Social Media and Economic Transformation for the United Kingdom
Protecting Citizens. Strengthening Communities. Growing the Economy.
____________________________________________________
Prepared For: UK Prime Minister, Government Ministers, Cabinet Office, DSIT, Treasury, Department for Education, Department of Health & Social Care
Prepared By: Zoe Kalar, WeAre8
Status: Policy Briefing
_____________________________________________________
Executive Summary
The most valuable resource in the United Kingdom is its people.
Today, more than 55 million British citizens participate in a digital economy largely controlled by a small number of global technology platforms. These platforms shape how people connect, consume information and spend their attention, while much of the economic value generated through British creativity, participation and commerce flows offshore.
At the same time, concerns around online harms, mental wellbeing, social fragmentation and declining trust continue to grow. Artificial intelligence is accelerating faster than the systems designed to protect people, creating both unprecedented opportunity and unprecedented risk.
The challenge is no longer simply how to regulate existing technology. The challenge is how to build a better model for the future. One that protects citizens from harm. Strengthens communities. Supports creators, publishers and businesses, creates greater economic participation. And positions Britain as a global leader in responsible technology and artificial intelligence that serves humanity.
WeAre8 has spent the last 10 years and invested £45 Million building this technology.
WeAre8 is not simply a social media platform designed to be a force for good. It is a digital ecosystem - with a social app designed for human connection and inspiration, an in-app wallet (so money from advertisers can be shared with people), an AI shield to protect people from harm, and an ad buying engine to enable businesses to reach real customers more cost-efficiently.
Together, these technologies form a self-reinforcing ecosystem designed to strengthen society rather than extract value from it.
This briefing outlines how the United Kingdom could become the first nation to lead a new model for trusted digital infrastructure that combines human connection, online safety and economic participation at a national scale.
The National Challenge
Today, Britain faces simultaneous social, economic and technological pressures driven by the digital world. Young people are spending more time online than any generation before them, yet concernsaround loneliness, mental wellbeing, harmful content and declining trust continue to rise. Communities are becoming more fragmented, public discourse more polarised, and the economic value generated through British attention, creativity and participation is increasingly concentrated within a small number of global technology companies.
Industry estimates suggest Meta generated approximately £6 billion in UK advertising revenue in 2024, while Google and Meta together captured more than half of the UK's £42.6 billion advertising market. At the same time, artificial intelligence is accelerating faster than the systems designed to protect people. The result is a growing challenge for governments seeking to strengthen social cohesion, restore public trust, support key workers such as Teachers and Nurses funds, and ensure that economic value generated by citizens benefits communities across the country. The challenge is no longer simply regulating old technology. The challenge is redesigning the social operating system so humanity can thrive in the digital age.
The WeAre8 Ecosystem
The ecosystem combines human connection, citizen protection and economic participation into a single infrastructure model designed for the AI era.
This digital economic ecosystem is comprised of:
1. Human-Centred Social Infrastructure
A social platform designed to increase meaningful connections rather than maximise screen time.
Key principles:
● People see content from people they choose to follow
● Community-first discovery
● Reduced algorithmic manipulation
● Positive engagement design
● Human wellbeing optimisation
2. AI Shield
The WeAre8 AI Shield is designed as a large-scale citizen protection system.
Capabilities include:
Harm Prevention
● Hate speech detection
● Harassment detection
● Child safety protection
● Violence detection
● Exploitation prevention
● Harmful content identification and removal
The system has been designed to support hundreds of millions of video interactions daily and provides a framework for trusted digital environments at national scale.
3. Digital Safety as National Infrastructure
Historically governments invested in:
● Roads
● Rail
● Telecommunications
● Energy networks
In the AI era, trusted digital environments become equally important infrastructure.
The AI Shield provides:
4. Citizen Protection
Reducing exposure to:
● Abuse
● Hate
● Harmful content
● Online exploitation
5. Public Trust
Creating environments where:
● Parents feel safer
● Schools can participate confidently
● Government campaigns can operate effectively
● Businesses can advertise responsibly
And if people need support they have a ‘Mental Health support button for immediate access to verified helplines and human support from the leading groups across the country.
This is the largest mental health support infrastructure in the world.
Economic Infrastructure for Citizens
Today's digital economy operates largely on an extraction model. People create value through their scroll times, attention, creativity and participation. Platforms capture the large majority of the economic reward.
