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Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee had a hearing all about Section 230, in which they didn't even attempt to find a witness pointing out its benefits. Among the many organizations that could have provided that vital perspective is the Wikimedia Foundation (as seen in three excellent posts on Medium), and this week we're joined by Rebecca MacKinnon, Wikimedia's VP of Global Advocacy and long-time open internet defender, to talk about why the hearing was bad and Section 230 is very, very important.

Posts by Wikimedia:

https://medium.com/wikimedia-policy/if-congress-repeals-section-230-what-will-that-mean-for-wikipedia-691559dfb2c5

https://medium.com/wikimedia-policy/common-assumptions-and-misunderstandings-about-online-content-moderation-and-reforming-section-230-eb9bd6d70d58

https://medium.com/wikimedia-policy/alternatives-to-reforming-section-230-refocusing-internet-regulation-on-empowering-people-c175af4d6626

One very important thing to understand in the conversation about online speech is that there are many different kinds of online communities, big and small, and they all have their own needs when it comes to rules and governance. This fact is a key element of a new book, Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for Online Life by media studies professor Nathan Schneider, and this week Nathan joins the podcast to talk about how democracy does (and doesn't) manifest in online communities.

Check out Ctrl-Alt-Speech, Mike Masnick's brand new podcast with Ben Whitelaw, creator of the Everything in Moderation newsletter.

In this teaser excerpt from last week's episode, Mike and Ben discuss the recent decision from the Oversight Board that reveals the single most moderated word on Meta's social media sites.

Listen to the whole episode covering all the week's biggest news in online speech - and get ready for this week's episode, releasing tomorrow - by visiting ctrlaltspeech.com or subscribing to Ctrl-Alt-Speech on your podcast platform of choice!

Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ctrl…ch/id1734530193

Overcast: overcast.fm/itunes1734530193

Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/1N3tvLxUTCR7oTdUgUCQvc

Amazon Music: music.amazon.com/podcasts/9384201…e51-218433a7e647

YouTube: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc…Hqqc3ZjufeEw2AS7Z

More: www.ctrlaltspeech.com/

We've written a lot about the Murthy case at the Supreme Court, and especially how poor of a job the states did in making their argument. Now, as we await the ruling, there are a lot of questions about what it will look like and how consequential it will be. This week, we're joined by law professor Kate Klonick to discuss what happened, what's likely to come next, and what kind of impact it will have.

Check out Ctrl-Alt-Speech, Mike Masnick's brand new podcast with Ben Whitelaw, creator of the Everything in Moderation newsletter.

In this teaser excerpt from last week's episode, Mike and Ben discuss the latest curious and contradictory content moderation decisions by Elon Musk, and a recent article about the risks and challenges associated with how different countries approach internet regulation.

Listen to the whole episode covering all the week's biggest news in online speech - and get ready for this week's episode, releasing tomorrow - by visiting ctrlaltspeech.com or subscribing to Ctrl-Alt-Speech on your podcast platform of choice!

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ctrl-alt-speech/id1734530193

Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1734530193

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1N3tvLxUTCR7oTdUgUCQvc

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/93842011-b662-430a-8e51-218433a7e647

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcky6_VTbejGkZ7aHqqc3ZjufeEw2AS7Z

More: https://www.ctrlaltspeech.com/

Last year in September, we released a cross-post episode of Mike's appearance on the DWeb Decoded podcast with Danny O'Brien. If you listened to that episode, you know that Mike and Danny go way back, and Danny played an important role in the founding of Techdirt. This week, we've got the inverse counterpart to that episode, with Danny joining Mike here on the Techdirt podcast for a discussion about decentralization and "cognitive liberty" (and a bunch of other topics).

Check out Ctrl-Alt-Speech, Mike Masnick's brand new podcast with Ben Whitelaw, creator of the Everything in Moderation newsletter.

In this teaser excerpt from the debut episode of Ctrl-Alt-Speech, Mike and Ben discuss the US bill that aims to ban TikTok, or at least force ByteDance to divest from it.

Listen to the whole episode, covering all the week's biggest news in online speech, by visiting ctrlaltspeech.com or subscribing to Ctrl-Alt-Speech on your podcast platform of choice!

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ctrl-alt-speech/id1734530193

Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1734530193

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1N3tvLxUTCR7oTdUgUCQvc

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/93842011-b662-430a-8e51-218433a7e647

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcky6_VTbejGkZ7aHqqc3ZjufeEw2AS7Z

More: https://www.ctrlaltspeech.com/

As is tradition, now that we've announced the winners of our latest public domain game jam, Gaming Like It's 1928, it's time for a special episode of the podcast taking a closer look at them. Just like in past years, Mike is joined by myself and our game design partner Randy Lubin to discuss our thoughts on the winners in all six categories, and a bunch of other great games that didn't quite make the cut.

Anyone who follows Techdirt knows we're very interested in the progress of Bluesky, the decentralized social network that embraces our concept of protocols over platforms. Bluesky recently ended its invite-only beta and opened its doors to the public, so it seems like a great time for a check-in, and who better to check in with than Bluesky CEO Jay Graber? Jay joins us on this week's episode for a discussion about Bluesky's progress and what the future holds.

In our coverage of the problems with KOSA and other legislative pushes to "protect the children" online, we usually (for obvious reasons) come at the subject from the technology side, and look at all the ways these laws misunderstand the internet. But that's not their only flaw: these proposals also tend to lack any real understanding of child safety. Maureen Flatley is someone who has been vocal from the other side, having covered child safety issues for about as long as we've covered tech, and she joins us on this week's episode to discuss how KOSA and its ilk aren't rooted in what we really know about keeping kids safe.