thumbnail image

 

 

 

 

  • ABOUT
  • As seen in
  • TED TALK
  • MEDIA
  • UPCOMING EVENTS
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • As seen in
  • TED TALK
  • MEDIA
  • UPCOMING EVENTS
  • CONTACT
  • Powered By
    Strikingly
    • Yaël eisenstat

      ADVISOR | DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST | SPEAKER

      Tackling the intersection of ethics, tech, and democracy.

       

      Yaël is the founder of Kilele Global, a strategic advisory firm that helps companies, governments, and investors align technology to better serve the public. She strives to bridge the divide between government and tech, to help foster a healthier, more democratic information ecosystem.

       

      She has spent 20 years working around the globe on democracy and security issues as a CIA officer, a White House advisor, the Global Head of Elections Integrity Operations for political advertising at Facebook, a diplomat, and the head of a global risk firm. She was a Future of Democracy Fellow at Berggruen Institute in 2021-22, a Researcher-in-Residence at Betalab in 2020-21 and a Visiting Fellow at Cornell Tech's Digital Life Initiative in 2019-2020, where she focused on technology's effects on discourse and democracy and taught a multi-university course on Tech, Media and Democracy. She was also an Adjunct Professor at NYU's Center for Global Affairs in 2017-18.

       

      Yaël has become a key voice and public advocate for transparency and accountability in tech, particularly where real-world-consequences affect democracy and societies around the world. See her 2020 mainstage TED talk on this subject.

       

      Yaël travels internationally as a keynote speaker at any number of venues seeking informed, inspirational women to help make sense of our world's most difficult challenges. She can be booked through the Lavin Agency. 

       

      Yaël i s a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, was named to Forbes' 2017 list of “40 Women to Watch Over 40”, and provides context and analysis on social media, elections integrity, political and foreign affairs in the media. She has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Brookings Techstream, TIME, WIRED, Quartz and The Huffington Post, has appeared on CNN, BBC World News, CBS Sunday Morning, Bloomberg News, CBS News, PBS and C-SPAN, in policy forums, and on a number of podcasts. She earned an M.A. in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

       

      Photo: On stage at Tech Open Air Berlin, 2017

    • featured in:

    • TED TALK

      Dear Facebook, this is how you're breaking democracy

      TED2020 Mainstage Talk

      "In this bold talk, Eisenstat explores how social media companies like Facebook incentivize inflammatory content, contributing to a culture of political polarization and mistrust -- and calls on governments to hold these platforms accountable in order to protect civil discourse and democracy."

    • MEDIA

      NEWS INTERVIEWS

      CNN Reliable Sources, March 6, 2022: Ukraine war could be 'pivot point' for Big Tech

       

      PBS Newshour, Oct 25, 2021: Interview on Facebook Whistleblower revelations

       

      CNN Anderson Cooper 360, Oct 6, 2021: Interview on the Facebook Whistleblower

       

      CNN Reliable Sources, Sept 19, 2001:

      Part 1: Will 'Facebook Files' revelations spur any real change?

      Part 2: How 'do your own research' hurts America's Covid response

       

      CBS Sunday Morning: A protected right? Free speech and social media

       

      BBC Clicked: Is Big Tech Too Big?

       

      CNN interview on Twitter vs Trump and Facebook, and Section 230 reform

       

      Bloomberg TV: Why the 2020 Election Could Be a Mail-in Nightmare

       CNBC: Facebook's Fight Against Fake News During The 2020 Election

       

      ABC News: Big brands boycott Facebook over hate speech

       

      CBS News interview on Intel Leaks

       

      CNN interview on Trump and the CIA

       

      BBC World News interview on FBI Memo release

       

      Shades of Red and Blue Summit "On the Ground: (4 minute round-up)

       

      PBS Third Rail with OZY: Should America Be the World's Cop

      ARTICLES

      Noema Magazine: The Myth of Tech Exceptionalism: How tech uses the promise of endless innovation to ward off regulating even its present-day harms 

       

      Washington Post: Facebook silences the people who know its operations best: Tech giants use nondisparagement clauses to keep former employees from discussing the companies

       

      The Daily Beast: Believe Me, Mark Zuckerberg Isn't Going to Police Himself; The Oversight Board process isn’t about Donald Trump’s free speech. It’s about Facebook’s power.

