13 episodes
Ctrl-Alt-Speech Mike Masnick & Ben Whitelaw
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- Technology
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4.8 • 21 Ratings
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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 industry. Each episode takes a deep dive into one or two key stories, and includes a quicker roundup of other important news. It's a must-listen for trust & safety professionals, and anyone interested in issues surrounding online speech.If your company or organization is interested in sponsoring Ctrl-Alt-Speech and joining us for a sponsored interview, visit ctrlaltspeech.com for more information.Ctrl-Alt-Speech is produced with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund, a fiscally-sponsored multi-donor fund at Global Impact that supports charitable activities to build a more robust, capable, and inclusive Trust and Safety ecosystem and field.
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Won't Someone Please Think of the Adults?
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:EU Explores Whether Telegram Falls Under Strict New Content Law (Bloomberg)Too Small to Police, Too Big to Ignore: Telegram Is the App Dividing Europe (Bloomberg) NIST Reports First Results From Age Estimation Software Evaluation (NIST) Supersharers of fake news on Twitter (Science) Digital town square? Nextdoor's offline contexts and online discourse (JQD...
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Deepfake It Till You Make It
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:Meta and Coinbase link up with Match to fight pig-butchering, romance scams (Fortune)Indian Voters Are Being Bombarded With Millions of Deepfakes. Political Candidates Approve (Wired)Meta says AI-generated election content is not happening at a “systemic level” (MIT Technology Review)How Bluesky is thinking about spam (Bluesky)French TikTok block in overseas territory se...
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Do You Really Want the Government in Your DMs?
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:Commission opens formal proceedings against Meta under the Digital Services Act related to the protection of minors on Facebook and Instagram (European Commission)Meta, TikTok, other platforms told to expect EU guidelines soon on child protection, age verification (MLex)Got a text that you think is a scam? S’pore’s new centre to fight online harms can help verify it (Str...
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Between a Rock and a Hard Policy
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:Stack Overflow bans users en masse for rebelling against OpenAI partnership (Tom's Hardware)Tech firms must tame toxic algorithms to protect children online (Ofcom)Reddit Lays Out Content Policy While Seeking More Licensing Deals (Bloomberg)Extremist Militias Are Coordinating in More Than 100 Facebook Groups (Wired)Politicians Scapegoat Social Media While Ignoring Real S...
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This One Weird Trick to Save the Open Internet
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by guest host Alex Feerst, former General Counsel and head of trust & safety at Medium, and co-founder of the Digital Trust & Safety Partnership. Together they cover:Was There A Trojan Horse Hidden In Section 230 All Along That Could Enable Adversarial Interoperability? (Techdirt)EU Commission opens formal proceedings against Facebook and Instagram under the Digital ...
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The Bell Tolls for TikTok
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:How to Fix the Online Child Exploitation Reporting System (Stanford Internet Observatory)TikTok faces EU Commission’s second probe, potential suspension of reward program (Euronews)Meta Expands Its Mixed Reality Beyond the Quest Headsets (CNet)The biggest AI companies agree to crack down on child abuse images (Thorn)Wattpad has a community problem, so it’s killing DMs (T...
Customer Reviews
Always compelling
I follow this world very closely, but I still learn many new and unexpected things with every episode. Also appreciate that Mike and Ben speak slowly and clearly enough that it’s easy to listen at higher speeds!
The internet’s sheriffs, reporting for duty
Mike Masnick, a respected expert in internet law and free speech, has brought his deep knowledge and critical eye to a broader examination of global internet regulations and real-life stories about online trust and safety.
The format of "Ctrl-Alt-Speech" feels like two internet sheriffs have deputized themselves to call out the sometimes asinine and semi-ridiculous attempts by well-meaning but ill-informed humans to "make the internet safer." Masnick and his co-host, Ben Whitelaw, expertly unpack the inherent complexities and trade-offs in these efforts, often highlighting how they may ultimately cause more harm, even if unintended.
This podcast is a must-listen for anyone interested in the nuanced and constantly evolving landscape of internet governance. Masnick's insightful commentary and the engaging storytelling make "Ctrl-Alt-Speech" a compelling and essential listen.
Timely, Topical, and Trustworthy Twosome
A timely podcast with two of the only journalists I trust to understand the nuances of t&s and tech. Their insights are interesting, friendly banter is fun and not too over the top, and it’s clear that they’ve been thinking about these issues for years and are well informed. They cover the big news of the week, but also pick out things that aren’t necessarily on my radar (which is a real feat as I’m also a chronic news reader!)