Ctrl-Alt-Speech

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 Capitol Hill (Politico)Musk adds Shell, Nestlé, Lego to X advertiser ‘boycott’ lawsuit (The Hill)Musk Shows Us What Actual Government Censorship On Social Media Looks Like (Techdirt)In wake of Meta moderation shift, advertisers have accepted new status quo: brand safety is a myth (Digiday)Meta sees no ‘noticeable impact’ in advertiser demand since content policy shift (Marketing Week)Amazon Raises Its Ad Spending on Elon Musk’s X, in Major Reversal (Wall Street Journal)Senator Hawley Proposes Jail Time for People Who Download DeepSeek (404 Media)Apple Blasts EU Laws After First Porn App Comes to iPhones (Bloomberg)This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at podcast@ctrlaltspeech.com and sponsorship enquiries to sponsorship@ctrlaltspeech.com. Thanks for listening.

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 Trying To Censor a Blogger for Years (Who What Why)In motion to dismiss, chatbot platform Character AI claims it is protected by the First Amendment (TechCrunch)Trump Signs Agreement Calling for Meta to Pay $25 Million to Settle Suit (WSJ)Meta’s Free-Speech Shift Made It Clear to Advertisers: ‘Brand Safety’ Is Out of Vogue (WSJ)X refuses to remove stabbing video watched by Southport killer (Financial Times)This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at podcast@ctrlaltspeech.com and sponsorship enquiries to sponsorship@ctrlaltspeech.com. Thanks for listening.

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 the Free Internet (The Atlantic)Good morning, America: Why India banned TikTok 5 years back (India Today)Facebook, X, YouTube to do more against online hate speech, EU says (Reuters)Commission welcomes the integration of the revised Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online into the Digital Services Act (European Commission)Bluesky 2024 Moderation Report (Bluesky)Bluesky's 2024 moderation report shows how quickly harmful content grew as new users flocked in (Engadget)The Technological Poison Pill: How ATProtocol Encourages Competition, Resists Evil Billionaires, Lock-In & Enshittification (Techdirt)We need to protect the protocol that runs Bluesky (MIT Technology Review)If you’re in London on Thursday 30th January, join Ben, Mark Scott (Digital Politics) and Georgia Iacovou (Horrific/Terrific) for an evening of tech policy, discussion and drinks. Register your interest.This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at podcast@ctrlaltspeech.com and sponsorship enquiries to sponsorship@ctrlaltspeech.com. Thanks for listening.

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)TikTok Users Gleefully Embrace Even More Chinese App To Spite US TikTok Ban (Techdirt)Meta employees criticize Zuckerberg decisions to end fact-checking (CNBC)Meta moderators were already in Texas before Zuckerberg announced move, say ex-workers (The Guardian)Not Many Meta Employees Will Have to Move to Texas After All (Wired)Meta just flipped the switch that prevents misinformation from spreading in the United States (Platformer)Brazil expresses concern over Meta’s changes to content moderation (Al Jazeera)EU reassesses tech probes into Apple, Google and Meta (Financial Times)Despite DEI & content moderation reversals, advertisers won’t flee Meta (The Drum)Meta’s ‘free speech’ overhaul sparks advertisers’ concern (Financial Times)French Woman Says AI Brad Pitt Scammed Her Out of $850K (Hollywood Reporter)French TV show pulled after ridicule of woman who fell for AI Brad Pitt (The Guardian)Why This OnlyFans Model Posts Machine Learning Explainers to Pornhub (404 Media)If you’re in London on Thursday 30th January, join Ben, Mark Scott (Digital Politics) and Georgia Iacovou (Horrific/Terrific) for an evening of tech policy, discussion and drinks. Register your interest.This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at podcast@ctrlaltspeech.com and sponsorship enquiries to sponsorship@ctrlaltspeech.com. Thanks for listening.

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!” or “Trans People Are Immoral” (The Intercept)Trust & Safety is how platforms put values into action (T&S Insider from Everything in Moderation)Nadler Releases Democratic Staff Report on Republicans' Deluded Theory to Undermine Free Speech (House Committee on the Judiciary)EU vows to 'energetically' pursue X probe under Digital rulebook (Bloomberg)Twitter Briefly Blocked The NY Post, Elon Cried Foul. Now He’s Doing Far Worse (Techdirt)The Great Decentralization (Noema Mag)If you’re in London on Thursday 30th January, join Ben, Mark Scott (Digital Politics) and Georgia Iacovou (Horrific/Terrific) for an evening of tech policy, discussion and drinks. Register your interest.This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at podcast@ctrlaltspeech.com and sponsorship enquiries to sponsorship@ctrlaltspeech.com. Thanks for listening.

