United Nations Economist Network

NEW ECONOMICS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

ATTENTION ECONOMY
ers in the form of online robots - increasingly overcame the
INTRODUCTION
constraints to process data. These content management
The concept of attention economy1 was technologies have added much value to data allowing en-
tirely new data-focused business models, but have also led
first coined in the late 1960s by Herbert
to an information overload on systems and individuals.
A. Simon, characterizing the problem of
information overload as an economic MAXIMIZING ENGAGEMENT TO ADDRESS
LIMITED ATTENTION
one. However, the concept has become
increasingly popular with the rise of the To address the scarcity of people’s attention, these technol-
internet making content (supply) increasingly ogies have been increasingly aimed at strategic capture of
abundant and immediately available, and private attention aided by systematic collection and anal-
ysis of personal data, which has become a very profitable
attention becoming the limiting factor in the
business model. Digital platforms started gathering very
consumption of information. See Annex 21. large numbers of data points about their users to sell to
While the supply of accessible information external users (particularly advertisers) for profit. Business
has continued to grow rapidly - digital data models capturing and monetizing people’s attention and
roughly doubles every two years - the demand data, mostly without users knowing, were made possible by
for information is limited by the scarce the lack of regulation to protect users as described in Prof
Zuboff’s several writings on Surveillance capitalism. Adver-
attention we can give to it. Indeed, the total
tisers pay as a function of viewers (attention) which is max-
available attention is limited by the number imized by engagement in content (e.g. videos on YouTube,
of people with access to information2 and the feeds on Facebook).
fixed number of hours in a day and conflicting This data turbo-charged economy — for all its perva-
demands on our time and attention. siveness — is hard to measure. Individuals do not explicitly
Davenport and Beck (2001) first define the pay a price to use the platform, yet their data, content, and
"economics of attention" as an approach to attention is sold on opaque digital markets preventing indi-
the management of information that treats viduals to know the true value of their attention and data.
human attention as a scarce commodity and Digital services are usually provided for “free” by platform
so no explicit market value is revealed. However, by any
applies economic theory to solve various
measure, the size of the global attention economy is on the
information management problems3. We are order of trillions of US dollars. For the USA alone, Evans
increasingly living in an “attention economy” estimated it at US$7.1 trillion and 437 billion hours in 2016,
rather than an “information economy”. whereas Brynjolfsson and Oh estimated the consumer sur-
plus from TV at 10.2% of GDP and from the Internet at 5.8%
By the 2000s, so much information was being generated GDP or combined at US$3 trillion (average for 2007-2011).
worldwide that only a small fraction (0.5% in 2015) of the For comparison, the revenues of the five big tech compa-
digital data generated was being analyzed at all. This made nies (Facebook/Meta, Google/Alphabet, Apple, Amazon and
information relatively cheap, while the “price of attention” Microsoft) were about $1.4 trillion in 2021 and their profits
has risen much faster since the advent of the internet in the increased by 55% in that year alone. According to the indus-
1990s. The response by the industry was the introduction trial Internet report of GE, this economy could add US$10 to
of new technologies to automate online data collection and 15 trillion to the global GDP over the next few decades.
analyze user interactions and processes, popularized as This brief on the yellow economy aims to address
“big data”, which has driven much of online traffic since the these risks posed by the extraction and monetization of
2010s. Adding artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the attention through a shift of the current attention economy
internet - equivalent to adding hundreds of millions of work- to Yellow Economy.

ATTENTION ECONOMY 1
 A more conscious and intentional attention economy On the ethical side, with the consolidation of descriptive,
would lead to: behavioral, and predictive data, a detailed digital profile of
each of us can be built that duplicates us as accurately as
h A more regenerative economic model where all stake-
possible, and therefore acts as a “human digital twin”5. To
holders benefit, and inequalities are minimized to the
a large degree, these human digital twins already exist al-
benefit of society and nature;
lowing for “commodifying and selling our behavior patterns
h Relying on technology design and a business model like futures contracts”. The lack of consent required to use
that is people-centered and intention-based, not at- these twins combined with emerging understanding that
tention-based; data are an integral part of individual identity creates ethical
issues. Indeed, in his address to the UN General Assembly in
h Acknowledging human nature, social engagement
2021, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres identified the
and the exchange grounded in the truth of wholeness
growing reach of digital platforms and the use and abuse
rather than fractured aspects of the human experi-
of data as one of the greatest perils that humanity faces6.
ence and people’s activities in the world; and
Intention is being impaired and eroded as most users of
h Minimizing the addictive nature designed in the current digital platforms are unaware of the algorithms working in
extractive based approach in favor of maximizing trans- the background that increasingly disempower them to act in
parency and awareness of how best to interact with digi- their own best interest.
tal ecosystems to promote individual well-being. On the political side, with access to tremendous
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL IMPACT amounts of personal data, governments and malignant
groups can manipulate people’s behavior, violating human
Huge levels of data are owned by large digital platforms rights. Also, normalization of hate speech and radicaliza-
with significant societal and economic impact. This has tion of individuals over time lead to polarization and social
allowed these big tech companies - now the most capital- unrest and undermining democracies7. In addition, tradi-
ized companies in the world4 - to acquire unprecedented tional news media businesses have struggled to compete
power in the functioning of national and global economy. with the digital platforms that are monopolistic in nature
Equipped with big data and artificial intelligence, they can - the more people are on a platform the more people and
also detect and eliminate nascent competitive threats, fur-
businesses will go to that platform. This makes the cost of
ther consolidating their power and delaying innovation and
entry for later comers - often local platforms in developing
individual welfare. But also, the power to intermediate civic
countries - insurmountable. The domination of a few large
engagement and influence political discourse as the recent
digital platforms is also increasingly luring advertising rev-
debate over Elon Musk acquiring Twitter demonstrated.
enues away from local media, displacing locally relevant
With their asymmetric bargaining power, digital platforms news and sources of information in addition to diverse
tend to underpay content developers requiring intervention points of view.
of the State as the Australian-Facebook fight over how much
content providers are compensated demonstrated. EXISTING GLOBAL AND/OR REGIONAL GOVERNANCE
FRAMEWORK OR AGREEMENT
On the social side, the erosion of individuals' control
of their own personal data has a profound effect on the The UN Member States recognize the importance of
human psyche, influencing people’s beliefs, how they relate people’s right to privacy in the digital age and adopted
to the physical world and creating a sense of information a General Assembly resolution 68/167 on 18 December
overload. The way data are currently valued in these mar- 2013, underscoring the right to privacy is a human right
kets create a race to grab individuals’ attention at the low- and affirming, for the first time, that the same rights peo-
est possible cost. This degrades the experience leading to ple have offline must also be protected online. And in
maximizing the time users spend on a platform at the ex- the General Assembly resolution 75/176 of 28 December
pense of an individual’s well-being and even affecting indi- 2020, Member States reaffirmed the importance of the
viduals’ intentions. Indeed, to maximize profits, algorithms right to privacy in the digital age, expressing concerns that
are programmed to increase engagement by maximizing individuals often “do not and/or cannot provide their free,
virality of the content, which often promotes highly “incen- explicit and informed consent to the sale or multiple re-
diary, controversial, or polarizing” content to drive interac- sales of their personal data.” The resolution also includes
tions. This increases exposure to unhealthy content often language on concerns regarding artificial intelligence’s re-
based on mis- or false information, significantly impairing quirement of large amounts of data, often relating to per-
conscious decision-making and risks creating addiction, sonal data, which can pose great risks to the enjoyment of
desensitization and radicalization. the right to privacy.

