Ctrl-Alt-Speech

Become a Ctrl-Alt-Speech supporter to get extended episodes of the podcast plus the chance to submit stories for us to cover.
In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by Chris Messina, inventor of the #hashtag in social media, who has worked on internet and social media efforts for decades. Together they discuss:
Oakland Unified Announces New Cell Phone Policy Now in Effect; Policy is Based on New State Law Requiring Cell Phone-Free School Days (Oakland Unified School District)
In conversation with Jonathan Haidt, author of ‘The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness’ (Left to Their Own Devices)
French court blocks social media ban for under 15s (Politico)
Whistleblower Arturo Béjar leads testimony in landmark trial against Meta (NPR)
Discord halts livestreams in Brazil after watchdog cites child safety failures (ABC News)
And in the extended episode for Patreon supporters, they cover:
AI Companion Legislation in the United States (Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law)
In China, treatment for mental-health problems is a luxury (The Economist)
I Don’t Trust A.I. But I Told it Everything (NY Times)
Our fun links this week include Berd, the open source anthropomorphic agent management tool from Jack Dorsey and Block, and Dopamine Shop, Fake Eats, and other places to shop without shopping.
If you’re already a Patreon supporter, you can get the extended episode on Patreon.
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).

Become a Ctrl-Alt-Speech supporter to get extended episodes of the podcast plus the chance to submit stories for us to cover.
In this week's episode, Mike and Ben cover:
Claude will apply invisible watermarks to AI text and images (The Verge)
Claude-inspired copypasting (LinkedIn)
Anthropic investors bet on $2tn valuation in record IPO (Financial Times)
The Future is for Everyone (Meta)
OpenAI’s head of ethics leaves start-up less than a year after joining (Financial Times)
US court rules Meta, other tech firms must face thousands of lawsuits over social media addiction (Reuters)
Ninth Circuit Rewrites Section 230 To Remove The Part That Actually Mattered (Techdirt)
Otherwise Obectionable podcast (Techdirt)
And in the extended episode for Patreon supporters, they cover:
Breton calls for EU disinformation inquiry over Ceuta (Euractiv)
Meta and TikTok agree to fact-check content on Spain border crossings after deadly rush (Reuters)
Social media rumours spark biggest migration crisis between Morocco and Spain in years (Euronews)
Thierry Breton: “Ceuta? La minaccia viene dall’algoritmo che guida gli arrivi” (La Stampa)
Our fun links this week are this typing website for tiny fingers and a museum for your favourite memes — and the thinking behind it.
If you’re already a Patreon supporter, you can get the extended episode on Patreon.
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).

Become a Ctrl-Alt-Speech supporter to get extended episodes of the podcast plus the chance to submit stories for us to cover.
In this week's episode, Mike and Ben cover:
India summons Meta executives over briefly restricted Modi Facebook post (Reuters)
‘No explanation given’: Arvind Kejriwal claims Meta restricted his account in India (The Times of India)
Meta apologises to India for restricting PM Modi's post (Reuters)
India temporarily bans Telegram over exam paper leak concern (BBC)
eBay agrees $56m settlement with bloggers over harassment case (BBC)
Artist starts legal case against Meta for deleting her Instagram account (The Art Newspaper)
And in the extended episode for Patreon supporters, they cover:
Telegram CEO says an extortionist planted CSAM in a chat to get it pulled from the App Store (The Verge)
TikTok Withheld a Safety Feature From Millions. One Died by Suicide (Bloomberg)
TikTok Says ‘Moderator Error’ Kept Perez Hilton Livestream Up (Wired)
Our fun links this week are the Nintendo gameplay counsellors and a revamped app for sharing your toilet flushing habits. 
If you’re already a Patreon supporter, you can get the extended episode on Patreon.
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).

Become a Ctrl-Alt-Speech supporter to get extended episodes of the podcast plus the chance to submit stories for us to cover.
In this week's episode, Mike and Ben cover:
The U.S. Is About to Design an AI Regulator. Here’s How to Get It Right (Council on Foreign Relations)
Mark Zuckerberg Says U.S. Should Accelerate AI Development, Not Restrict It (WSJ)
Want AI you can trust? Start by building the right institutions (Atlantic Council)
Anthropic Says It’s Against A Ban On Open Weight Models. It Just Wants To Ban Everything That Makes Them Good (Techdirt)
The High Stakes Behind the EU’s €890M Google DMA Fine (Tech Policy Press)
Europe bears its teeth, political panic about OpenAI hack and YouTube refines partner policy (Everything in Moderation)
Trump vows new tariffs on the E.U. after Brussels fines Google $1 billion (Qz)
And in the extended episode for Patreon supporters, they cover:
Elon Musk’s xAI sues Minnesota over law banning ‘nudification’ technology (The Guardian)
The Worst Person You Know Just Filed A Good First Amendment Lawsuit Against A Very Badly Drafted Nudify App Ban (Techdirt)
Our fun links this week are a replica of Scooby Doo’s Mystery-Machine and the Saltburn cricket scandal because we need more satire right now.
If you’re already a Patreon supporter, you can get the extended episode on Patreon.
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).

Our third annual Live at TrustCon recording of Ctrl-Alt-Speech! Ben was back this year! Mike and Ben were joined live on stage with Kat Duffy, senior fellow for digital and cyberspace policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and Zoe Darme, Director for Trust, Knowledge and Information Products at Google. They cover:
Security incident disclosure — July 2026 (Hugging Face)
OpenAI and Hugging Face partner to address security incident during model evaluation (OpenAI)
An OpenAI test model escaped and broke into a real company’s servers (CNN)
France Joins a Global Move Toward Restricting Social Media for Children (NY Times)
xAI sues user for exploiting AI tool to sexualise minors (Al Jazeera)
Special thanks to the Trust & Safety Professionals Association (TSPA) and all the work they do each year in putting on TrustCon, and for allowing us to host the live podcast as the closing session again this year.
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).