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 Forum is shutting (GamingOnLinux)Australia leads the world in setting new standards for online child safety (eSafety Commission)How will Australia's under-16 social media ban work? We asked the law's enforcer (NPR)Fentanyl Almost Killed Michael Brewer. Now He Wants Snap to Pay (Bloomberg)Telegram Moderation Overview (Telegram)U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear challenge to TikTok ban (CNBC)This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund. While Online Regulators may have stolen Christmas, Ctrl-Alt-Speech is going to try to take a short holiday break and will return in early January. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at podcast@ctrlaltspeech.com and sponsorship enquiries to sponsorship@ctrlaltspeech.com. Thanks for listening.

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 during Romanian elections (TikTok)Covert Facebook Network Found Targeting Romanian Voters (Bloomberg)TikTok pushes far right candidate content in Romanian election, Global Witness investigation shows (Global Witness)Romania annulled its presidential election results amid alleged Russian interference. What happens next? (Atlantic Council)X’s Yaccarino Praises Child Safety Bill and Urges House Backing (Bloomberg)Elon Musk’s X comes out in favor of pro-censorship law (Mashable - January 2024)Kenya’s President Wades Into Meta Lawsuits (TIME)Attacker Has Techdirt Reclassified As Phishing Site, Proving Masnick’s Impossibility Law Once Again (Techdirt)No actual moles were harmed in the making of this episode, which is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at podcast@ctrlaltspeech.com and sponsorship enquiries to sponsorship@ctrlaltspeech.com. Thanks for listening.

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 Candidate (Bloomberg)GOP FTC Commissioners Abuse “Free Speech” Rhetoric To Push For Government Control Over Online Speech (Techdirt)Race to replace FTC chair Lina Khan pits antitrust hawks against candidate softer on Big Tech: sources (NY Post)Meta says it’s mistakenly moderating too much (The Verge)The Curious Case Of ChatGPT’s Banned Names: Hard-Coding Blocks To Avoid Nuisance Threats (Techdirt)This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund, and by our sponsor Internet Society, a global nonprofit that advocates for an open, globally connected, secure and trustworthy Internet for everyone. In our Bonus Chat, Natalie Campbell and John Perrino from Internet Society join us to talk about the social media age restriction law in Australia, a proposed age verification bill in Canada, and the trend of age gating and age verification globally, and what it means for the open internet. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at podcast@ctrlaltspeech.com and sponsorship enquiries to sponsorship@ctrlaltspeech.com. Thanks for listening.

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 Interpret Section 230 Post-Loper Bright (The Federalist Society)Roblox gives parents more power to protect the safety of young gamers (NBC)Meta should allow third party imagery of terrorist attacks, with a warning (Oversight Board)As Bluesky soars, Threads rolls out custom feeds globally (TechCrunch)Threads’ algorithm will focus more on the people you follow (The Verge)The communications minister cited a study in support of a teen social media ban. Its co-author disagrees (Crikey)Meta says it has removed 2 million accounts linked to pig butchering scams (The Record)You Too Can Hire an ‘Etsy Witch’ to Curse Elon Musk (Wired)This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at podcast@ctrlaltspeech.com and sponsorship enquiries to sponsorship@ctrlaltspeech.com. Thanks for listening.

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 set to return to X as they seek favour with Elon Musk and Donald Trump (Financial Times) The plan to ban children under 16 from social media (The Times) Should smartphones be banned in schools? (Financial Times) Facebook and Instagram to Offer Subscription for No Ads in Europe (Facebook) An update on political advertising in the European Union (Google)Facebook’s Algorithms Think a Small English Community Is Up to No Good (Gizmodo)Phony X accounts are meddling in Ghana’s election (Rest of World)Sockpuppet network impersonating Americans and Canadians amplifies pro-Israel narratives on X (DFR Lab)This episode is brought to you with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at podcast@ctrlaltspeech.com and sponsorship enquiries to sponsorship@ctrlaltspeech.com. Thanks for listening.