x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

Mike Masnick & Ben Whitelaw

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

technology tech news

All Episodes

59:47

New Blocks On The Kids

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/11/06

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: It’s Cool to Have No Followers Now (New Yorker)Introducing Safe for Work? — all about T&S jobs (Everything in Moderation*)Kids Turn Podcast Comments Into Secret Chat Rooms, Because Of Course They Do (Techdirt)Reddit and Kick added to child social media ban (ABC News)X boss explains why ‘horrific’ video viewed by Axel Rudakubana wasn’t removed (The Independent)Southp...

en-us

53:06

Chat Bot Your Tongue?

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/10/30

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Character.AI is banning minors from AI character chats (Financial Times)Strengthening ChatGPT’s responses in sensitive conversations (OpenAI)Senators propose banning teens from using AI chatbots (The Verge)EU accuses Meta, TikTok of breaching digital rules (Politico) Meta and TikTok are obstructing researchers’ access to data, European Commission rules (Science.org...

en-us

62:08

A Tale of Two Internets

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/10/23

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Wikipedia Volunteers Avert Tragedy by Taking Down Gunman at Conference (New York Times)AI-Generated Content a Triple Threat for Reddit Moderators (Cornell Tech)Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors (404 Media)As social media age restrictions spread, is the internet entering its Victorian era? (The Conversation)Winning with misinformation: Ne...

en-us

53:35

Rated R for Ridiculous

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/10/16

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Sam Altman says OpenAI isn’t ‘moral police of the world’ after erotica ChatGPT post blows up (CNBC)Where are all the women on Sora 2? This could be a nightmare for OpenAI. (Business Insider)Musk’s AI Is Being Used to Make Hardcore Porn: ‘Grok Is Learning Genitalia Really Fast!’ (Rolling Stone)Instagram Will Limit Content for Teenagers Based on PG-13 Ratings (NY Times)UK...

en-us

49:35

With Great Platforms Come Great Responsibility

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/10/09

In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Ben is joined by Thomas Hughes, CEO of Appeals Centre Europe and former Director at the Oversight Board. Together they discuss: Appeals Centre Europe Transparency Report (ACE)Most people want platforms (not governments) to be responsible for moderating content (Reuters Institute) Happy Birthday, Digital Services Act! – Time for a Reality Check (Algorithm Watch)Proof-of-age ID leaked in...

en-us

54:49

Moderating is Such Sweet Sorrow

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/10/01

In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by Dave Willner, founder of Zentropi, and long-time trust & safety expert who worked at Facebook, AirBnB, and OpenAI in Trust & Safety roles. Together they discuss: Masnick's Impossibility Theorem: Content Moderation At Scale Is Impossible To Do Well (Techdirt)UK makes new attempt to access Apple cloud data (Financial Times)Imgur pulls out of UK after data regulator w...

en-us

52:21

From 'Free Speech' To 'Flag This'

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/09/18

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: How platforms are responding to the Charlie Kirk shooting (The Verge)Bluesky Issues Warning to Any Users Celebrating Charlie Kirk Assassination (Newsweek)Right-Wing Activists Are Targeting People for Allegedly Celebrating Charlie Kirk’s Death (Wired)Charlie Kirk Was Shot and Killed in a Post-Content-Moderation World (Wired)Has Britain Gone Too Far With Its Digital Contr...

en-us

53:35

It's a Banned, Banned, Banned, Banned World

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/09/11

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Nepal to block some social media including Facebook (Reuters)Why Nepal Banned 26 Social Media Platforms And What It Means (Medianama)A parliament in flames, a leader toppled. Nepal’s Gen-Z protesters ask: What comes next? (CNN)When Trolls Take On Tyrants: 4chan and Kiwi Farms Sue the UK Over Extraterritorial Censorship (Techdirt)Wikipedia is resilient because it's borin...

en-us

52:22

The Haidt of Hypocrisy

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/09/04

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Jordan escalates global tech argument, with Farage's help (Politico) Farage’s rules for free speech: talk about anything but your lunch (The Times)Is Jonathan Haidt right about smartphones? (TES)My mom and Dr. DeepSeek (Rest of World)AI 'deadbots' are persuasive — and researchers say they're primed for monetization (NPR)OpenAI co-founder calls for AI labs to safety...

en-us

50:21

You Asked, We Answered

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/08/21

This is the second of our special episodes for the month of August. Last time, we talked a bit about the past and future of Ctrl-Alt-Speech; this time, Mike and Ben answer some questions from our listeners, and also share a few of the latest reviews. We're taking one more week off after this, then we'll be back in the first week of September with a return to our regular weekly news roundups! Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your fe...

