Protocols for Publishers✨ Toronto: Showcase

We're on the path to a new kind of web, with an uncertain future: AI-based user agents are fast-becoming a core interface to the internet. Platforms have increasingly seized control of the publisher-reader relationship: search engines are squeezing out web publishers to juice ad revenue, while social platforms have captured audiences with algorithmic reach and paid promotion. How can publishers engage in this platform shift beyond being a dataset to be scraped? How can we avoid being trapped by a new wave of mega-platforms? And how can publishers on the web reach real users, build lasting relationships, and continue to have a equitable business model? Join us for an evening of presentations and open discussion, where protocol builders and publishers share their thinking about the future of the web. You will hear short talks about opportunities in protocol-based publishing that give you control over your content including leveraging AI ethically, new monetization methods, and media provenance across social media. Each talk will include a short Q&A. Following will be a relaxed mixer over drinks and light bites with the speakers and peers. Learn more about PfP✨ and sign up to the mailing list: https://protocolsforpublishers.com Speakers The Green Line publisher Anita Li and head of product and growth Temitayo Akinyemi on how can independent newsrooms build modern, audience-centred products and sustainable business models without relying on Silicon Valley’s platform dominance. Violet Cortes and Cole Capilongo of Hypha survey the state of the art in digital provenance—techniques for tracing a digital asset's lifecycle—and demo a tool that traces image histories on Bluesky, adding context to the scroller's experience. Seher Shafiq, global community programming lead at Mozilla Foundation will be discussing the use of open weight AI models and the alternatives to large centralized models. Nikita Roy, founder of Newsroom Robots Lab and co-author of The Science of First: Catching Early Signals Before They Become News, will explore emerging approaches to value exchange, access and monetization in an agentic ecosystem, and consider the strategic questions news organizations should be thinking about as the landscape evolves. Learn more about each speaker at the PfP✨Toronto event page → And don't forget to apply for the Stakeholder Forum on Tuesday, October 6th Sponsors PfP✨Toronto is convened with the support of: