Live at TrustCon 2026

More from Ctrl-Alt-Speech All episodes →

1. 

   S1 · E118 · 28 Aug 2026 · 35 min

   Move Fast and Settle Things

   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...

2. 

   S1 · E117 · 21 Aug 2026 · 42 min

   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 Req...

3. 

   S1 · E116 · 14 Aug 2026 · 41 min

   Watermark My Words

   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 Met...

4. 

   S1 · E115 · 7 Aug 2026 · 38 min

   In the Modi for Takedowns

   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: India summons Meta executives over briefly restricted Modi Facebook post (Reuters)‘No explanation given’: Arvind Kejriwal claims Meta restricted his account in India (The Times of India)Meta apologises to India for restricting PM Modi's post (Reuters)India temporarily bans Telegram over exam paper leak concern (BBC)eBay ...

5. 

   S1 · E114 · 31 Jul 2026 · 38 min

   Zuck Starts Throwing His Weights Around

   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: The U.S. Is About to Design an AI Regulator. Here’s How to Get It Right (Council on Foreign Relations)Mark Zuckerberg Says U.S. Should Accelerate AI Development, Not Restrict It (WSJ)Want AI you can trust? Start by building the right institutions (Atlantic Council)Anthropic Says It’s Against A Ban On Open Weight Models. ...

6. 

   S1 · E112 · 22 Jul 2026 · 39 min

   Spotlight: PwC’s Dan Hays on the future of Trust & Safety

   In this sponsored Spotlight episode of Ctrl-Alt-Speech, host Ben Whitelaw speaks to PwC’s Dan Hays at TrustCon about the firm’s recently published Trust & Safety Outlook report. They discuss: How AI is simultaneously creating new risks and reshaping the tools used to address them;What the rise of autonomous agents means for governance, accountability and the future of the internet; andHow platforms should respond to an increasingly fragmented regulatory landscape.The conversation al...

7. 

   S1 · E111 · 17 Jul 2026 · 52 min

   Putting Some Meat On The Bans

   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, Ben is joined by Niklas Eder, co-founder and co-CEO of User Rights, a designated out of court dispute settlement body under the Digital Services Act which reviews complaints from users whose social media posts have been deleted or moderated. Together, Ben and Ni...

8. 

   S1 · E110 · 10 Jul 2026 · 37 min

   Sell Me Lies, Sell Me Sweet Meta Lies

   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: ‘It’s not like we knowingly have bad ads’: Meta on ad fraud, teen safety, and why AI will not replace agencies (The Media Leader)Instagram running ads promoting child sexual abuse material in India (BBC)Meta Now Lets Anyone Use Your Instagram Photos in AI Images—Unless You Opt Out (Wired)At 17, She Sued Meta and Google, ...

9. 

   S1 · E109 · 3 Jul 2026 · 47 min

   Making the Best of a Ban Situation

   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, Ben is joined by Cori Crider, executive director of the Future of Technology Institute, an independent non-profit focusing on technology that serves the public. She previously co-founded legal non-profit Foxglove and led national security litigation at human rig...

10. 

    S1 · E108 · 26 Jun 2026 · 15 min

    Teaser: The Ctrl-Alt-Speech Reading List

    In a special bonus episode for our Patreon supporters, Mike and Ben discuss some of their favorite must-read books about online speech, platform power, and content moderation. This free teaser covers their first two picks: It’s Complicated by Danah Boyd and Behind the Screen by Sarah T. Roberts. To hear the full episode with all six books, become a Ctrl-Alt-Speech supporter on Patreon. Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, and Bluesky. Ctrl-Alt-Speech is the podcast where we make sense ...