Ctrl-Alt-Speech
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 speech worlds, discussing the ins and outs of the news that week and what it may mean for the industry. Each episode takes a deep dive into one or two key stories, and includes a quicker roundup of other important news. It's a must-listen for trust & safety professionals, and anyone interested in issues surrounding online speech.
If your company or organization is interested in sponsoring Ctrl-Alt-Speech and joining us for a sponsored interview, visit ctrlaltspeech.com for more information.
Ctrl-Alt-Speech is produced with financial support from the Future of Online Trust & Safety Fund, a fiscally-sponsored multi-donor fund at Global Impact that supports charitable activities to build a more robust, capable, and inclusive Trust and Safety ecosystem and field.
Episodes
102 episodes
Celebrating 100 Episodes & Launching Our Patreon
In this special episode, Mike and Ben reflect on 100 episodes of the podcast, followed by an important announcement: we’re launching a Patreon and making some changes to Ctrl-Alt-Speech!
The Silence of the LLMs
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:The Darkest Web (BBC)
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’ Internet
In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Ben is joined by Fadzai Madzingira, a digital policy expert with a decade of experience at Meta, Salesforce, Ofcom and currently Twitch, whe...
Age Old Questions
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:It's offic...
For Meta or Worse
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:How London become a T&S hub<...
Money for Nothing and Clicks for a Fee
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
Writing Some Wrongs
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:Grammarly turned me into an AI edito...
The (Content Moderation) Eras Tour
In a special episode of Ctrl-Alt-Speech, Ben and Mike discuss (with apologies to Tay-Tay) the three eras of content moderation in the media and what comes next. Their conversation builds on Ben’s essay in the soon-to-be-published
Let Fly the Claudes of War, with Casey Newton
In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Ben is joined by Casey Newton, founder and editor of Platformer and co-host of
Panic! At The Discord
In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Ben is joined by Dr Blake Hallinan, Professor of Platform Studies in the Department of Media & Journalism Studies at Aarhus University. ...
FAFO: Claude Goes High Brow With Its Super Bowl Ad & "Constitution"; OpenAI Scrambles
In this special bonus for Ctrl-Alt-Speech listeners, we're cross-posting an episode from the Future Around And Find Out podcast hosted by Dan Blumberg with guest Kwaku Aning.This ...
C'est la Vile Content
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:House Judiciary Releases EU X Fine Details
Think Globally, Stack Locally
In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike is joined by Konstantinos Komaitis, Senior Resident Fellow for Global and Democratic Governance...
This Episode is Broadly Safe to Listen To
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:My year with a flip phone (Fin...
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:
Spotlight: Five Years of the Oversight Board, from Experiment to Essential Institution
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 (Executi...
Making Our 2026 Bingo Card
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, an...
Have Yourself a Very Meta Christmas
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:
Censors & Sensibility
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
Stuck in the Middleware with Youth
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 t...
Spotlight: Building Better CSAM Detection with Resolver’s George Vlasto
In this sponsored Spotlight episode of Ctrl-Alt-Speech, host Ben Whitelaw speaks with George Vlasto, head of the Trust & Safety division at Resolver, as the organisation marks its 20th anniversary. Th...
You Can't Antitrust Anyone These Days
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben cover:
Deviation from the Teen
In this week’s roundup of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Ben is joined by Kenji Yoshino, who has the excellent title of Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at New York Univers...