WeAre8 introduces a different model. One built on participation rather than extraction.
WeAre8 shares 75% of advertising revenue back into the ecosystem, supporting citizens, creators, publishers, charities and public interest initiatives, while retaining 25% to fund technology, operations and future growth. This creates a new form of economic infrastructure where the value generated by digital participation can be reinvested into people and communities rather than concentrated within a small number of global technology companies.
The model is already proven. WeAre8 has successfully delivered campaigns for over 400 of the world's largest brands, with the Government having already run over seven campaigns on the platform. WeAre8 is also supported by leading global media and entertainment organisations including BBC Studios, Channel 4 and Warner Bros. Discovery, alongside a highly experienced group of investors, business leaders, creators and athletes. To date, WeAre8 has over 3M installs and is expected to reach 1M daily British citizens by September , demonstrating the viability of a new model built around participation, trust and economic value.
For context, at 20M British citizens on WeAre8 for 10 minutes a day, an estimated £5.4 Billion pounds would be injected back into the British economy to fund people and community. And every pound is incremental income for the government. A detailed economic model, including projected economic impact, public service funding mechanisms and community benefit programmes, is included in Appendix A. An outline of investors in WeAre8 can be found in Appendix B. At scale, this model has the potential to retain billions of pounds of economic value within the United Kingdom that would otherwise flow offshore.
Recommendations
The United Kingdom has an opportunity to explore a new model for trusted digital infrastructure that combines citizen protection, economic participation and responsible artificial intelligence.
Potential areas for collaboration include:
1. Use of the WeAre8 AI Shield framework as part of the UK's broader digital safety agenda.
2. A national pilot demonstrating how trusted digital infrastructure can support communities, creators, citizens and public services.
3. Assessment of new economic participation models that return greater value to British citizens and communities.
4. Exploration of initiatives supporting teachers, nurses, students and local communities through digital participation.
5. Examination of how government communication campaigns can benefit from trusted, verified and citizen centred engagement environments.
6. Exploration of strategic sovereign investment opportunities that support UK leadership in responsible AI, digital safety and economic participation.
Conclusion
Britain has led the world before. Not because it followed existing systems, but because it built new ones. From finance and public broadcasting to science, healthcare and education, Britain's greatest contributions have come when innovation has been aligned with public good. Today, the United Kingdom has an opportunity to lead again. Not simply by regulating the digital age, but by helping shape what comes next.
A future where technology protects people rather than exploits them.
Where communities are strengthened rather than divided. Where citizens participate in the value they help create. And where artificial intelligence is deployed in service of humanity.
The technology exists.
The infrastructure has been built.
The opportunity is now.
We welcome the opportunity to work alongside the United Kingdom Government to explore how Britain can become the global leader in trusted digital infrastructure for the AI era.
APPENDIX A - Economic Impact of WeAre8
Executive Summary
The most valuable resource in the United Kingdom is its people. Today, more than 55 million British citizens participate in digital platforms that shape how people connect, consume information and spend their attention. While these platforms have delivered significant benefits, they have also created new challenges around online safety, community wellbeing, economic participation and public trust.
Social media is an integral part of modern society. We need to not try and swim against the tide - to ban or change the old platforms, but bring people an alternative. We need to use everything we have learnt to shape the future of social media in a way that protects, inspires and values the British People, builds community, grows British business and supports a strong economy.
Imagine a United Kingdom where social media values people and:
● Protects people from violence, social harms and directed abuse in their social feeds while giving them daily inspiration, human connection and control over their feeds.
● Strengthens the economy and pumps over 5B pounds a year directly to citizens central in-app wallets and community programs.
● Grows the creator economy with strong economic models to support musicians, artists and creators.
● Supports Nurses and Teachers through community support programs and economic infrastructure
● Provides community and economic support to Football clubs and sports organisations across the nation.
● Supports Publishers and Broadcasters by increasing social audiences, driving traffic to their owned channels and increasing revenues. This in turn
funds British productions, filmmakers and actors.
● Supports small business by enabling community and reducing cost of customer acquisition.
● Supports big business by enabling them to reach customers more cost-efficiently, support employees, provide more jobs, and be seen as positive contributors to people and society.
● Retains billions of dollars of advertiser funds in the UK economy, fueling further growth.
