School of Hard Blocks

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.

Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky.

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).