2 ATTENTION ECONOMY
 A better approach to measure the yellow economy is RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER NESD CONCEPTS
needed, in line with the call of the UN Secretary-General
The current attention economy, an offshoot of the digitali-
Antonio Guterres’ in “Our Common Agenda” — supported by
zation of the economy, has global reach and is embedded in
Member States during the President of the General Assem- our daily life. As a direct-to-individual or direct-to-business
bly’s consultation — to review GDP as a measure of prog- marketing platform, there are very low barriers for engage-
ress to ensure it measures what people care about. The UN ment in the attention economy. If the monopolistic nature
is exploring how to support Member States in measures of of platforms and the lack of consent in the use of our data is
progress beyond GDP including environmental issues and addressed, the proposed Yellow economy could be seen as
non-paid work, but also “free” digital services, and econom- a democratic economic system that gives equal access to
ic, social, political and human rights impacts of digitaliza- individuals, MSMEs and large corporations. Current business
extractive and manipulative models are so by-design and
tion. The Secretary General has also tasked the UN Tech
could thus be redesigned/programmed to be regenerative,
Envoy in developing, in consultation with member State, a
becoming a powerful force that puts the world on a sustain-
Global Digital Compact. This creates opportunities to pro- able development path.
mote responsible governance of data and digital platforms,
It could support entrepreneurs in the Green, Blue, Orange,
to limit information overload that obscures individual intent,
and circular economies networking them among themselves
and to mitigate risks of the extraction and exploitation of
and with consumers. It could facilitate financing, if individ-
behavioral data and knowledge by digital platforms and uals regain control over their attention and data they could
other actors, and the current and potential impacts on pub- allocate their attention, time and money to social causes and
lic welfare and individual rights. platforms aligned with their values. It could support the ex-
Member States have also already adopted the United change and sharing of services and goods for the social and
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization solidarity economy (SSE). It could also support the objec-
tives of these economies, by “nudging” consumers towards
(UNESCO) Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial
environmentally and socially responsible behavior. Addition-
Intelligence that “recognizes the profound and dynamic
ally, it can help speed up the Frugal Economy whereby users
positive and negative impacts of artificial intelligence
would choose to “give” their attention, data, and intellectual
(AI) on societies, environment, ecosystems and human
property to solve particular problems to co-create solutions
lives, including the human mind, in part because of the with others online. This is significant as only a combination
new ways in which its use influences human thinking, of technologies, institutions, economic incentives and behav-
interaction and decision-making and affects educa- ioral change will allow us to effectively achieve the SDGS.
tion, human, social and natural sciences, culture, and
However, to make beneficial use of data-intensive online
communication and information” in 2021. It represents the technologies, including a range of AI technologies, their sig-
very first global standard-setting instrument to protect and nificant energy use would also have to be addressed. In 2019
promote human rights and dignity. It further recognizes the Financial Times reported that global digital activities con-
that AI technologies have the potential to be beneficial tribute to around 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions,
to the environment and ecosystems, but that achieving 37% higher than in 2010, and could reach as high as 21% in
them can also amplify tension around innovation, asym- 2030. It would take the planting of over 1.6 billion trees to
metric access to knowledge and technologies, including offset the pollution of email spam alone8. At the moment,
the digital and civic literacy deficit that limits the public’s the world is headed in the wrong direction where attention is
ability to engage in topics related to AI, as well as being extracted from people with insufficient concern given
barriers to access to information and gaps in capac- to the impact it has on their well-being and social cohesion.
Large social media platforms negatively impact the Orange
ity, human and institutional capacities, barriers to access
Economy by not adequately rewarding the independent cre-
to technological innovation, and a lack of adequate
ators who originally generated the attention, data, content,
physical and digital infrastructure and regulatory frame-
and/or ideas. The extractive model also leads to greater
works, including those related to data, all of which need to
funding of illicit activities and misinformation as cultural
be addressed. values and minimum principles are not being upheld.
UNCTAD has a mandate to increase the use of the 2015 Sustainability is ultimately about “meeting the needs of
United Nations guidelines for consumer protection | UNCT- the present without compromising the ability of future gen-
AD updated to include online consumer protection, as well erations to meet their own needs”9. This could also serve as
as to look into competition policies related to the sector. an overall guiding principle for assessing policy action and