The technology to enable this transformation for Britain and the world has been built, proven and is ready to scale.
It is not just the design of the platform apps that are addictive and damaging, it is the design of their entire ecosystem - the social features, their economic models, their creator infrastructure, their ad buying engine and their controlling algorithms. WeAre8 has transformed this.
________________________________________________________________________
The Economics of Social Media:
The large social networks and platforms are over 50% of the trillion-dollar advertising industry - with Meta alone taking 250 billion dollars of ad spend globally and over 6 Billion pounds from the UK. Much of the economic value generated through digital participation is concentrated within a small number of global technology companies, with limited mechanisms for value to flow back into citizens, creators and communities. Their economic models depend on people scrolling for as long as possible so they can be pushed more ads and the tech companies make more money.
In order to address the safety of people, and give people control over what they see, with very short scroll times, we had to redesign the economics and the ad delivery - in a way that works better for advertisers and for people. The 8 social ecosystem is transformational for all stakeholders - governments, publishers, creators, sporting clubs, business and most importantly citizens.
The basic principles of the 8 social ecosystem are based on:
Humanity - We are human first - we connect real people - Social as it was meant to be. People feeling.
Democracy - People are in control of themselves - they have a public and private profile, they control who they see, how they feel, and their voices are valued.
Freedom - to be yourself - to have your voice heard, to own your content and link from each post to the web. People choose when they watch an ad.
Sharing - for the content and economic flow from advertisers to be shared equitably
Honesty - The social infrastructure and the AI shield mean that we can have honest human connection - not fake and performative posting that fuels comparison and isolation.
Strong and transparent economic foundations - The ad buying engine and the transparent sharing models support the social infrastructure
________________________________________________________________________
The WeAre8 Ecosystem
WeAre8 is not simply a social media platform.
It is a digital economic ecosystem comprised of:
1. Human-Centred Social InfrastructureA platform designed to increase meaningful connection rather than maximise screen time.
Key principles:
● People see content from people they choose to follow
● Community-first discovery
● Reduced algorithmic manipulation
● Positive engagement design
● Human wellbeing optimisation
2. AI Shield
The WeAre8 AI Shield is designed as a large-scale citizen protection system.
Capabilities include:
Harm Prevention
● Hate speech detection
● Harassment detection
● Child safety protection
● Violence detection
● Exploitation prevention
● Harmful content identification and removal
The system has been designed to support hundreds of millions of video interactions daily and provides a framework for trusted digital environments at national scale.
4. Digital Safety as National Infrastructure
Historically governments invested in:
● Roads
● Rail
● Telecommunications
● Energy networks
In the AI era, trusted digital environments become equally important infrastructure.
The AI Shield provides:
5. Citizen Protection
Reducing exposure to:
● Abuse
● Hate
● Harmful content
● Online exploitation
6. Public Trust
Creating environments where:
● Parents feel safer
● Schools can participate confidently
● Government campaigns can operate effectively
● Businesses can advertise responsibly
And if people need support they have a ‘Mental Health support button for immediate access to verified helplines and human support from the leading groups across the country. This is the largest mental health support infrastructure in the world.
_______________________________________________________________________
WeAre8 - Social Media as it was meant to be.
“This new app represents everything Instagram isn't: transparent algorithms, users sharing revenue, limited ad exposure instead of endless feeds designed to trap you. I’d rather bet on something built to protect users than keep feeding a system designed to exploit them.”
- Ava Smithing - prominent youth activist (Young People's Alliances)
WeAre8 - The social app that is a hybrid of the best of all that came before it, with some powerful differences:
● Human-centred social experience with real human connection as the foundation - and ability for both private and public profile. Three feeds - discovery feed, friends feed, conversation feed.
● A unique AI shield that protects people from directed abuse, illegal and violent videos, exploitation of minors, animal cruelty and financial scams. Can support over 250M videos a day.
● A transformational ad model that shares and a central in-app wallet. 8 gives people choice to watch an ad - by tapping the ‘golden button’ and then shares the money from the advertiser with them in their central-in-app wallet. People can choose to donate the money to charity or use it to pay subscriptions or support their mobile or household bills.
