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:

• Meta Just Paid Nearly $17 Billion To Make Sure It Gets To Write The Kid Safety Rules For Every Other Social Media Platform (Techdirt)
• Mark Zuckerberg Wants to Make Sure His Competitors Share His Pain (New York Times)
• Meta settlement opens new front in global fight over social media harm (Reuters)

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

• UK expects Meta to match US child safety measures after $18bn settlement (The Guardian)
• What Meta’s US Settlement on Child Safety Means for Europe (TechPolicy.Press)
• Did Meta’s Big Settlement Actually Help It? (New York Times)

Our fun links this week include a new table format for food recipes and Rainbolt’s tear-jerking Geoguessr video.

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 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).