ATTENTION ECONOMY 3
regulations of the Yellow Economy by asking to what extent IMPACT ON SOCIAL NORMS AND BEHAVIORS THAT
the current, super-connected, attention seeking digitalized DETERMINE SDG PROGRESS
economy supports our ability to consciously advance the Moreover, digital platforms can be used to encourage
SDGs or not. This would be akin to the UNESCO’s recom- social norms and behaviors that are consistent with gender
mendation that member States conduct ethical impact equality, sustainable consumption, climate actions and envi-
assessment, to identify and assess benefits, concerns and ronmental conservation (SDG5, 12, 13, 14 and 15). They can
risks of AI systems. help empower individuals and companies to meet their own
SDGs, advance public goods, allow artists to derive a decent
IMPLICATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
AGENDA AND LINKAGES TO SPECIFIC SDGS
living wage from their arts, and allow the social and solidar-
ity economy to thrive through sharing of tools and services
IMPACT ON PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS on platforms within cooperatives or between corporations,
for instance.
The current model of the attention economy is det-
rimental to peace, justice and strong institutions, or IMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY
SDG1610. It thrives on unlimited online interactions and in-
Reforming the current extractive attention economy mod-
formation overload, often employing citizen’s digital twins
el that focuses on luring individuals to spend maximum time
without their knowledge and with the aim to affecting their on platforms and bombarding them with highly addictive and
intention. In addition, in countries that do not regulate incendiary content would also help support achievement of:
data use, individuals are often left with little to non-exis-
tent power over the entities which manage their digital h SDG4 that covers mental health and wellbeing12.
lives and potentially exploit their attention.
h SDG8 by reducing time on digital platforms can help
Failure to protect individuals' information and privacy to improve productivity of workers.
means the information can fall into the hands of bad ac-
A renewed Yellow Economy could also support SDGs in
tors or be exploited by governments for political reasons. indirect ways. Appropriate taxation of the digital economy,
This can lead to increasing authoritarian and surveillance supported by accurate assessment of how much, and where,
regimes, with the ability to greatly influence collective hu- economic gains are created, would generate new financing
man behavior by controlling the flow of information and for sustainable development efforts, especially in fiscally
exploiting human vulnerabilities11. The risk is even higher constrained developing countries. Properly measuring at-
when, as we saw above, large social media platforms tention economy’s impacts on society based on values will
have siphoned off profits from high-quality journalism lead to greater incentives for corporations to invest resourc-
and media companies, leaving population without reliable es in innovations that align with ethics and avoid leading to
sources of information. addictive or other counterproductive behaviors. With greater
tools to express their intentions and values, individuals will
The current business model is based on maximizing
be better incentivized to increase the quality and accuracy of
engagement, often based on disinformation, with no incen-
their personal data, which will in turn lead to higher function-
tives to curb outrageous or false content, on the contrary,
ing and more accurate platforms and services.
outrage creates more engagement. In turn, incendiary
and hate speech has been associated with radicalization IMPACT ON DECISION-MAKING AT BUSINESS AND
of users, polarization, and social unrest. The impact on SOCIETAL LEVELS
democracy is illustrated by the January 6 Capitol riots in A higher consciousness, people-centered, technically sound
the United States fueled by misinformation about the 2020 and ethically designed model will also serve to enhance the
election or the January 8th, 2023 riots in Brazil similarly fu- value of the Yellow Economy to businesses and organiza-
eled by misinformation around the 2022 election. tions. Integrating proper design/technical implementation
Thus, rules must be in place to control outrage and standards will help provide a workable and readily available
framework for programmers, who design the backbone of
harmful behaviors online to address well-being and human
the digital economy. The cost, volume, and expertise needed
right of individuals as well as waning trust in institutions,
to manage the gargantuan troves of data generated within
governments, journalism, and media around the world. the growing digital universe has led to vast data inaccura-
Guiding the attention economy towards truthfulness, qual- cies with one Deloitte report highlighting that over 50% of 3rd
ity of information, and quality of time spent for better cit- party data used in advertising was less than 50% accurate.
izens and communities’ decisions could therefore help to Thus businesses are more likely to receive inaccurate data
advance SDG16. from 3rd party data providers for advertising. As more and

