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Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly news podcast co-created by Techdirt’s Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation’s Ben Whitelaw. Each episode looks at the latest news in online speech, covering issues regarding trust & safety, content moderation, regulation, court rulings, new services & technology, and more. The podcast regularly features expert guests with experience in the trust & safety/online speech worlds, discussing the ins and outs of the news that week and what it may mean for the indust ...
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The true story of the most misunderstood law on the internet. Tech journalist Mike Masnick brings you inside the making of Section 230 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, featuring witnesses to Silicon Valley’s Wild West era, the Congressmen who wrote the law, and innovators who benefited from its balance of freedom and responsibility. Why do so many people hate this law, how does the rest of the world deal with these issues, and how can it be used to take on new challenges like A.I.? Listen ...
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: The group chats that changed America (Semafor) Curtis Yarvin Says Democracy Is Done. Powerful Conservatives Are Listening (New York Times) Meta faces Ghana lawsuits over impact of extreme content on moderators (The Guardian) …
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Episode 8: Prescriptions to Save the Internet
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Our panel of experts — Charles C.W. Cooke from the National Review, trust and safety expert Dave Willner, Mike Masnick from Techdirt, and CEI’s Jessica Melugin — dissect this podcast’s raison d'être. What have we learned? Where are we now? And where are we going?
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: 4chan is dead. It's Toxic Legacy is everywhere (Wired) Wide-Ranging Decisions Protect Speech and Address Harms (Oversight Board) Meta’s oversight board rebukes company over policy overhaul (Reuters) Why Techdirt Is Now A Demo…
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The rise of A.I. has ushered in a new era for the internet, right when Section 230 and its protections have never been more threatened. Today’s innovators look to the past for guidance.
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s Failed Negotiations to End Antitrust Case (Wall Street Journal) Mark Zuckerberg once suggested wiping all Facebook friends lists to boost usage (The Verge) Would You Give PornHub Your ID? (The Atlanti…
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The web gets big enough to impact presidential elections. And the rest of the world grapples with speech on the internet.
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In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Ben is joined by guest host Prateek Waghre, former executive director at the Internet Freedom Foundation and currently a fellow at Tech Policy Press. Together, they cover: BookMyShow Restores Kunal Kamra’s Profile After Controversy (Medianama) Ku…
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Episode 5: Blowback, and the Dust Settles
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The first real attempt to regulate the internet goes down in flames. But what remains is a structure to support the new, more interactive world of Web 2.0.
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Zuckerberg Tries to Enlist Trump in Fight Against Meta EU Ruling (WSJ) EU set to limit Apple and Meta fines to avoid ire of Donald Trump (Financial Times) Adolescence hard to watch as a dad, Starmer tells creators (BBC) ‘Adol…
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A bill intended to keep smut off the internet threatens to undo everything Representatives Christopher Cox and Ron Wyden have accomplished. How will their compromise play out?
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: X takes Indian govt to court, alleges arbitrary censorship of content (Business Standard) India criticises X for calling compliance website a censorship tool (Reuters) Musk’s X suspends opposition accounts in Turkey amid civi…
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Enter the dotcom era. Dueling lawsuits leave early web companies with a massive question — can they moderate speech without getting sued off the face of the earth? Two tech-savvy Congressman just might have an answer.
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Twitter Inc. Official 'Bird Logo' Fascia Sign - An Iconic Fixture from the Company’s Market Square Headquarters in San Francisco (RR Auction) AI Slop Is a Brute Force Attack on the Algorithms That Control Reality (404 Media) …
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We travel back in time to the birth of the world wide web to hear how the earliest forums sparked a war over the future of free speech on the internet.
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In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Bluesky's CEO on the Future of Social Media (YouTube) The Take It Down Act isn’t a law, it’s a weapon (The Verge)…
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Episode 1: The Most Misunderstood Law on the Internet
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Pundits and politicians blame an obscure law for everything bad that happens online. What exactly is Section 230, and how did it spark a debate that could change the internet forever?
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In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by guest host Kat Duffy, Senior Fellow for Digital and Cyberspace Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and CEO of RightsDuff Strategies. They cover: Why Techdirt Is Now A Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It Or Not) (Techdirt) …
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Facebook & Content Moderation (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) Australia takes enforcement action against Telegram for serious delay in terror and child sexual abuse transparency (eSafety Commission) US judge says Trump M…
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In 1996, two Congressmen drafted a bill that would give us the internet as we know it. Now Democrats and Republicans want it gone. Follow the true story of the most misunderstood law on the internet starting March 12.
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben are joined by a group of students from the Media Law and Policy class at the American University School of Communication. Together they cover: U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts (Washington Post) US lawmake…
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Digital Oligarchs Gunning for Europe (DOGE)
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Elon’s Twitter Destruction Playbook Hits The US Government, And It’s Even More Dangerous (Techdirt) US presses Brussels for answers over EU social media law (Politico) Inside the Elon Musk-Jim Jordan ‘mind meld’ shaking up Ca…
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In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by guest host Renee DiResta, associate research professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. They cover: The new free speech crisis hiding in plain sight (MSNBC) ‘Free Speech’ Warrior RFK Jr. Has Been …
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Application Of Protecting Americans From Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act To TikTok (The White House) Restoring Freedom Of Speech And Ending Federal Censorship (The White House) America Is No Longer the Home of t…
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: TikTok Oral Arguments (Supreme Court) Biden administration looks for ways to keep TikTok available in the U.S. (NBC News) Trump considers executive order hoping to ‘save TikTok’ from ban or sale in U.S. law (Washington Post) …
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Here's why Meta ended fact-checking, according to experts (ABC News) Meta Follows Elon Musk’s Lead, Moves Staffers to Billionaire-Friendly Texas (Wired) Leaked Meta Rules: Users Are Free to Post “Mexican Immigrants Are Trash!…
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How The Online Regulators Stole Christmas
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Social media platforms have work to do to comply with Online Safety Act, says Ofcom (The Guardian) LFGSS and Microcosm shutting down 16th March 2025 (the day before the Online Safety Act is enforced) (LFGSS) The GamingOnLinux…
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: He was suicidal and needed help. A 15-year-old girl pushed him to kill himself on a live stream (Washington Post) Romania’s top court annuls presidential election result (CNN) Continuing to protect the integrity of TikTok dur…
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: TikTok Ban Upheld (DC Circuit) TikTok’s Romanian reckoning (Politico) Romania asks EU to investigate TikTok’s election handling after ultranationalist’s stunning win (Politico) TikTok Removes Covert Network Linked to Romanian…
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In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by guest host David Sullivan, the Executive Director of the Digital Trust & Safety Partnership. They cover: Trump's FCC Pick Wants to Be the Speech Police. That's Not His Job (Wired) Sauce for the Goose: The FCC Lacks Authority to …
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In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia follows The Guardian in quitting Elon Musk’s X due to disinformation and ‘disturbing content’ (Fortune) Bluesky attracts millions as users leave Musk's X after Trump win (Reuters) Advertisers s…
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