About
What this site is.
The Attention Machine is a public-interest, non-commercial website explaining how attention-optimising platforms exploit human psychology, what the documented harms are, and what structural responses exist.
It is written in English and will be translated into Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.
The argument in three sentences
Platforms were designed to maximise engagement, not wellbeing. These systems did not invent human vulnerability — they discovered, mapped, and industrialised it. Understanding the manipulation technique is the most effective defence.
No conspiracy
No conspiracy is required to explain what this site documents. The harms are emergent from commercial incentives — platforms optimising for engagement, advertisers purchasing behavioural profiles. State actors are the explicit exception.
How we explain complicated things
We explain complex mechanisms and documented harms clearly by using a layered structure — the main argument first and easiest to read, with evidence, terminology, and depth available when you want them. This approach is grounded in cognitive science research on how people learn and remember complex material. Learn more in How We Communicate.
Who runs it
This site is run by a Dutch foundation (stichting) in the process of registration. Non-commercial, non-partisan, no advertising, no investors.
Funding
Funded by small disclosed affiliate commissions and voluntary reader contributions. Full transparency on the Share & Support page, updated quarterly.
Correction
When something here is wrong, we correct it publicly and log it. The correction log is in the public repository. Use the "Found a mistake?" link on any page.
Engagement and moderation
We welcome factual corrections and genuine disagreement. We do not engage with personal attacks or coordinated harassment. The full engagement policy is on the How We Communicate page — including what we moderate, why, and a quarterly account of what we received.
Source
All content is publicly available at gitlab.com/moral-ambition/attention-machine. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.