Ctrl-Alt-Speech: Making The Best Of A Ban Situation

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

from the ctrl-alt-speech dept

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed. To get extended episodes with additional coverage, support us on Patreon.

In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Ben is joined by Cori Crider, executive director of the Future of Technology Institute, an independent non-profit focusing on technology that serves the public. She previously co-founded legal non-profit Foxglove and led national security litigation at human rights organisation, Reprieve. Together, Ben and Cori discuss:

• Australia to double potential fines for Facebook and Instagram (ABC News)
• 85% of kids are still using social media despite ban. But we need a new measure to judge its success (The Conversation)
• German expert panel suggests social media ban for under-13s (Reuters)
• EXCLUSIVE: EU could announce social media ban for kids in September (Euractiv)
• The EU Wants To Grow Homegrown Tech. Its Courts Keep Making That Impossible (Techdirt)
• Eurosky x Funk (German pub broadcaster youth programme) partnership (Linkedin)

And in the extended episode for Patreon supporters, they cover:

• TikTok announce major redundancies amid push for AI content moderation (The Independent)
• Meta looks to AI to review harmful content in cost-cutting drive (Financial Times)

Our fun links this week are the rise of dopamine sites (Ben) and Polaroid’s billboard campaign (Cori).

If you’re already a Patreon supporter, you can get the extended episode on Patreon.

Filed Under: australia, child safety, content moderation, eu, germany, social media, trust and safety
Companies: eurosky, funk, meta, tiktok

Ctrl-Alt-Speech: The Ctrl-Alt-Speech Reading List (Teaser)

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

from the ctrl-alt-speech dept

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed. To get extended episodes with additional coverage, support us on Patreon.

In a special bonus episode for our Patreon supporters, Mike and Ben discuss some of their favorite must-read books about online speech, platform power, and content moderation. This free teaser covers their first two picks: It’s Complicated by Danah Boyd and Behind the Screen by Sarah T. Roberts.

To hear the full episode with all six books, become a Ctrl-Alt-Speech supporter on Patreon.

Filed Under: books, content moderation, trust and safety

Ctrl-Alt-Speech: Close Your Apps And Think Of England

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

from the ctrl-alt-speech dept

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed. To get extended episodes with additional coverage, support us on Patreon.

In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Ben is joined by Jen Weedon, a T&S veteran of Meta and Niantic. She is currently consulting and teaching at Columbia school of International and Public Affairs. Together, Ben and Jen discuss:

• Jen Weedon on anticipating platform threats and how to manage burnout (Everything in Moderation)
• AI Slop and the Information Ecosystem (Columbia University)
• UK examines steps to stop children circumventing social media ban (Financial Times)
• Social media ban for UK’s under 16s will go even further than Australia’s policy (BMJ)
• The split-screen reaction to the UK social media ban (Everything in Moderation)
• Anthropic shuts down newest AI model after U.S. bans foreign use (The Washington Post)
• India blocks Telegram messaging app until June 22, government says (Reuters)

And in the extended episode for Patreon supporters, they cover:

• Spotify removed 57,000 fake podcast episodes selling illegal drugs after congressional pressure (TNW)
• Spotify chief defends AI-generated music (Financial Times)

Our fun links this week are the How Alberta eradicated rats (Ben) and Mogwooooo’s Instagram account (Jen).

If you’re already a Patreon supporter, you can get the extended episode on Patreon.

Filed Under: age verification, ai, ai slop, artificial intelligence, content moderation, jen weedon, trust and safety, uk
Companies: anthropic, telegram

Ctrl-Alt-Speech: Cupertino d’État

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

from the ctrl-alt-speech dept

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed. To get extended episodes with additional coverage, support us on Patreon.

In this week’s episode, Mike and Ben cover:

• Tech bosses threatened with prison if they fail to protect children (The Times)
• Apple and Google given three months to ban nude images on children’s devices (BBC News)
• Keir Starmer’s social media ban for under-16s could backfire, experts warn (OpenDemocracy)
• Apple previews new child safety features (Apple)
• Apple’s WWDC keynote was very different, but this will be the new normal (9to5mac)
• Ottawa introduces bill to restrict social media for teens, regulate AI chatbots (Globe and Mail)
• Australia builds enforcement layer behind age assurance laws (Biometric Update)
• NCAC Welcomes Meta Oversight Board’s New Account Recommendations (NCAC)

And in the extended episode for Patreon supporters, they cover:

• Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 (Anthropic)
• Microsoft restricts Claude Fable for employees over data retention concern (The Verge)
• The Rise of the Compliant Speech Platform (Lawfare)
• Policy on the AI Exponential (Dario Amodei)

Our fun links this week are the 7-0 World Cup game (Ben) and Chipotlai Max (Mike).

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).

If you’re already a Patreon supporter, you can get the extended episode on Patreon.

Filed Under: ai, artificial intelligence, australia, canada, content moderation, trust and safety, uk
Companies: anthropic, apple, google, meta

Ctrl-Alt-Speech: Generous To A Default

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

from the ctrl-alt-speech dept

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed. To get extended episodes with additional coverage, support us on Patreon.

In In this week’s episode, Mike and Ben cover:

• New 13+ Content Settings for Teen Accounts Expanding Globally on Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger (Meta)
• Meta Expands Safety Features for Teenagers (New York Times)
• Hackers Used Meta’s AI Support Bot to Seize Instagram Accounts (Krebs on Security)
• Everyone In This LEGO Dispute Should Have Spoken To A Lawyer Earlier Than They Did (Techdirt)
• Can you go 82-0? (82-0)
• My toddler’s version of a silent disco (Instagram)

And in the extended episode for Patreon supporters, they cover:

• Enshittification, Despotification, and the Open Internet (Liberalism)

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).

