Friend,

Social media has profoundly impacted our societies, for better and worse.

It connects us, entertains us, and, unfortunately, hurts us. While we love its joys, we can’t ignore its potential harms. There is a lot at stake—from our mental health to the integrity of our elections.

In our new 12-minute documentary, “Unknown Influence, " Mozilla explores these risks, where researchers and technology experts share their analysis and questions. (If you haven’t seen this important work, you can watch it online.) It’s clear that we must know more about social media’s risks if we’re going to solve them.

Yet, independent researchers and whistleblowers are facing constant threats and roadblocks, especially from the companies whose products they are trying to scrutinize. We know because Mozilla works with many journalists and academics to examine social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook.

There is hope. Social media CAN continue being a source of connection, community, and inspiration in our lives—but not without independent researchers studying these platforms and uncovering how we can resolve the underlying harms.

That’s where you come in—with donations from people like you, Mozilla financially supports a number of independent researchers so they can do their work. We’re also working to get laws passed that would give public interest researchers guaranteed access to social media platforms so they can gain insights that will improve these products.

Will you help us secure independent research of tech platforms by donating today?

Together, we can do this.

Sincerely,

Kevin Hill,
Head of Online Fundraising