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Content Moderation
Trust and Safety
Meta
Tiktok
Trust & Safety
Online Speech
Digital Services Act
Elon Musk
Online Safety Act
Misinformation
Age Verification
European Union
Section 230
Australia
Free Speech
Telegram
Anthropic
Facebook
Blue Sky
AI Moderation

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 speec... more

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Latest Episodes

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:

• New 13+ Content Settings for Teen Accounts Expanding Globally on Instagram, ... more

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 Boring Internet (Terry Godier)

• Orkney Library & Archive (Bluesky)

• Si... more

YouTube

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... more

YouTube

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... more

YouTube

Key Facts

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Contact Information
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Number of Listeners
Find out how many people listen to this podcast per episode and each month.

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Recent Guests

Jennifer Granick
Civil liberties lawyer known for work on surveillance and online speech
Stanford Law; former ACLU
Episode: Message in a Bottleneck
Ari Cohn
First Amendment lawyer
Independent lawyer
Episode: The Human Element in the Room
Fadza Madzingira
Policy expert with a decade of experience at Meta, Salesforce, Ofcom, and Twitch
Episode: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’ Internet
Konstantinos Komaitis
Resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council
Atlantic Council
Episode: Think Globally, Stack Locally
Paolo Carozza
Professor of law and co-chair of Meta's Oversight Board.
University of Notre Dame
Episode: Spotlight: Five Years of the Oversight Board, from Experiment to Essential Institution
Julie Owono
Executive director of Internet Without Borders and member of the Oversight Board.
Internet Without Borders
Episode: Spotlight: Five Years of the Oversight Board, from Experiment to Essential Institution
Tricia McCleary
Media Advocacy Manager at CCIA
CCIA
Episode: Censors & Sensibility
George Vlasto
Head of Resolver's Trust and Safety Division
Resolver
Episode: Spotlight: Building Better CSAM Detection with Resolver’s George Vlasto
Pele Halai
Expert on CSAM detection and trust and safety solutions
Thorn
Episode: New Blocks On The Kids

Hosts

Mike Masnick
Host and co-creator, affiliated with Techdirt; founder of Techdirt; long-running anchor on online speech and policy.
Ben Whitelaw
Host and co-creator; founder/editor of Everything in Moderation; frequent co-host on trust & safety topics.

Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars from 128 ratings
  • More than niche

    Although this podcast does attract a lot of people who work directly in the tech/moderation/safety sector. It’s still approachable for the laymen. These are topics I hope to see more people who use these platforms get invested and politically motived around.

    The hosts are concise and too the point without being robotic. Truly a wonderful job- please keep up the hard work!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Nelson8008
    United Statesa month ago
  • A must listen

    Anyone working in platform regulation needs to listen to this podcast. Mike and Ben deliver an excellent breakdown each week of the news in trust and safety— which is a next to impossible task since news drops every half hour in this space. They connect the dots between anecdotal stories and larger patterns, predicting (usually accurately) the next big issue we will all have to tackle. I like that they talk about the regulators and point out the some of the more Dilbert-esque aspects of their ... more

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    NHowz
    United States2 months ago
  • A must listen if you care about the Internet or yourself. JK, it is HUGELY important to stay on top of our freedoms and the fragile hold we have on many of them. Ben and Mike give us the inside scoop on AI ,big tech and all that threatens the Internet. You won't regret it.

    Podcast Addict
    5
    Tranjun
    5 months ago
  • Very Accessible for Non-Super Techies

    These guy are smart and fun to listen to and they cover a very important topic that is accessible to a Gen Dial Phone like me. Keep pod casting and I will keep listening.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Thaddeus Stevens
    United States8 months ago
  • Costume inspo

    This Halloween I’ll dress as EU chat control, because there’s nothing scarier.

    Thanks Mike and Ben for the inspiration!

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    NandothePlug
    Germany8 months ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

Thoughtful, nuanced discussions on trust & safety attract policy professionals and curious listeners alike.
Regular guests with legal and policy expertise elevate credibility and insight for sponsors.
Accessible to non-tech audiences without sacrificing depth, making complex topics approachable.

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Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

The Human Element in the Room
Q: Would you describe what the Pennsylvania lawsuit is about and why it matters for AI chatbots like Character AI?
Ari explains that the state alleges one chatbot portrayed itself as a licensed professional, but the case is weak on facts (no chat logs shown, questions about how a chatbot could be mistaken for a licensed practitioner). The discussion emphasizes that liability hinges on evidence of actual harm and the contextual cues that users have to recognize a chatbot is not a real therapist.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’ Internet
Q: Can you tell us a bit about how your role at Twitch plays out and what the team looks like?
The role centers on safety policy development, product input, community insights, and safety education, all organized around building safe communities and explaining policies clearly to creators and moderators.
Spotlight: Five Years of the Oversight Board, from Experiment to Essential Institution
Q: What does that communication process look like in practice? Who is liaising with who?
The process includes structured points of contact that allow for confidential information sharing between the board and Meta, which requires a significant level of institutional trust.
Spotlight: Five Years of the Oversight Board, from Experiment to Essential Institution
Q: Can you give a little bit of background as to how you both came to be on the board in the first place?
Both members shared their insights, with Julie initially joining due to a personal passion for defending digital rights and Paolo being recruited for his extensive experience in international human rights.
Censors & Sensibility
Q: What does the overall online information ecosystem look like when faced with such link taxes?
Link taxes undermine the open architecture of the web and can result in less discoverability for credible journalism, while reducing referral traffic for smaller publishers.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
Location
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Professions
Age Range
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Frequently Asked Questions About Ctrl-Alt-Speech

What is Ctrl-Alt-Speech about and what kind of topics does it cover?

A weekly news show focused on trust and safety, online speech, and platform regulation, with deep dives into one or two major stories and a concise roundup of other developments. Guests range from civil liberties lawyers to policy leaders, offering practical and legal perspectives on topics like payment ecosystems, app stores, age verification, AI governance, and global regulatory trends. The hosts aim for thoughtful, nuanced analysis that appeals to both practitioners and a broader audience interested in how tech policy affects speech, safety, and governance online. Noteworthy is the commitment to balanced debate, accessible explanations of complex legal and technical issues, and occasional behind-the-scenes context about producing and sus... more

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Which podcasts are similar to Ctrl-Alt-Speech?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Ctrl-Alt-Speech:

1. Techdirt
2. The 404 Media Podcast
3. Serious Trouble
4. Hard Fork
5. Big Technology Podcast

How many episodes of Ctrl-Alt-Speech are there?

Ctrl-Alt-Speech launched 2 years ago and published 107 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact Ctrl-Alt-Speech?

Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

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What guests have appeared on Ctrl-Alt-Speech?

Recent guests on Ctrl-Alt-Speech include:

1. Jennifer Granick
2. Ari Cohn
3. Fadza Madzingira
4. Konstantinos Komaitis
5. Paolo Carozza
6. Julie Owono
7. Tricia McCleary
8. George Vlasto

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