Tech Policy Podcast

First Amendment attorney Bob Corn-Revere of FIRE and TechFreedom president Berin Szóka dissect the escalating ABC-FCC showdown. They explore early license renewals, threats against broadcasters, and whether investigations can become punishment. The conversation examines jawboning, the weaponization of the public-interest standard, concentrated presidential power, and why courts may need to protect editorial independence before political pressure reshapes coverage.

Taylor Lorenz, journalist and author of Extremely Online and founder of UserMag, digs into KOSA, the SCREEN Act, and online age verification. They discuss how vague duty-of-care rules can drive platform over-censorship. They explore identity verification risks, threats to anonymous speech, political moral panic, and why protecting kids online can create broader privacy harms.

Ari Cohn, a tech policy lawyer preparing to take over hosting duties at Tech Freedom, returns to talk social media and AI regulation. They rant about state and Supreme Court fights over platform rules. Conversation jumps from moral panics and video-game parallels to AI liability risks and the dangers of government control. Corbin signs off and Ari previews his plans.

Judge Glock (Manhattan Institute) joins the show to discuss the past, present, and future of data center construction in the United States. Links: The Surprising Heart of the Data-Center Boom

Dr. Mekhi Dhesi is a space industry executive at Slingshot Aerospace and a space communicator. She joins the show to discuss orbital mechanics, rocket science, black holes, the Fermi paradox, and more. Follow her on Instagram @cosmic_mekhi!

Christopher Ferguson, psychology professor who studies media panics and empirical harms research, and Nico Perrino, FIRE EVP and free-speech legal historian. They map centuries of moral panic around new media. They compare comic-book scares to social media and AI, debate age-based limits and liability for AI, and warn how moderation, algorithms, and rushed laws can quietly reshape speech.

From January 9, 2022 (Episode 310): Daphne Keller discusses her paper “Amplification and Its Discontents” with Corbin Barthold and Ari Cohn. Links: Amplification and Its Discontents: Why Regulating the Reach of Online Content Is Hard Tech Policy Podcast 389: The Rise of the Compliant Speech Platform

Jacob Mchangama and Jeff Kosseff discuss their fantastic new book, The Future of Free Speech. Links: The Future of Free Speech: Reversing the Global Decline of Democracy's Most Essential Freedom

TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold, Santana Boulton, and Andy Jung discuss whether AI promotes free speech, why AI outputs are protected free expression, why Anthropic should win its First Amendment lawsuit against the Department of War, and much else besides. Links: AI + 1A: Why the First Amendment Protects Artificial Intelligence Don’t Ban Kids From Using Chatbots Heaven’s Gate—How and When It May Be Entered

Our host, Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom), speaks on a panel at State of the Net with Joel Thayer (Digital Progress Institute) and Ashkhen Kazaryan (The Future of Free Speech), and Luke Hogg (Foundation for American Innovation). They discuss how the First Amendment should work in a world of algorithms and AI. Links: AI + 1A: Why the First Amendment Protects Artificial Intelligence (Corbin’s new paper) (https://tinyurl.com/mw5vbuzf) State of the Net 2026 Tech Podcast Policy 373: Porn and the First Amendment Tech Podcast Policy 417: Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton Is Wreaking Havoc