4 ATTENTION ECONOMY
more decisions are made based on this inaccurate data, brief presents ideas and principles factoring in attention as
the impact on society becomes frightening as corporations its own type of resource, integral to the value of a system
or other decision makers are investing vast sums of their and contributing to well-being.
financial resources to support a dysfunctional system which
they have a false sense of accuracy into. Reducing the inac- Technology, algorithms, shopping and media platforms
curacies of this data through empowering individuals to own, are the engine of the attention economy. Direct contributions
manage, and benefit from the Yellow Economy will in turn to the GDP have been calculated in the trillions, but we have
benefit businesses through greater transparency of the value not yet estimated the harm it creates. The growing economic
of what they are transacting off. potential of this economy is reflected in the significant rise
of the cost of capturing attention in the last two decades and
Empirical findings on the dynamics of “collective atten-
the multi-billion-dollar valuations of companies with busi-
tion”, through aggregate supply and demand for information
ness models based on exploiting that data. The UN work-
points to an accelerated shortening of the collective atten-
stream on measures of progress beyond GDP must include
tion span to issues of concern. For example, attention at the
the negative externalities/impact of this extractive model.
societal level spikes as new content receives lots of traffic/
attention at first, leading to higher demand for information, Moreover, insufficient attention has been given to the
driving its supply up, and in turn further increasing attention. people responsible to implement the technology - program-
But, evidence suggests narrowing peaks of collective atten- mers. A reshaping of the attention economy needs to involve
tion over time (not just at the individual level) indicating a them so that they become a part of the proposed solutions.
“social acceleration” with wider and poorly understood socie- It is important to understand that technologists at large, and
tal and political implications. Data on this social acceleration programmers, are to be regarded as the next generation of
are scarce but seems to be in line or co-evolves with similar rights defenders. The current lack of technical guidance in
acceleration in technology change. Just to give one example, the shape of, for instance, taxonomies or readily available
in only three years from 2013 to 2016, the time a hashtag libraries, is a main impediment to their involvement.
stayed in the global daily top-50 on Twitter contracted from We need to develop theory around the economic interests
17.5 to 11.9 hours. Compared to any other known social of “users” distinguished from the de facto conditions of ex-
trends, this is an incredible speed of change not boding well periential dispossession, datafication, control, and commod-
for global problem solving. ification introduced in the attention economy, and enforced
INTERACTION OF THE ECONOMICS OF ATTENTION AND by its unique and ever-widening power. The new Yellow Econ-
MAINSTREAM ECONOMICS omy model must support new forms of collective action to
solve local and global problems13.
The current attention economy model treats human atten-
ADVANCING A SUSTAINABLE ATTENTION ECONOMY:
tion as just another factor of production — a resource to ex-
POLICY DISCUSSIONS
ploit. As a result, we see the same extractive and exploitative
tendencies to capture profit as we see with ‘environmental The attention economy is globally ubiquitous, and many
externalities’, putting economic gain over human well-being have called data the new currency. Given all individuals
and flourishing of the public good. use their attention every day, and their data should be
When factoring in the concept of human digital twins, it seen as a digital representation of their physical selves
becomes easier to visualize the labor associated with their and therefore an extension of their being, how the atten-
active use by advertisers and thus the need for adequate tion economy evolves will have an enormous impact on
considerations and protections. Even treating human at- people’s well-being. Research and pilot projects into the
tention like other factors of production may not be justified development of “human digital twins” provides a glimpse
from a mainstream economic perspective, as it remains un- of the not-too-distant future.
clear if attention should be considered labor, commodity or Policies need to be introduced to eliminate persuasive
a new type of factor of production altogether. On one hand, techniques used by advertising, and social media that manip-
attention can be perceived as labor — activities done on ulate subconscious human behavior by exploiting biological
digital platforms generate a surplus that is monetized by the imperatives linked to survival instincts. The economic growth
platforms. On the other hand, from the perspective that at- model linked to quarterly earnings that incentivize consump-
tention is captured and monetized through being converted tion fuel the use of these methods. We need a governance
into personal data, there is an argument for treating attention structure of that incentivize well-being and mutual benefit
as a new type of factor of production — one with economic for all stakeholders rather than the current model that incen-
properties that distinguish itself from labor, capital and tech- tivize exploitation of individuals turning them into ‘objects
nology and therefore requiring updated analytical tools. This of consumption’ instead of recognizing individuals’ human

ATTENTION ECONOMY 5
rights. Principles to guide these policies and the transitions legislation similar or inspired by the GDPR. Qatar, Bahrain,
are provided in Annex 1. South Africa, Nigeria, South Korea, Brazil, also have legisla-
Making the attention economy compatible with sustain- tion. The US and China are also developing their own legisla-
able development requires addressing the fundamental is- tion that may not all be coherent with the EU model. Because
sue of digital platform governance. Global efforts are need- these models have spillover effects in other jurisdictions,
ed for government regulations of these platforms to be truly they should be developed in an universal environment, such
effective for the benefits of everyone and to better maintain as at the United Nations, to ensure all affected countries and
important online spaces and data as public goods. Updated parties have a voice and legislations are coherent among
competition policies can help address excessive market themselves.
power concentration of platforms that can exacerbate in- THE GDPR RECOGNIZES EIGHT RIGHTS
equalities and injustice,14 and to make the platforms more OF THE DATA SUBJECT
amenable to changes that are in public interest, especially
as Web 3.0+ advancements that empower personal own- The GDPR recognizes eight rights of the Data Subject:
ership come to fruition. Adoption and implementation of The right to be informed
updated consumer protection policies and attention literacy
are also crucial so online rights are protected. Additionally, 1. The right to be informed
addressing how the attention economy evolves around the
2. Right of access
spatial web, or the mixed-reality universe, will also be a par-
amount concern given the increasing blending of our physi- 3. Right to rectification
cal and digital worlds.
4. Right to erasure
Data governance must go hand in hand with digital
platform governance. There needs to be more concerted 5. Right to restriction of processing
effort worldwide to improve data protection, proving intent
and consent, improving transparency about data collec- 6. Right to data portability
tion and use, and clarifying data ownership. Legislations
should allow individuals to “provide” their attention with 7. Right to object to processing of personal data
respect, acknowledging their right to choose and freedom 8. Right not to be subjected to automated decision, in-
from exploitation, and supporting health and well-being. cluding profiling
We need to develop a new model, including of how al-
gorithms are designed, that gives users the capacity to Given that individuals and the generators of econom-
control their personal and behavioral data, shifting the ic resources like attention, data, and content are often
current online paradigm so that brands would need to sub- exploited without awareness of the resulting negative ex-
scribe to individuals, or the chosen representors of those ternalities associated with their consumption and produc-
individuals obligated to act on their behalf (digital self), tion in the current attention economy system, we need to
and ensure individuals have control on how much or little increase awareness and protections of those individuals.
they want to be exposed to advertisers or any other client Without individuals having greater ownership and trans-
of their data. We should also consider when individuals parency over their attention resources, vast liberties can
could be paid for their data. be taken by external actors against an individual’s best
interests, with profound harm done to that individual and
This would require a shift in underlying business model
societal well-being.
that acknowledges mutual benefit or reciprocity for all stake-
holders and move from an extractive towards a regenerative In order to raise awareness, we could, for instance, devel-
model encouraging sustainable consumption and production op easy-to-understand interfaces that communicate to users
and wise use of resources15. how their data is being collected and used, engaging them
in their right to choose, and clarifying ownership and value in
The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is
the exchange. This would require advertisers to actually ad-
currently the most stringent privacy and security law in the
dress personal needs, supporting their values and respecting
world. It was drafted and passed by the European Union but
imposes obligations onto organizations across the globe (as their privacy preferences.
long as they target or collect data related to people in the EU We also need to raise awareness of programmers, im-
— citizens or residents). Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Argen- proving attention literacy, and transparency in the “behind the
tina, Turkey, Uruguay, and Canada have legislation deemed scene” design guided by general principles. Annex two lists
adequate for EU data export. Kenya, Uganda, Mauritius have some proposed principles that could guide this transition.

