I sat down with Mike Benz, former State Department official and founder of the Foundation for Freedom Online, to uncover how government agencies, intelligence contractors, and Big Tech built the surveillance, propaganda, and censorship machine now reshaping the internet. Mike explains how child protection measures have evolved into weapons against free speech and online privacy, how the CIA influences the tech industry, and why you should still work to protect your personal data—even with so much already online.

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Follow Mike on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/joelkotkin

Watch Mike on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@mikebenzcyberofficial?si=x44aaPbJ4wGMExbE

Learn more about Mike’s organization: https://foundationforfreedomonline.com/

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Outline:

[0:00] Texas app store age verification law

[23:05] How the CIA gathers mass biometric data

[29:02] What is a “limited hangout”?

[34:06] The CIA doesn’t just target the villains

[44:54] How surveillance is turned on Americans

[55:45] Isn’t your personal data already online?

[1:11:36] Larry Ellison’s surveillance “utopia”

[1:19:02] The presumption of innocence is gone

[1:26:14] Oracle is tied to all sorts of shady stuff

[1:42:27] Does technology dehumanize us?

[2:01:20] How elite stakeholders shape government

[2:15:42] The public needs to know what’s going on

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