       

      Harvard Business Review: How to Hold Social Media Accountable for Undermining Democracy

       

      TechWorker: Facebook employees must see the platform’s dark side too

       

      The Information: The Tech Giants’ Cultures Are Incompatible With Fixing the Societal Problems They’re Causing

      The Guardian: Yaël Eisenstat: 'Facebook is ripe for manipulation and viral misinformation'

       

      Washington Post: I worked on political ads at Facebook. They profit by manipulating us.

       

      Brookings Institution, Techstream: How to Combat Online Voter Suppression

       

      UNC-CITAP and Cornell Tech: Additional Steps Platforms Can Take to Protect the Vote

      Cornell Tech Digital Life Initiative: Section 230 Revisited: Web Freedom vs Accountability

       

      WIRED: The Real Reason Tech Struggles With Algorithmic Bias

       

      NY Times Op-Ed: The Shocking Affront of Donald Trump's C.I.A. Stunt

       

      TIME.com: Former Intel. Official: American Hate Is a Bigger Threat Than Foreign Terrorism

      Quartz: The Enemy Within: a former CIA officer’s plea to America

       

      Huffington Post: Reclaiming Patriotism in Trump's America

      PODCASTS

      Tech Policy Press: Congress vs. Zuckerberg, Dorsey & Pichai

       

      Big Technology Podcast: Who Criticizes the Tech Critics? A Meta Talk With ‘Real Facebook Oversight Board’ Members Carole Cadwalladr and Yael Eisenstat

       

      Team Human with Douglas Rushkoff

       

      The Prof G Show with Scott Galloway: Algorithms and the Threats to Democracy 

       

      Infotagion (hosted by British Member of Parliament Damian Collins): Facebook, Elections Integrity, Disinformation, and Accountability

       

      First Contact with Laurie Segall: She Spent 10+ Years at the CIA. It Didn’t Prepare Her for Life at Facebook.

       

      Your Undivided Attention: "With Great Power Comes... No Responsibility?" (Inside Yaël's Facebook story).

       

      Angry Americans: Working Inside the CIA and Facebook... (Note: Interview begins at minute 50).

       

      Good Code: Yael Eisenstat on Facebook and Political Ads

       

      Let’s Talk about the Techlash! Funny as Tech LIVE SHOW, NYC, March 10th, 2020

      Slate podcast, What Next, TBD?: A Former Facebook Insider on Why it's So Hard for the Tech Giant to Get Elections Right

       

      DTNS podcast: Who's Responsible for Tech's Social Disruptions?

       

      TOA.Life podcast: "All-Around Badass Woman"

      TNW (Berlin) podcast: "What Effect is Tech Having on Society?"

       

      Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs podcast: Trump and the Intelligence Community

       

      TALKS | PANELS

      European Parliament special committee on foreign interferences in democratic processes, S&D webinar: Social platforms, foreign interferences, democracy; June 2021

       

      SXSW (socially distant) panel: Section 230 Revisited: Web Freedom vs Accountability; April 2020

       

      Information warfare and the future of media at the NYC Media Lab Summit '19 Innovation Panel: Media 2030

       

      Tech Open Air Berlin: Keynote Fireside Chat, July 2017

       

      Understanding the U.S. National Security & Intelligence Landscape, and What Lies Ahead; NYU Center for Global Affairs, September 2017

       

      Shades of Red and Blue Summit: "The Problem of Strangers", a bi-partisan panel on immigration, refugees and national security issues (full video)

       

      Understanding the U.S. National Security & Intelligence Landscape, and What Lies Ahead; NYU Center for Global Affairs, September 2017

       

      Shades of Red and Blue Summit: "The Problem of Strangers", a bi-partisan panel on immigration, refugees and national security issues (full video)

    • UPCOMING EVENTS

      UPCOMING EVENTS

      Come see Yaël speak at:

      In light of the current COVID-19 crisis, all future events are up in the air for now.

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

    • contact me

      Speaking:

      Book Yaël to speak through the LAVIN Agency.

      Sample talks and topics:

      • "With Great Power Comes...No Responsibility?" Who is responsible for the real-world consequences of tech?
      • Trust in a Trustless World
      • Disruptive Technologies and Democracy: Can they co-exist?
      • Blindspot: Data Without Human Intelligence

      Photo by Katie Burwick

      Consulting:

      Kilele Global

      Advises governments, tech companies and start-ups on issues such as ethics, governance, integrity and risk mitigation.

    Copyright 2017

      Cookie Use
      We use cookies to ensure a smooth browsing experience. By continuing we assume you accept the use of cookies.
      Learn More