● Underpinned by a powerful, self-serve ad buying engine that enables advertisers to run ad campaigns to target audiences more cost-effectively is deployed across the largest media and social agencies. Over 400 of the worlds largest companies already spend with 8 - McDonalds is on their 14th successful campaign and the British Government have run 7 successful campaigns on 8.
● Supports creators, publishers and broadcasters by unlocking their full audience reach and enabling them to link from each post back to their web pages and owned channels.
● Economic support mechanisms for public service workers - 1% of our revenue to a teachers fund - 1% to a nurses fund.
● Mental health Support Button in app - and full Infrastructure support underpinning it - gives people the framework to get immediate help when they need it.
● Infrastructure designed and built to support 1 Billion + people globally.
______________________________________________________________________
Economic Infrastructure for Citizens
Traditional social platforms operate using an extraction model. People create value. Platforms capture most of the value. WeAre8 introduces the new model - sharing. WeAre8 shares 75% of every ad dollar through the buying engine. 25% is retained to build technology and support platform operations, storage and growth. The unit economics are transparent and strong. At just 20M British citizens, choosing to watch only 8 mins of ads a day, an estimated 7.2 Billion pounds of advertiser spend will shift from the current big tech platforms, through WeAre8, with £5.4 Billion directed back to British people, communities, publishers, creators and charities.
Our ad buying engine has been tested and used by over 400 of the world largest advertisers including McDonalds, who are on their 14th campaign and the British government.
“The performance results we are seeing are truly ground-breaking. More importantly, the impact you see is fully transparent as we know exactly where our media spend is going - how much is going to 8Citizens, how much is going to our chosen charity and how much to carbon offsetting, which makes our £’s spent with WeAre8 more impactful and meaningful”
- Jimmy Hughes, Social Media Lead - Heineken
How is every ad dollar shared across the UK?
1. 50% - to British Citizens - all audited and validated real humans
2. 2% - to charities, sporting foundations and non-profit organisations - verified
non-profits
3. 1% - to Nurses fund ( to be announced in September)
4. 1% - to Teachers Fund - ( to be announced in August)
5. 1% to Environmental, Forestry, Ocean and carbon offset programs (proven and running)\
6. 1% to Student Fund - Scholarships and financial aid through partnership with BlackBullion.
7. 5% - to individual creators - Musicians, artists, filmmakers ( all commercial models proven and tested - payments through central wallets - similar to Youtube shorts models - payments per 1000 views)8. 4% - to publishers, broadcasters and content organisations
9. 10% Media industry - buying commissions across media/social agencies, brands and advertisers - making the ad buying sector transparent and healthy.
________________________________________________________________________
The Value of People
50% of all Advertising revenue is shared directly with citizens participating within the ecosystem.
At national scale this creates:
● New household income streams
● Increased consumer spending
● Stronger economic participation
● Greater inclusion in the digital economy
Within 2 years, the UK model projects approximately £3.6 billion annually flowing directly to citizens through the ecosystem at scale. We have a large-scale student scholarship and financial support infrastructure in place in partnership with BlackBullion, that starts scaling from August 2026. We estimate that this fund will be providing student scholarships with approximately 100M allocated by 2028.
Supporting Teachers and Nurses
One of the most innovative components of the ecosystem is the direct allocation of funding toward key public service sectors. 1% of all ad revenue is shared into a teachers fund and 1% into a nurses fund.
Teachers Fund
Potential support for:
● Classroom resources
● Professional development
● School community projects
● Student wellbeing initiatives
Projected allocation:
Approximately £72 million annually at UK scale.
Nurses Fund
Potential support for:
● Professional wellbeing programs
● Community health initiatives
● Workforce recognition programs
● Training and development
Projected allocation:
Approximately £72 million annually at UK scale. Rather than relying solely on taxation and public budgets, this creates an additional economic support layer funded through digital participation.
These programmes are designed to complement existing public funding mechanisms by creating additional community funded support pathways for key public service workers.
Unlocking Growth for Small Business
Small businesses are increasingly challenged by:
● Rising advertising costs
● Algorithmic suppression
● Platform dependence
● Limited organic reach
The WeAre8 ecosystem provides a different model.
Organic Discovery. Content distribution is driven by community engagement rather than pure advertising spend.
