As a cofounder of Upworthy, and the author of "The Filter Bubble," Eli Pariser leverages technology to help build better and more democratic societies.

Why you should listen

Soon after September 11, 2001, Eli Pariser built a website calling for a multilateral approach to fighting terrorism. As a 20-year-old, he quickly found himself in contact with more than 500,000 people from around the world. He joined with MoveOn.org to spearhead its campaign against the war in Iraq and in 2004 he became MoveOn's executive director.

In 2011, suspecting that the internet might harbor hidden threats to democracy, Pariser wrote The Filter Bubble and introduced the term to the lexicon, exposing how algorithms amplify select ideas while making others invisible. In 2012, he cofounded Upworthy as a platform to direct millions of users to storytelling about issues that matter. 

Now he is the codirector of the Civic Signals project at the National Conference on Citizenship, where he is working to create democracy-friendly spaces in the digital landscape. 

More news and ideas from Eli Pariser

Live from TEDSummit 2019

Not All Is Broken: Notes from Session 6 of TEDSummit 2019

July 25, 2019

In the final session of TEDSummit 2019, the themes from the week — our search for belonging and community, our digital future, our inextricable connection to the environment — ring out with clarity and insight. From the mysterious ways our emotions impact our biological hearts, to a tour-de-force talk on the languages we all speak, […]

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A first glimpse at the TEDSummit 2019 speaker lineup

May 21, 2019

With TEDSummit 2019 just two months away, it’s time to unveil the first group of speakers that will take to the stage in Edinburgh, Scotland, from July 21-25. Three years ago, more than 1,000 members of the TED global community convened in Banff, Canada, for the first-ever TEDSummit. We talked about the fracturing state of […]

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