How Surveillance Capitalism Turns Users into Products and Fuels Addiction

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In 2016 Tristan Harris, a former Google ethical designer, left the company after realizing that platforms like Facebook, Google, and Twitter were using addictive algorithmic designs for profit, which he called a major threat to humanity.

He founded the Center for Humane Technology in 2018 with former executives from Facebook, Google, Apple and others to combat these manipulative design practices.

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These companies offer free services funded by advertisers; users become the product. By maximizing engagement, they harvest vast amounts of data to create precise user profiles, selling certainty to advertisers—a market Shoshana Zuboff describes as the "largest human futures market."

Algorithms push content that reinforces users' existing beliefs, amplifying polarization, conspiracy theories, and even influencing elections.

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Big‑data‑driven addiction has real health consequences, especially among young people, with rising rates of self‑harm linked to excessive social‑media use.

Experts like data scientist Cathy O’Neil argue that algorithms are not neutral; they are shaped by commercial incentives.

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Algorithmic recommendation systems lack moral judgment and can spread misinformation, from flat‑Earth theories to dangerous health advice, fueling tribalism and social unrest worldwide.

Documentary screenshots illustrate these points, showing how surveillance capitalism manipulates behavior, erodes autonomy, and threatens democratic societies.