Ctrl-Alt-Speech

In this sponsored Spotlight episode of Ctrl-Alt-Speech, host Ben Whitelaw talks to Oversight Board co-chair Paolo Carozza (Professor of Law and Concurrent Professor at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana) and Board member Julie Owono (Executive Director of Internet Without Borders and research affiliate at Berkman Klein Centre) about the Board’s five-year journey and its plans for the future.Together, Ben, Paolo and Julie discuss the Board’s recently published report, From Bold Experiment to Essential Institution, and what it means to call Board “essential” in today’s ever-evolving internet landscape. They also talk about how the Board has changed, the criticisms it faces around cost and influence, and what comes next in 2026 and beyond.This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Oversight Board. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

In the first Ctrl-Alt-Speech episode of 2026, Mike and Ben look forward at the year ahead and begin building a bingo card of things that might happen. They discuss a short list of possible squares, ask for listeners to contribute more ideas, and go few a through suggestions that have already come in. Soon, we’ll release an official Ctrl-Alt-Speech bingo card for listeners to play along throughout the year.Follow Ben at Everything in Moderation and Mike at Techdirt. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

In the last Ctrl-Alt-Speech of the year, Mike and Ben round up the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation with the following stories:Meta shuts down global accounts linked to abortion advice and queer content | Global development (The Guardian)Facebook is testing a link-posting limit for professional accounts and pages (Techcrunch)Meta adopts new age-check system to meet global child safety laws (FT)Russian ban on Roblox gaming platform sparks rare protest (Reuters)OpenAI hires George Osborne to spearhead global ‘Stargate’ expansion (FT)Oscars Bolts From ABC to YouTube Starting in 2029 (Hollywood Reporter) Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:Resonant Computing Manifesto Support Techdirt’s Uncompromising Coverage, Get Our First Commemorative Coin (Techdirt)US Ambassador Slams EU Tech Rules as Musk’s X Hit With Fine (Bloomberg)Why the X fine is causing so much transatlantic drama (Politico)Tech workers face new H1-B scrutiny as Trump targets ‘censorship’ (Washington Post)H1-B visa advice (LinkedIn - Alice Hunsberger)Australian leader defends social media ban as teens flaunt workarounds (Reuters)Age restrictions alone won't keep children safe online (Unicef)Focus must be on making social media safe for children as Australia brings in ban (Save The Children)Operation Bluebird tries to reclaim Twitter (LinkedIn)This episode is brought to you by our sponsor CCIA, an international, not-for-profit trade association representing a broad cross section of communications and technology firms and that promotes open markets, open systems, and open networks. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Ben is joined by Vaishnavi J, former head of youth policy at Meta and founder and principal of Vyanams Strategies, a product advisory firm that helps companies, civil society, and governments build safer age appropriate experiences. Prior to founding Vys, she led video policy at Twitter, built its safety team in APAC and was Google's child safety polciy lead in APAC. Together Ben and Vaishnavi discuss:House overhauls KOSA in a new kids online safety package (The Verge)A nationwide internet age verification plan is sweeping Congress (The Verge)Grindr supports app store age-verification bill despite censorship concerns (Pink News)A summary of the technology sector’s response to the UK’s new online safety rules (Ofcom)Age Assurance Implementation Handbook (Vyanams)Interoperable Age Assurance (Age Verification Providers Association)EU's non-binding resolution around revamping child safety rules (European Parliament)‘We’ll be watching’: Social media companies warned about complying with ban as teens flock to alternative apps (Crikey)The Salesforce of safety: Software vendors as infrastructural/professional nodes in the field of online trust and safety (Sage, Platforms & Society)It's their job to keep AI from destroying everything (The Verge) Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.