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, and go few a through suggestions that have already come in. Soon, we’ll release an official Ctrl-Alt-Speech bingo card for listeners to play along throughout the year.

Follow Ben at Everything in Moderation and Mike at Techdirt.

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

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:

• Meta shuts down global accounts linked to abortion advice and queer content | Global development (The Guardian)
• Facebook is testing a link-posting limit for professional accounts and pages (Techcrunch)
• Meta adopts new age-check system to meet global child safety laws (FT)
• Russian ban on Roblox gaming platform sparks rare protest (Reuters)
• OpenAI hires George Osborne to spearhead global ‘Stargate’ expansion (FT)
• Oscars Bolts From ABC to YouTube Starting in 2029 (Hollywood Reporter)

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

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 
• Support Techdirt’s Uncompromising Coverage, Get Our First Commemorative Coin (Techdirt)
• US Ambassador Slams EU Tech Rules as Musk’s X Hit With Fine (Bloomberg)
• Why the X fine is causing so much transatlantic drama (Politico)
• Tech workers face new H1-B scrutiny as Trump targets ‘censorship’ (Washington Post)
• H1-B visa advice (LinkedIn - Alice Hunsberger)
• Australian leader defends social media ban as teens flaunt workarounds (Reuters)
• Age restrictions alone won't keep children safe online (Unicef)
• Focus must be on making social media safe for children as Australia brings in ban (Save The Children)
• Operation Bluebird tries to reclaim Twitter (LinkedIn)

This episode is brought to you by our sponsor CCIA, an international, not-for-profit trade association representing a broad cross section of communications and technology firms and that promotes open markets, open systems, and open networks.

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

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 that helps companies, civil society, and governments build safer age appropriate experiences. Prior to founding Vys, she led video policy at Twitter, built its safety team in APAC and was Google's child safety polciy lead in APAC. Together Ben and Vaishnavi discuss:

• House overhauls KOSA in a new kids online safety package (The Verge)
• A nationwide internet age verification plan is sweeping Congress (The Verge)
• Grindr supports app store age-verification bill despite censorship concerns (Pink News)
• A summary of the technology sector’s response to the UK’s new online safety rules (Ofcom)
• Age Assurance Implementation Handbook (Vyanams)
• Interoperable Age Assurance (Age Verification Providers Association)
• EU's non-binding resolution around revamping child safety rules (European Parliament)
• ‘We’ll be watching’: Social media companies warned about complying with ban as teens flock to alternative apps (Crikey)
• The Salesforce of safety: Software vendors as infrastructural/professional nodes in the field of online trust and safety (Sage, Platforms & Society)
• It's their job to keep AI from destroying everything (The Verge)

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

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. Their conversation looks back at two decades of Resolver’s work supporting platforms and safeguarding online communities, and explores how that legacy has shaped its newest innovations.

Ben and George dig into Resolver’s unique approach to scaling the detection of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and unpack why ATHENA — the company’s latest breakthrough — may be one of the most significant yet under-recognised tools in the fight against online harms.

Further reading: 

• Twenty Years of Protecting Children Online 
• The Human at the Heart of the Machine: A 20-Year Lesson in Online Safety 
• From Reactive to Predictive: Why It’s No Longer Enough to Spot What’s Already Happened

This episode is brought to you in partnership with Resolver.

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

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

• Meta wins FTC antitrust trial over Instagram, WhatsApp deals (CNBC)
• Commission eyes further simplification of tech rules after DSA review (Euractiv)
• Inside Europe's 'Jekyll and Hyde' tech strategy (Digital Policy)
• NetChoice sues Virginia to block its one-hour social media limit for kids (The Verge)
• Tech Giants Sue California Over Social Media Access Law (2) (Bloomberg Law)
• TikTok to give users power to reduce amount of AI content on their feeds (The Guardian) 
• The Most Frustrating Word for Trust & Safety Professionals (LinkedIn)

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

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 University School of Law and the Director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging. Kenji is also a member of the Oversight Board. Together Ben and Kenji discuss:

• ‘Andrew Tate is dead’: inside the minds of 16-year-olds (The Observer)
• Introducing the Teen Safety Blueprint (OpenAI)
• OpenAI unveils blueprint for teen AI safety standards (Axios)
• OpenAI Faces Legal Storm Over Claims Its AI Drove Users to Suicide, Delusions (KQED)
• Irish watchdog opens content moderation probe into Elon Musk's X (Euractiv)

This episode is brought to you by our sponsor CCIA, an international, not-for-profit trade association representing a broad cross section of communications and technology firms and that promotes open markets, open systems, and open networks.

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

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

• It’s Cool to Have No Followers Now (New Yorker)
• Introducing Safe for Work? — all about T&S jobs (Everything in Moderation*)
• Kids Turn Podcast Comments Into Secret Chat Rooms, Because Of Course They Do (Techdirt)
• Reddit and Kick added to child social media ban (ABC News)
• X boss explains why ‘horrific’ video viewed by Axel Rudakubana wasn’t removed (The Independent)
• Southport Inquiry (YouTube)
• How Elon Musk is Boosting The British Right (Sky News)
• arXiv Changes Rules After Getting Spammed With AI-Generated 'Research' Papers (404 Media)
• TikTok Investigated in France Over Content That Promotes Suicide (Bloomberg) 
• France Moves to Block the Shein Website Over a Sex Doll Scandal (New York Times) 
• EU leaders paper over splits on US tech reliance (Politico) 

This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Safer by Thorn, a purpose-built CSAM and CSE solution. Powered by trusted data and Thorn’s issue expertise, Safer helps trust and safety teams proactively detect CSAM and child sexual exploitation messages.

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

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

• Character.AI is banning minors from AI character chats (Financial Times)
• Strengthening ChatGPT’s responses in sensitive conversations (OpenAI)
• Senators propose banning teens from using AI chatbots (The Verge)
• EU accuses Meta, TikTok of breaching digital rules (Politico) 
• Meta and TikTok are obstructing researchers’ access to data, European Commission rules (Science.org)
• Hey Elon: Let Me Help You Speed Run The Content Moderation Learning Curve (Techdirt)
• China’s new law: only degree-holding influencers can discuss professional topics – netizens divided on its impact (IOL) 
• Wizz is like ‘Tinder for kids,’ as teens use the app to hook up while adult predators lurk (NY Post) 

This episode is brought to you by our sponsor WebPurify, an Intouch company. IntouchCX is a global leader in digital customer experience management, back office processing, trust and safety, and AI services. 

Webpurify has just launched their very first podcast series, Trust Issues - Insights from the People Who Keep the Internet Safe, and Mike and Ben are fans. Listen to all three episodes on Spotify and watch on YouTube.

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

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

• Wikipedia Volunteers Avert Tragedy by Taking Down Gunman at Conference (New York Times)
• AI-Generated Content a Triple Threat for Reddit Moderators (Cornell Tech)
• Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors (404 Media)
• As social media age restrictions spread, is the internet entering its Victorian era? (The Conversation)
• Winning with misinformation: New research identifies link between endorsing easily disproven claims and prioritizing symbolic strength (The Conversation)
• Tinder Launches Mandatory Facial Verification to Weed Out Bots and Scammers (Wired)

This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Clavata.ai, a first-of-its-kind, automated content safety platform that allows you to go from defining a policy to enforcement in minutes. In our Bonus Chat, we speak with founder Brett Levenson on how to make T&S more consistent and explainable and the benefits of treating policy as code.

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast from Techdirt and Everything in Moderation. Send us your feedback at [email protected] and sponsorship enquiries to [email protected]. Thanks for listening.