We’ve Hit Grok Bottom

In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:

• UK, Canadian watchdogs press on with probes into Elon Musk's Grok chatbot (Reuters)
• Musk’s xAI limits Grok’s ability to create sexualized images of real people on X after backlash (CNBC)
• X claims it has stopped Grok from undressing people, but of course it hasn’t (The Verge)
• State Department Threatens UK Over Grok Investigation, Because Only The US Is Allowed To Ban Foreign Apps (Techdirt)
• Keir Starmer tells MPs he is open to social media ban for young people (The Guardian)
• Statement from the Molly Rose Foundation (LinkedIn)
• Wes Streeting asks US expert Jonathan Haidt to address officials on social media ban for under-16s (The Guardian)
• Some social media use can benefit teen mental health (AAP)
• Arlington-focused Facebook group with 25,000 members is removed, angering moderators (ARLnow)
• Bandcamp becomes the first major music platform to ban AI content (The Verge)

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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).