Social Media Is Extractive, Not Just Extremist

Public outrage and artistic critiques often focus on content and personalities (extremism, bad actors) while treating platforms as moral failures embodied by CEOs. The more consequential problem is the platforms' extractive business model — attention‑capture, data monetization, and delegated governance — which reshapes civic life regardless of individual bad actors. — Shifting public and policy attention from content policing to business‑model regulation would change the targets and tools of social‑media reform (from censorship rules to antitrust, platform liability, and economic remedies).