6 ATTENTION ECONOMY
 We also need more ethical and value-based AI, which There are at least 6 areas where more research is
— if adopted — will create more value for businesses as
needed to advance a regenerative model of the
it will lead to more sustainable practices that are adap-
tive to cultural changes and more accurately reflect the
attention economy or the Yellow Economy:
health and quality of markets. Currently, AI algorithms and
content moderation are often employed to manipulate A. Ethics, which covers issues such as the appropriate-
attention. For example, people falsely believe they are ness of commodifying attention, the addictive nature
getting objective data when using search engines, while in of current digital platforms, the extent to which digital
fact algorithms have been applied to create filter bubbles
platforms are allowed to influence people’s behavior
to select information a user would like to see based on
with or without their explicit knowledge; and the legal-
information about the user, such as location, past click-be-
havior and search history. Therefore, another important ity vs democratic right of authorities accessing our
question to ask is whether it is appropriate to use technol- data for “national security” reasons.
ogy to influence user behavior for commercial gain. More
discussions among stakeholders are urgently needed to B. Economic mechanics in the attention economy, which
deliberate on this issue. In the meantime, countries and covers topics such as how to leverage the attention
companies should be encouraged to implement the UN- economy to promote sustainable consumption and
ESCO’s recommendations on the Ethics of AI and the UN
production, and what is the ideal market structure and
guidelines for consumer protection. Law professors Ryan
Calo and colleagues also proposes going beyond ethical pricing model in the attention economy to be a driver
standards to include policy and binding rules to enforce to achieve the SDGs;
it to ensure beneficial use of AI, including the future of
healthcare, work, criminal justice, and ethics16. C. Regulatory mechanisms to update existing regula-

Policy formulation must be commensurate with the tions and analytical tools in view of the changing dy-
scale of the attention economy and its impact. We need namics in the attention economy;
to find ways to measure the negative externalities gener-
ated by the current attention economy model such as the D. Attention literacy, which covers how to improve peo-
costs of information/misinformation overload, addictive ple’s understanding of the ways their attention can be
engagement, and prevalence of online child pornography on manipulated and be exploited for profit;
inequality and labor market outcomes. We also need to es-
timate the value created from individuals’ attention so that E. Better data governance, including what data
we could estimate fair remuneration and include it in mea- should remain in the public domain, and impact on
sures of "Beyond GDP” as called for by the 2030 Agenda.
cross-border relationships and the potential rise of
Much more investments are needed in research to digital colonialism;
close the knowledge gaps on global collective behavior
arising from the attention economy. Without better under- F. Impact on marketing and advertising business
standing of the complex system, there may be ever more
models; and
serious challenges to addressing social issues, safeguard-
ing a functioning democracy and competently identifying
G. How to address the fact that algorithm cannot
and implementing high-impact actions to address global
crises. For instance, should robots be taxed to provide
reflect human values such as fairness, account-
universal basic income for employees they displaced? ability and transparency.
Ultimately, scientific progress as such might be chal-
lenged itself. Against such a background, Bak-Coleman
and colleagues argue “that the study of collective behavior
must rise to a ‘crisis discipline’ just as medicine, conserva-
tion, and climate science have, with a focus on providing
actionable insight to policymakers and regulators for the
stewardship of social systems.

