how digital and social media platforms should moderate content under the guise of democracy. From October 2021 to September 2022, she served as a senior advisor for tech and democracy at the Institute for Security and Technology, which researches how technology affects human cognition. 12

In September 2022, Eisenstat was hired by the Anti-Defamation League to head its Center for Technology and Society. She describes her job as being responsible for holding technology companies “accountable for hate and extremism on their platforms.” 13 14 In the press release announcing her hiring, ADL stated that Eisenstat will help the group advocate for social media companies to take measures towards censoring so-called misinformation. 15

Since 2018, Eisenstat has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 16

Views

In her August 2020 TED Talk, Eisenstat revealed why she left Facebook. She claims it was not willing to take the measures she believed were necessary to, in her opinion, “protect democracy.” Eisenstat stated she believes Facebook and other online platforms should target so-called “misinformation,” going so far as to censor persons and organizations designated as hate groups, conspiracy theorists, or “purveyors of disinformation.” She further elaborated that such a person could “even be a sitting president,” which at the time was Donald Trump. Additionally, she advocates for legislation that would require online media platforms to “balance free speech” and restrict speech Eisenstat describes as hateful or misinformation. 17

In a January 2021 interview with CBS News about the First Amendment’s application to digital platforms, Eisenstat argued that speech she considers to be misinformation or hateful that does not violate any laws should still be subjected to censorship. 18

In September 2021, Eisenstat was interviewed by Brian Stelter of CNN about whether or not people should be doing their own research about dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic or trusting public health officials. Eisenstat argued that people are not responsible enough or capable of making their own decisions and should instead rely on authorities. 19

References

  1. “ADL Announces Yael Eisenstat to Lead Center for Technology and Society.” ADL. September 29, 2022. https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-announces-yael-eisenstat-lead-center-technology-and-society.
  2. Yaël Eisenstat. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.yaeleisenstat.com/.
  3. Eisenstat, Yaël. “Dear Facebook, This Is How You’re Breaking Democracy.” TED Talk. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.ted.com/talks/yael_eisenstat_dear_facebook_this_is_how_you_re_breaking_democracy#t-1773
  4. Eisenstat, Yaël. “Dear Facebook, This Is How You’re Breaking Democracy.” TED Talk. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.ted.com/talks/yael_eisenstat_dear_facebook_this_is_how_you_re_breaking_democracy#t-1773.
  5. “Yael Eisenstat.” LinkedIn. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaelde.
  6. “Yael Eisenstat.” LinkedIn. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaelde.
  7. “Yael Eisenstat.” LinkedIn. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaelde.
  8. Yaël Eisenstat. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.yaeleisenstat.com/.
  9. “Yael Eisenstat.” LinkedIn. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaelde.
  10. Eisenstat, Yael. “I Worked on Political Ads at Facebook. They Profit by Manipulating Us.” Washington Post. November 10, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/11/04/i-worked-political-ads-facebook-they-profit-by-manipulating-us/.
  11. “Yael Eisenstat.” LinkedIn. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaelde.
  12. “Yael Eisenstat.” LinkedIn. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaelde.
  13. Yaël Eisenstat. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.yaeleisenstat.com/.
  14. “Yael Eisenstat.” LinkedIn. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaelde.
  15. “ADL Announces Yael Eisenstat to Lead Center for Technology and Society.” ADL. September 29, 2022. https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/adl-announces-yael-eisenstat-lead-center-technology-and-society.
  16. “Yael Eisenstat.” LinkedIn. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaelde.
  17. Eisenstat, Yaël. “Dear Facebook, This Is How You’re Breaking Democracy.” TED Talk. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.ted.com/talks/yael_eisenstat_dear_facebook_this_is_how_you_re_breaking_democracy#t-1773.
  18. “A Protected Right? Free Speech and Social Media.” CBS News. Accessed December 11, 2022. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-protected-right-free-speech-and-social-media/.
  19. “How ‘Do Your Own Research’ Hurts America’s Covid Response.” CNN. September 19, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/09/19/how-do-your-own-research-hurts-americas-covid-response.cnn.
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