en-us

37:06

What's Next for Ctrl-Alt-Speech

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/08/07

We're taking a little break from our regular weekly news roundups this month, but we've got a couple special episodes lined up in the mean time, starting with a conversation all about the past and future of Ctrl-Alt-Speech. This week, Mike and Ben talk about how the podcast got started, how we create the episodes, our philosophy about sponsorship, and what we need to make Ctrl-Alt-Speech sustainable in the long run. We hope you enjoy it! Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdir...

en-us

69:13

Live at TrustCon 2025

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/07/24

Our second annual live at TrustCon recording of Ctrl-Alt-Speech! Ben was unable to make the trip halfway around the world, but Mike was joined by trust & safety influencer Alice Hunsberger from Musubi and Ashken Kazaryan, a Senior Legal Fellow at the Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University. They cover: As millions adopt Grok to fact-check, misinformation abounds (Al Jazeera)Analysis Of Grok’s Epstein Comments Show How This AI Chatbot Is Learning (Forbes)People With Body Dysmorphia ...

en-us

62:24

The UK Wants Us To Ask Your Age Before You Listen

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/07/17

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: a16z-Backed AI Site Civitai Is Mostly Porn, Despite Claiming Otherwise (404 Media)Hugging Face Is Hosting 5,000 Nonconsensual AI Models of Real People (404 Media)Ofcom head says age checks are ‘really big moment’ for children’s online safety (The Guardian)New online safety rules not 'the end of the conversation', says minister (BBC)Commission’s guidelines for online chi...

en-us

47:32

Move Fast and Mistake Things

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/07/10

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: Jack Cable calls out Cluely over bogus DMCA (X)The cofounder of the viral AI 'cheating' startup Cluely says he only hires people for 2 jobs (Business Insider)Missouri AG: Any AI That Doesn’t Praise Donald Trump Might Be “Consumer Fraud” (No, Really) (Techdirt)Instagram wrongly accuses some users of breaching child sex abuse rules (BBC)Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot praises...

en-us

53:59

Don't Believe What This Podcast Says About...

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/07/03

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: The Misleading Panic over Misinformation (Cato Institute) Claims that Online Misinformation Fears Are Overblown ‘Radically Understates’ the Scale of the Threat (Byline Times)EU Disinformation Code Takes Effect Amid Censorship Claims and Trade Tensions (Tech Policy Press)Content Moderation Is Not Censorship (Law & Liberty)Asked to think like a paedophile or act ...

en-us

46:09

Teen But Not Heard

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/06/26

In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Ben is joined by guest host Bridget Todd, a technology and culture writer, speaker and trainer and host of two great podcasts, There are No Girls on the Internet and IRL: Online Life is Real Life. Together, they cover: AI Models And Parents Don’t Understand ‘Let Him Cook’ (404 Media)Trial reveals flaws in tech intended to enforce Australian social media ban for under-16s (The Guardian)Insid...

en-us

69:17

Outsourced But Not Out Of Mind

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/06/19

In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Ben is joined by guest host Mercy Mutemi, lawyer and managing partner of Nzili & Sumbi Advocates. Together, they cover: Meta can be sued in Kenya for human trafficking and for algorithmic amplification of harm (Open Democracy)Billy Perrigo on investigating Facebook's 'ethical' outsourced content moderation in Kenya (Everything in Moderation)A first look at Meta’s Community Notes (Indica...

en-us

50:55

Outrage For The Machine

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/06/12

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover: He’s a Master of Outrage on X. The Pay Isn’t Great. (NY Times)The vulnerable teen drawn into far-right extremism online (Financial Times)X, Bluesky and Reddit in France’s crosshairs amid porn clampdown (Politico)EU sidesteps Macron’s ultimatum to ban social media for kids under 15 (Euractiv)Commission seeks feedback on the guidelines on protection of minors online under...

en-us

61:41

Algorithm Shrugged

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/05/29

In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by guest host Zeve Sanderson, the founding Executive Director of the NYU Center for Social Media & Politics. Together, they cover: If algorithms radicalize a mass shooter, are companies to blame? (The Verge)Large Language Models Are More Persuasive Than Incentivized Human Persuaders (Arxiv)A dangerous plan to ‘win’ the AI race is circulating (Washington Post)Texas governo...

en-us

53:43

Moderation Without Representation

Ctrl-Alt-Speech ·

2025/05/23

In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by guest host Hank Green, popular YouTube creator and educator. After spending some time talking about being a creator at the whims of platforms, they cover: Crash Course Coin (Complexly)Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College (NY Mag)The Professors Are Using ChatGPT, and Some Students Aren’t Happy About It (NY Times)How Miami Schools Are Leading 100,000 Students Into ...

en-us

79 results

Similar Podcasts

Lead With AI

Tamara Nall

Linux in the Ham Shack

Black Sparrow Media

Data Engineering Podcast

Tobias Macey

Eye On A.I.

Craig S. Smith

Reflections

Livewire Labs