ATTENTION ECONOMY 7
Annex 1: CONSCIOUS ATTENTION ECONOMY PRINCIPLES their purpose behind the use of an attention economy
resource and should be required to present the pur-
Principle 1. INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY pose to any other stakeholder upon request.
€ Attention Sovereignty. Individuals should retain
Principle 3. PRIVACY & DATA PROTECTION
self-determination, ownership, access and control of
self-generated attention economy data and content € Data Minimization. Collection of personal and be-
captured based on human interaction behavior, with havioral data by stakeholders should be minimized,
the ability to revoke access for any reason. even if not legally required, to prevent exploitation of
vulnerabilities.
€ Right to Reward. Individuals should have the reason-
able capability to understand, earn or allocate a signif- € Inherent Privacy. All attention-based technology and
icant portion of the rewards generated from the value decisions should be based on ensuring individual
of their attention and data. privacy and well-being.
€ Globalism – Digital Colonialism. All individuals, re- € Portability. User choice requires portability for identi-
gardless of where they reside, should be treated with ty, data, payments, and any other services. Individuals
equity, entitled to adequate access, protections, and should be able to interoperate across providers with-
remuneration through means that are culturally rele- out losing their identity information, social graph or
vant and abide by international law. content.
€ Fiduciary Responsibility of Delegated Data Managers. € Protection from Artificial Intelligence.
An individual should be able to safely delegate their The design of AI systems should ensure that indi-
data and content management to a 3rd party with vidual attention economy resources are protected
expertise who is responsible for attention economy throughout the life cycle of the system and repre-
resource management. Third parties should have the sentation is accurately reflected in datasets with a
binding responsibility to act in accordance with the minimum level of bias. AI systems must not exploit
individual’s expressed intentions in alignment with the people, their digital twins, social data, or content
principles of well-being, reciprocity, and harmlessness. and should be regularly checked by unbiased human
sources to ensure adherence to humane values.
Principle 2. HARMLESSNESS
Principle 4. TRANSPARENCY
€ Respectful of Dignity. Content should not violate
human or digital rights, exploit individuals, or expose € Transparency of Access.
them to extremism or extreme violence, promote Attention data shared between stakeholders must be
extreme fear, anger and hatred, or promote harmful accessible and comprehensible at a reasonable level
behaviors to vulnerable groups. of understanding and technical expertise to ensure all
stakeholders can choose to act in accordance with
€ Respectful of Time. All stakeholders should ensure
their own values.
the amount of time an individual is encouraged to
spend in an attention-based system is proportionate € Transparency of Risk.
to providing high quality well-being to that individual. Individuals should be fully notified with meaningful
All stakeholders should ensure there is rigorous anal- explanatory information that empowers them to ex-
ysis supported by unbiased 3rd parties proving the plicitly include or revoke access before their attention
time spent by an individual in an attention-based sys- data influences background decision-making by hu-
tem is being minimized or eliminated whenever that man or AI processes.
impact is negative.
€ Transparency of Economic & Social Value.
€ Intentional by Design. To prove intent, no deci- Individuals should have the right and capability to re-
sion-making actions should be taken without proving quest economic and social impact information from
alignment with the original individual’s and stakehold- any stakeholder which manages or monetizes their
er’s intentions, and any new decision or action must attention economy resources in a manner that is easy
gain additional transparent consent regardless of to comprehend.
prior transparent consent has been given.
€ Trustful by Design.
€ Purposeful by Design. All attention economy stake- Stakeholders should build trust into their products
holders should be able to always define and express

8 ATTENTION ECONOMY
 and services by exposing assumptions and allowing national, and international journalism and content are
users to adjust their experience to satisfy their per- adequately funded, supported with attention econ-
sonal values. omy resources, and given the freedom to act inde-
pendently in order to promote fairness and inclusivity
Principle 5. ACCOUNTABILITY in societies.

€ Governance. € Equitable Access to Quality Journalism.

Appropriate audits, impact assessments, and due Access to quality journalism should not be contingent
diligence mechanisms, including whistle-blowers’ pro- on ability to pay for services and people’s attention
tection and 3rd party analysis of bad behavior, should economy resources should be equally respected in
be developed to ensure accountability for all attention free spaces as paid services.
economy resources and processes.
Principle 7. FREEDOM FROM EXPLOITATION
€ Supporting Civil Discourse.
All stakeholders should ensure their efforts and op- € Avoiding Psychological Manipulation.
erations actively support high-quality civil discourse Attention based systems are at risk of trapping indi-
based on quality information and develop laws that viduals in psychologically harmful behaviors through
are proactive in respecting human attention, personal feedback loops that exploit the human desire for
sovereignty, and diverse perspectives. stimulus and can be addictive. All stakeholders
should ensure they promote psychologically sus-
€ Standard Metrics. tainable ideas and behaviors. Similarly, stakeholders
Establish new attention-based economic metrics should avoid promoting behaviors that devalue self-
that showcase positive impact, improved well-being, worth and use attention to achieve goals not aligned
social and cultural awareness, and reciprocity as a with an individual’s personal values or that manipu-
measure for success and in alignment with UN Agen- late them into behaviors they would otherwise choose
da 2030 and its 17 SDGs based on scientific accuracy to avoid.
with long term goals set for longer timelines.
€ Exploitation Awareness & Prevention.
€ Shared Standards. All attention economy stakeholders agree to pre-
Establish stringent yet open standards, interoperabil- vent exploitation for any reason, at all times, and in
ity, and taxonomies to facilitate collaboration across all spaces whether physical or digital, even if those
attention economy stakeholders. The standards platforms or systems were not intended for those
should be regularly evaluated for flaws and consis- individuals as the primary audience. Additionally,
tently updated by multiple human sources to reflect there should be special considerations and protec-
needed changes to address those flaws. tions for children and the elderly in all attention-based
systems.
Principle 6. FAIRNESS & INCLUSIVITY
€ Fraud Awareness.
€ Common Infrastructure. All attention economy stakeholders should ensure
Tools for public conversation should exist outside of the prevention of relevant types of fraud such as ad-
private companies as common infrastructure, like the fraud, identity fraud, technology fraud, bot-traffic, and
Internet itself, certain tools, such as, Identity Manage- content-fraud, and only acquire resources from trust-
ment should be established as common infrastruc- worthy and audited sources.
ture usable by all stakeholders.
€ Balanced.
€ Social Fairness of Benefits. Stakeholders, from professional or User-Generated
Stakeholders should promote equal access, social Content (UGC) sources, should endeavor to meet a
justice, safeguard fairness and promote non-discrim- high standard of quality and accuracy of information
ination ensuring that the benefits of the attention and promote quality journalism from diverse sources
economy are available and accessible to all. Stake- to support credible narratives.
holders should also prevent the replication of ineq-
uities in the digital world that reflect inequities in the Principle 8. HARMONY WITH NATURE
physical world.
€ Generative Systems.
€ Supporting Quality Journalism & Information. All attention economy platforms and systems
Attention economy stakeholders should ensure local, should embody mutual respect, mutual benefit, ac-