This creates:
● Greater visibility for local businesses
● Lower customer acquisition costs
● Increased trust through community recommendation
● Reduced dependency on paid promotion
Verified Attention Advertising
Unlike traditional impression-based advertising:
● Users actively choose to engage
● Attention is verified
● Completion rates are significantly higher
● Waste is reduced
This creates stronger ROI for:
● SMEs
● Local businesses
● Retailers
● Community organisations
● Government campaigns
The result is a more productive advertising economy where more value reaches businesses and communities.
_________________________________________________________________________
Strengthening the Creator Economy
Britain's creative industries are among its strongest global assets.
The WeAre8 model supports:
● Musicians
● Writers
● Educators
● Journalists
● Designers
● Filmmakers
● Digital entrepreneurs
Through:
● Revenue participation (5% of all ad revenue is shared with individual creators)
● Community discovery
● Safer digital environments
At scale, the model projects approximately £360 million annually flowing into the creator economy. We pay more than Youtube shorts based on a transparent ‘payment per thousand views model’ - similar to Youtube but stronger. We also fund specific creator projects and have built the future for 8 to fund over 15,000 jobs for people in the creator economy.
________________________________________________________________________
Government Communication Infrastructure
Government increasingly depends on digital platforms to communicate with citizens. Trusted digital environments with verified human engagement create opportunities for more effective public communication, stronger community engagement and improved campaign outcomes.
Current challenges include:
● Low trust
● Ad fraud
● Poor engagement quality
● Misinformation environments
The WeAre8 infrastructure offers:
Trusted Distribution and 50x better results.
● Verified human engagement
● Reduced bot activity
● Brand-safe environments
● The UK government has already run over 7 successful campaigns on 8.
Public Campaigns
Supports campaigns across:
● Public health
● Education
● Defence recruitment
● Climate initiatives
● Community resilience
● Emergency communications
________________________________________________________________________
National Economic Impact
A mature UK deployment supporting approximately 20 million users would generate:
Direct economic Impact
● £3.6B to citizens
● £144M to charities and sporting foundations
● £360M to individual creators
● £360M to British publishers and broadcasters
● £72M to student programs
● £72M to teachers programs
● £72M to nurses programs
● £72M to environmental initiatives
● £360M to media industry, buyers, small business, brands and publisher ad buying.
Wider Economic Benefits
● Increased SME growth
● Small business support
● Increased consumer spending
● Higher creator employment
● Reduced digital advertising waste
● Stronger local economies
● Stronger community participation
● Improved social cohesion
● Greater public trust
These projections are based on the UK user base at 20M, with the current ad pricing and market demand.
_________________________________________________________________________
Why Britain Wins
Economic Growth
Retain more value generated by British citizens and businesses.
Public Service Innovation
New funding pathways for teachers, nurses and students.
Responsible AI Leadership
Position Britain as a global leader in trusted AI infrastructure.
Creator Economy Growth
Support musicians, creators, publishers and cultural institutions.
Community Wellbeing
Build stronger communities and healthier digital environments.
Digital Sovereignty
Reduce dependence on a small number of global technology platforms.
________________________________________________________________________
Strategic Importance for the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has the opportunity to become a global leader in:
Responsible AI
The world's safest large-scale social infrastructure.
Digital Economic Inclusion
Creating a model where citizens share in the value they help create.
Public Service Innovation
Supporting teachers and nurses through new economic mechanisms.
Community, Human-Led Growth
Empowering local businesses and creators.
Digital Sovereignty
Retaining more value generated by British citizens and businesses within the domestic economy.
________________________________________________________________________
Company Structure
Founder Zoe Kalar, is an Australian citizen, is married to a British citizen, lives in London after living in NY for 12 years building the data backbone of US media trading in the US with company Standard Media Index. WeAre8 is the 4th successful company she has founded over 35 years in business founding and building 3 prior companies in media and technology with successful exits. Social media is a global technology, and 50% of the Trillion dollar global ad market is still in the US. WeAre8 has been designed as a globally scalable digital infrastructure capable of supporting more than one billion people. The company is backed by experienced technology, media and business leaders, including support from BBC Studios and Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. See Appendix B. As the platform expands internationally, the United Kingdom has an opportunity to help shape the future of trusted digital infrastructure and responsible AI at a global level. With strong interest from India, particularly since Prime Minister Modi banned TikTok, and the expected growth in the US, WeAre8 brings a positive transformation to the sector globally and is set to strongly co-exist and rival the big tech platforms that control the sector