If you’re already a Patreon supporter, you can get the extended episode on Patreon.

Filed Under: ai, artificial intelligence, content moderation, decentralization, trust and safety
Companies: bricks and minifigs, meta

Ctrl-Alt-Speech: Deus vs. Machina

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

from the ctrl-alt-speech dept

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed. To get extended episodes with additional coverage, support us on Patreon.

In this week’s episode, Mike and Ben cover:

• The Boring Internet (Terry Godier)
• Orkney Library & Archive (Bluesky)
• Silicon Valley takes its AI pitch to the pope (Politico)
• Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah’s remarks on Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical “Magnifica humanitas” (Anthropic)
• Vance calls Pope Leo’s AI warnings ‘profound’ (NBC News)
• American heresy: should Peter Thiel be burned at the stake? (Le Grand Continent)
• Spotify chief defends AI-generated music (Financial Times)
• OpenAI readies cyber, misinformation defenses ahead of elections (Axios)

And in the extended episode for Patreon supporters, they cover:

• In a surprise, Meta increases funding to the Oversight Board (Platformer)
• Spotlight: Five Years of the Oversight Board, from Experiment to Essential Institution (Ctrl-Alt-Speech)

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense of the major debates shaping online speech, platform power, content moderation and the future of the internet. It’s co-hosted by Mike Masnick (Techdirt) and Ben Whitelaw (Everything in Moderation).

If you’re already a Patreon supporter, you can get the extended episode on Patreon.

Filed Under: ai, artificial intelligence, content moderation, oversight board, trust and safety
Companies: anthropic, meta, openai, spotify

Ctrl-Alt-Speech: Message In A Bottleneck

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

from the ctrl-alt-speech dept

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed.

In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by civil liberties lawyer Jennifer Granick. Together they discuss:

• Kickstarter rolls back its mature content policy after outcry (Engadget)
• Apple gives update on the App Store and its key protections (9to5 Mac)
• Thoughts on the £1,000,000 SaSu Fine (Preston Byrne)
• Pushing back from Big Tech: Africa’s hard road to AI sovereignty (Rest of World)
• America’s dangerous, messy deepfakes crackdown is here (The Verge)
• X accounts are limited to 50 posts and 200 replies a day unless they pay for a blue checkmark (Engadget)

Support the podcast by joining our Patreon, with special founder membership available until May 28th.

Filed Under: africa, ai, artificial intelligence, content moderation, deepfakes, trust and safety
Companies: apple, kickstarter, twitter

Ctrl-Alt-Speech: The Human Element In The Room

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

from the ctrl-alt-speech dept

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed.

In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by First Amendment lawyer Ari Cohn. Together they discuss:

• Pennsylvania sues AI chatbot as state lawmakers wrestle with stricter regulations (Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
• Children are drawing moustaches on their faces to fool online age checks – and it’s working (Euronews)
• The Online Safety Act: Are children safer online? (Internet Matters)
• Utah first state to hold websites liable for users who mask their location with VPNs — law goes into effect, designed to prevent bypassing age checks (Tom’s Hardware)
• Three Justifications—and the AI Accelerant—of India’s Digital Censorship Infrastructure (Tech Policy Press)
• Did School Cellphone Bans Work? New Study Finds Mixed Results.(NY Times)

Support the podcast by joining our Patreon, with special founder membership available until May 28th.

Filed Under: age verification, ari cohn, artificial intelligence, chatbots, content moderation, free speech, trust and safety
Companies: character.ai

Ctrl-Alt-Speech: Age Against The Machine

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

from the ctrl-alt-speech dept

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed.

In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by Jess Miers, law professor at University of Akron School of Law. Together, they discuss:

• AI Chatbots: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
• OpenAI’s Sam Altman apologizes to Canadian community after failing to flag mass shooter’s conversations with its AI chatbot (CNN)
• OpenAI And Sam Altman Could Face Dozens More Lawsuits Over School Shooting In British Columbia, Lawyer Says (Forbes)
• Manitoba premier addresses province’s plan to ban youth from social media, AI chatbots (CTV News)
• Turkey Passes Legislation Barring Children Under 15 From Social Media (NY Times)
• How YouTube Took Over the American Classroom (WSJ)

Support the podcast by joining our Patreon, with special founder membership available until May 28th.

Filed Under: age verification, ai, artificial intelligence, chatbots, content moderation, education, manitoba, social media, trust and safety, turkey
Companies: openai, youtube

Ctrl-Alt-Speech: Celebrating 100 Episodes & Launching Our Patreon

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

from the ctrl-alt-speech dept

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw.

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed.

In this special episode, Mike and Ben reflect on 100 episodes of the podcast, followed by an important announcement: we’re launching a Patreon and making some changes to Ctrl-Alt-Speech!

Starting on May 28th, Patreon members will get early access to extended weekly episodes with in-depth coverage of an extra major story. The free episodes will continue here on this feed, just slightly shorter and released one day later. 

You can become a member now at one of two levels: Supporters get early access to the extended episodes, and for a limited time Founders get that plus the opportunity to send us news stories that you think we should cover each week. After the new episodes begin at the end of May, the Founder tier will become the Insider tier with all the same benefits at a slightly higher price, so act now if you don’t want to miss out (you’ll also get bragging rights as a founding member!)

We’re immensely grateful to the incredible audience we’ve found over these past 100 episodes, and this is our way of helping make the podcast sustainable for the next 100!

Filed Under: content moderation, trust and safety
Companies: patreon