ATTENTION ECONOMY 9
 cessibility, do no harm, and be an instrument for the attention economy principles and the impact of make
common good. ethical decisions to meet conscious attention econo-
my-based and UN SDG aligned business goals.
€ Environmental Impact.
All attention economy stakeholders should promote, € Mis-information Literacy.
embody, and embed practices that improve the health Stakeholders agree to expose and educate the public
of our environment by reducing wherever possible the about disinformation content, to limit the ability for
environmental impact of data processing, business technology and bad actors to spread false or mislead-
operations, and human behaviors that stem from ing content.
the attention economy including media promotions,
greenwashing, and the downstream impact advertise- Principle 10. ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS
ments and content have on promoting unsustainable
behaviors. Stakeholders should understand the € Cultural & Technological Preparedness.
emissions tied to their attention economy operations Attention economy stakeholders agree to take pre-
and the impact those operations have on supporting caution by developing efficient and effective methods
healthy wild ecosystems. that respect individual rights and conscious attention
economy values, with capacity to adjust as cultural
€ Environmentally Responsible Media Production. values evolve regarding human and digital rights,
All media and content generated by or for an atten- shifts in technologies, cultural changes, vulnerabili-
tion economy stakeholder should be produced in ties, and new regulatory burdens.
an environmentally responsible manner and ensure
human, animal, and natural rights + values are re- € Re-imagining Attention Based Business Models.
spected throughout the production process. How In order to meet the goals of the UN SDGs, current
nature and wild ecosystems are depicted in media is attention-based business models must evolve to
important, and media professionals should ensure better align profit goals with human values and eco-
diverse wild ecosystems are well represented, pro- logical needs to support a regenerative economy.
moted, and protected. Financial return on investment must better coincide
with the return on impact to society of the investment
€ Nature & Wildlife as a Stakeholder. and reward those who build trust between buyers
Wildlife imagery should only be used when the wildlife and sellers and leverage attention to enhance healthy
benefit in some way as they are entitled to reasonable communication over those who exploit attention to
compensation in exchange for value. Attention econ- extract value from people and nature.
omy stakeholders should make attention economy
resources available to wildlife protection groups.​ € Resource Sharing.
Attention economy stakeholders should make a rea-
Principle 9. ATTENTION LITERACY sonable effort to share innovations with other stake-
holders that would benefit society and nature at large.
€ Explainable. Large-scale stakeholders should share resources with
Attention Economy decision-making should be intel- smaller stakeholders in areas that promote sustain-
ligible to its intended audience so that all individuals ability, inclusivity, ethics, and well-being to ensure bar-
and stakeholders can understand the impact of their riers to ethical decision making are not determined by
interactions and realize their intentions. monetary constraints.

€ Public Awareness. € Future Proofing Education & Learning.

Education should be available for individuals to gain All stakeholders must educate their respective
greater agency over their own attention to ensure ecosystems on new technologies, methods, and
individual control and decision-making power for ef- systems entering their sector or domain with equal
fective public participation. In this way all members weight given to the positive and adverse effects they
of society can make informed decisions about their may have to the economy, regulatory landscape,
use of attention economy resources and be protected environment, and culture within communities. Or-
from undue influence. ganizations and governments should continuously
interface with professionals who can focus on the
€ Professional Awareness. long-term implications of technologies and process-
Education for professionals in the attention economy es with the capacity to disseminate the knowledge
should include training and access to tools and infor- to their peers and communities.
mation to help professionals understand conscious

10 ATTENTION ECONOMY
ANNEX 2: CONSCIOUS ATTENTION ECONOMY DEFINITIONS € Harmlessness - The quality of being unable or unlikely
to cause damage, offend or harm someone.
€ Attention Capital - Financial investments and/or
financial returns based on capturing value from € Human Experience - The totality of attention by an
attention data. individual or group of individuals interacting with a
space and/or entity and its returned impact.
€ Attention Data - The combination of personal and
behavioral data collected while individuals are € Human Labor - Work performed by people in the
engaged online. process of developing and supporting the
attention economy.
€ Biomimicry - The design and production of materials,
structures, and systems that are modelled on biologi- € Individual Attention - The immediate time spent with
cal entities and processes. mental perception of an occurring phenomena (can
be conscious or subconscious).
€ Content - The flow of information produced to garner
attention in order to achieve a goal and any € Intention - In relation to the attention economy refers
production costs or gains associated with it to the expressed interests, desires, and actions of an
individual or stakeholder that contributes attention
€ Data Algorithms + Tools & Artificial Intelligence - The economy resources to a system.
technical processes and technologies used in captur-
ing, analyzing, and acting on data inputs. € Metaverse - A virtual-reality space in which users can
interact with a computer-generated environment and
€ Digital Attention Infrastructure - Interactable content other users.
or infrastructure within digital ecosystems designed
to capture attention data and influence behavior. € Metric & Accountability Systems - How success is
measured in relation to attention, data processes, and
€ Digital Ecosystem - An electronically connected well-being.
space in which individuals and enterprises can direct-
ly interact with no intermediary. € New Attention-Based Legal Frameworks - Govern-
ment policy that establishes and protects individual
€ Data Inputs - The raw data generated by a stakeholder rights, prevents exploitation of all stakeholders and
and/or initial data included in a process. The data establishes the legal means to ensure reciprocal ben-
captured through online engagement by individuals. efit for all stakeholders.
This could be both identifying data or behavioral data
such as time spent browsing a particular site. € Overweb - Refers to the decentralized public space
above the webpage. More specifically, the portion of
€ Data Outputs - The processed data developed from this meta-layer above the web page where people can
refining the data inputs. Data produced by processing meet and interact directly through content.
and analyzing raw data inputs.
€ Patents & Proprietary Acknowledgements - Owner-
€ Data Sovereignty - The ability for an individual or en- ship of attention economy resources by a stakeholder
tity that produces an original dataset to be identified which is in alignment with conscious attention econo-
as the rightful owner-of that data with the ability to my principles.
steward and monetize the data they have cultivated
with maximum autonomy. € Physical Attention Infrastructure - Physical technolo-
gy, physical ecosystems and/or physical tools utilized
€ Digital Twins - The digital representation of an individ- to support the attention economy and/or capture
ual or physical entity inclusive of all representations attention (ex. newspapers, phones, headsets, bill-
of that person or physical entity in a digital medium. boards, etc.).

