  Attention capitalism has generated design processes and product development
decisions that prioritize platform growth over all other considerations. To the
extent limits have been placed on these incentives, interventions have
primarily taken the form of content moderation. While moderation is important
for what we call "acute harms," societal-scale harms -- such as negative
effects on mental health and social trust -- require new forms of institutional
transparency and scientific investigation, which we group under the term
accountability infrastructure.
  This is not a new problem. In fact, there are many conceptual lessons and
implementation approaches for accountability infrastructure within the history
of public health. After reviewing these insights, we reinterpret the societal
harms generated by technology platforms through reference to public health. To
that end, we present a novel mechanism design framework and practical
measurement methods for that framework. The proposed approach is iterative and
built into the product design process, and is applicable for both
internally-motivated (i.e. self regulation by companies) and
externally-motivated (i.e. government regulation) interventions for a range of
societal problems, including mental health.
  We aim to help shape a research agenda of principles for the design of
mechanisms around problem areas on which there is broad consensus and a firm
base of support. We offer constructive examples and discussion of potential
implementation methods related to these topics, as well as several new data
illustrations for potential effects of exposure to online content.

Computers and Society