Tech Needs to Step It Up

Author Shannon Farley
Major platforms need to be at the forefront of change

Why It Matters

The tech sector has been called out for being a danger to our democracy, our children, and ourselves. Leaders see a need for change and the tech sector is in the midst of a reckoning. How we move forward will have a lasting impact in our digital-first society.

In an interesting juxtaposition, we are seeing an emerging class of tech nonprofit startups that are building technology to achieve immense positive impact at scale and address issues such as democracy, free knowledge, mental health, and human rights. In other words, the very issues that are brought on by tech, are also being solved by tech.

Right now, tech companies are in the midst of an examination and a reckoning.

This is not an unfamiliar existential cycle. Back in 2014, when my co-founder Kevin Barenblat and I launched Fast Forward, an organization dedicated entirely to scaling tech in the nonprofit sector, there were similarly stark circumstances. Local residents of San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and other tech hubs were calling the tech sector to task for rising housing costs and economic inequality.

At that time, we questioned whether tech companies, an

 

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