€ Ethical Research, Templates, Language, and Frame- € Portability - The ability to move between platforms
works - Guidelines for algorithms, content and techni- that perform the same services without losing any
cal design that are oriented towards individual atten- personally- generated data.
tion safety and well-being.
€ Psychologically sustainable ideas and behaviors -
€ Generative - Having the power or function of generat- Mental well-being manifested by healthy behaviors
ing, originating, producing, or reproducing. and feelings of fulfilment and happiness such as awe,

ATTENTION ECONOMY 11
 connectedness, self-expression, love, hope, stress-re- Endnotes:
duction, and knowledge.

€ Purpose - In relation to the attention economy refers

1
We chose the yellow color because it is believed to
to the reason why an individual or entity expressed an stimulates the left side of the brain, which promotes
logical thinking. It encourages us to home in and make
intention. informed decisions. When we feel our grip on reality slip-
ping, yellow reminds us that our perceptions are warped.
€ Reciprocity - A situation in which two people, organi- The yellow chakra is believed to be related to personal
zations or countries provide the same help or advan- power and self-esteem. When this chakra is balanced, a
tages to mutually benefit each other person exhibits confidence, reliability, responsibility, pur-
posefulness, and motivation. Yellow, in the Spiral Dynam-
€ Regenerative - Relating to the improvement of a place ics also represents 'systemic-thinking, multi-perspectival
stage.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_Dynamics. 
or system, especially by making it more active or suc-
cessful, or to making a person feel happier and more 2
Attention economy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atten-
positive. tion_economy#cite_note-3
3
€ Social Networks - Social systems with multiple stake- Two thirds of the world population is online today.
holders where individual attention is utilized as a cur-
4
rency for community engagement (does not need to Ibid, Attention economy.
have monetary value). 5
Seven largest in terms of market capitalization are:
Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Alibaba, Facebook, and
€ Spatial Web - Refers to a computing atmosphere that Tencent. Source: UNCTAD Digital Economy Report 2021.
exists in a 3D space. It is a pairing of real and virtual https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/
realities and accessed through the interface of Virtual der2021_en.pdf
and Augmented Reality. 6
Human digital twins are complete data representations
€ Web 2 - Also known as the social web, this layer of the of the real human counterpart which continuously con-
trols, monitors and optimizes its physical twin status.
Internet refers to websites that emphasize user- gen-
erated content, ease of use, participatory culture and 7
SG António Guterres. 21 September 2021. “Secre-
limited interoperability (i.e., compatibility with other tary-General’s address to the 76th Session of the UN
products, systems, and devices) for end users. General Assembly”. https://www.un.org/sg/en/con-
tent/sg/speeches/2021-09-21/address-the-76th-ses-
€ Web 3 - A layer above Web 2 that supports user tran- sion-of-general-assembly
sition into becoming individual stakeholders with self- 8
Luke Munn. 2020. Angry by Design: Toxic communi-
sovereign rights over their intentional content and cation and technical architectures. in Humanities and
attention alongside greater interoperability. Social Sciences Communication 7(53). https://doi.
org/10.1057/s41599-020-00550-7
€ Well-being - The overall quality of the human experi-
9
ence as being healthy and positive. Gerry McGovern. 2020. World Wide Waste. Silver Beach.
World Wide Waste - Gerry McGovern
10
Brundtland report. 1987. https://documents-dds-ny.
un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N87/184/67/img/N8718467.
pdf?OpenElement
11
Shoshana Zuboff. 2019. “Surveillance Capitalism and the
Challenge of Collective Action”. New Labor Forum, 28(1),
10—29. https://doi.org/10.1177/1095796018819461
12
Global Witness. 23 June, 2021. “Algorithm of harm:
Facebook amplified Myanmar military propaganda
following coup”. https://www.globalwitness.org/en/
campaigns/digital-threats/algorithm-harm-facebook-am-
plified-myanmar-military-propaganda-following-coup/
13
Also, some jobs in the attention economy have been
deemed as high risk as individuals have to spend their
days watching horrific videos to determine whether they
meet the platform guidelines as the AI is still learning
and are woefully inadequate at preventing human and
digital rights abuses.

12 ATTENTION ECONOMY
14
Ibid, Shoshana Zuboff.
15
Internet search market is controlled 90% by Google,
while Facebook controls 66% of the global social media
market. Source: UNCTAD Digital Economy Report 2021.
https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/
der2021_en.pdf
16
As this is a relatively new concept, please see list of defi-
nitions/concepts in Annex One.
17
Ryan Calo, Lane Powell and D. Wayne Gittinger. 2017.
Artificial Intelligence Policy: A Primer and Roadmap.,
University of California, Davis. Vol 51: 399-435. https://
lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/51/2/Sympo-
sium/51-2_Calo.pdf

Authors:

Prepared by: Chantal Line Carpentier.

With contributions from: Hoi Wai Jackie Cheng,

Arun Jackobs, Richard Roehrl, and inputs from external
partners Patricia Klauer, and Kristofer Doerfler.

Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this policy brief

are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions and policies of the United Nations.
The designations and terminology employed may not
conform to United Nations practice and do not imply the
expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of
the Organization.
All queries should be addressed to DESA-UNEN@un.org.

ATTENTION ECONOMY 13