Do tech optimists have a political home? On a new Tech Policy Podcast, @adamkovac.bsky.social, founder and CEO of @chamberofprogress.bsky.social, discusses the populist / anti-tech turn in politics, and what can be done about it. podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/419...

People are blaming social media for Charlie Kirk's murder. History shows us that's wrong.

Pretty wild to see the Solicitor General come right out and say, YEAH, DUDE'S A MAD KING. www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...

New Tech Policy Podcast! @aricohn.com (@thefireorg.bsky.social) and Tom Kurland (Patterson Belknap) discuss the spate of product-liability lawsuits against social-media and AI companies. podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/418...

If you haven’t had time to follow the Internet crackdown and subsequent violent upheaval of govt in Nepal, here’s a recap. In addition to being an awful story about real people’s lives, it’s also an amazing microcosm or synechdoche or something for the bigger picture.

It is incredibly simple to acknowledge that violence in any form is awful and erodes society.

Shutting down all the social media in Nepal seems to have gone really well.

The Trump FTC has already hopped on board a right-wing outrage campaign claiming that Gmail treated political $$ messages with WinRed links as spammier than messages with links to ActBlue, with filtering consequences. But the factual claims advanced so far are flimsy, reports Jack Nicastro.

This is SO problematic: * If imperfect content moderation is a deceptive-prong violation, then any UGC platform is a target, bc perfection is impossible. * Big 4A govt agent problems if this means Aylo must monitor uploads. * 18 USC 2257 is not the FTC's to enforce. www.ftc.gov/news-events/...

I went on a rant about Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton and all the damage it's already doing. Tune in if you're a fan of the First Amendment, excruciating legal wonkery, or both.

New Tech Policy Podcast: Host @corbinkbarthold.bsky.social discusses the mess that is the Supreme Court’s ruling in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, as well as the wider harm the decision is already causing. podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/417...

House Republicans Want To Doxx Wikipedia Editors Over Bogus ‘Bias’ Complaints Congress has absolutely zero constitutional authority to investigate a private website for its editorial decisions. Zero. None. This is First Amendment 101. Yet House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and…

The GOP has long complained that its spam emails get flagged or blocked because of anti-conservative cEnSoRsHiP, not because it refuses to follow Google's clear anti-spam rules. The FTC has never before policed political bias and for good reason: the First Amendment bars it from meddling in speech

Don't listen to the Tech Policy Podcast? We forgive you. But it's time to tune in! Here are ten standout episodes to get you started. AI, content moderation, encryption, age verification, cybersecurity, and more. corbinkbarthold.substack.com/p/more-tech-...

Thanks to Colin for reposting this. I often made students read it when I was teaching writing classes.

Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton is wreaking havoc.

So, rather than fighting back against the Trump admin, @klobuchar.senate.gov @amyklobuchar.com is focused on giving them new internet censorship tools because some idiot made a parody video of her on TikTok.

Peter Kyle is the most polite authoritarian out there right now.

Section 230 empowers the voiceless. Don’t miss this Tech Policy Podcast “From the Vault,” in which Billy Easley (@billyez2.bsky.social) sits down with former host Ashkhen Kazaryan (@ashkhen.bsky.social) to discuss the value of the free and open Internet. podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/fro...

We are led by the best people.

With the moratorium off the table (for now), what’s next in the regulation of AI? On a new Tech Policy Podcast, Matt Perault & @corbinkbarthold.bsky.social discuss AI bills, AI laws, and AI vibes. A crossover with the [email protected] webinar series. podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/415...

It's true! I said this! And much more about bad age-restrictions on the general internet will force all users to show their papers.

1/ Most pleased to file a brief for @techfreedom.org in support of @netchoice.bsky.social's emergency application at SCOTUS. A Mississippi law, HB 1126, age-gates social media. The Fifth Circuit let the law take full effect pending appeal. SCOTUS must step in and rescue free speech online.

Vaguely recall how much of the MAGA world insisted very loudly in Murthy v. Missouri that the WH should never, ever, in any circumstance, try to pressure a media organization over it editorial policies, and how this was a catastrophic attack on the First Amendment.

Look what's sitting there in the archives!

The topic was a bit outside my domain, but writing a general-purpose anti-Ken Paxton piece @thebulwark.com has been the gift that keeps on giving. www.thebulwark.com/p/will-texas...

In which @kateruane.bsky.social, @profdaniellyons.bsky.social, and l dish on Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, the TikTok ruling, and more. Not a great SCOTUS term for tech + free speech. www.youtube.com/watch?v=03q0...

Rich, in-depth of recent Supreme Court decisions on tech and free speech at @AEI. Speakers: Shane Tews, Clay Calvert @profdaniellyons.bsky.social @corbinkbarthold.bsky.social Kate Ruane

Me, on the East Coast: 8:30 am: Why is no one responding to my emails? Lazy. 6:30 pm: Why are people emailing me!? Unhinged.

NEW: Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawyers seek permission to file an amended complaint in his civil case in Maryland. Among other things, the amended complaint “includes Abrego Garcia's first-hand account of torture and mistreatment at CECOT…”

Something more fundamental than economics or demographics is at work: For a growing number of Americans, traditional religion, particularly Christianity, has simply become *obsolete*. Daniel Gullotta reviews Christian Smith's "Why Religion Went Obsolete":

WTF is going on at NASA? On a new Tech Policy Podcast, @techfreedom.org's Jim Dunstan and @corbinkbarthold.bsky.social discuss the leadership vacuum, budget cuts, and delays plaguing the American space program. podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/412...

Enjoying the last few minutes of Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004) being good law . . .

NEW Tech Policy Podcast: Hear FTC all stars Rebecca Slaughter, Alvaro Bedoya (@bedoyausa.bsky.social‬), and Bill Kovacic speak at our recent policy forum. podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/411...

i was unprepared for this

Looking over the six SCOTUS opinions today, I have to wonder whether a silver lining of all the emergency-docket madness is it's left the justices less time to write pedantic-ass concurrences and dissents.

Perhaps our wonkiest FTC episode ever—which is saying something! On a new Tech Policy Podcast, Maneesha Mithal of Wilson Sonsini breaks down what’s next in the FTC’s investigation of social media platforms. podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/410...

We know there's a struggle in today's GOP between populism and big business interests. At Trump's FTC, the populism is winning and it isn't close. Today's Tech Brief on how Republicans are taking up the mantle of regulating the internet — for the children: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

In the Histories, Herodotus talks about gold-digging ants and a tribe of headless men. The wider world was fundamentally weird to him. Is that the world AI will create? New piece on the strange future ahead. (I will put down the figurative bong now.) corbinkbarthold.substack.com/p/ai-and-the...

Bite me, Thomson Reuters

New Tech Policy Podcast! The FTC wants to regulate content moderation. That's … not how any of this works. Featuring the great Mike Masnick (@mmasnick.bsky.social) and TechFreedom's own Santana Boulton (@santanaboulton.bsky.social -- give her a follow!). podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/409...

The Supreme Court will soon be tempted to overturn Humphrey’s Executor. Here is everything you need to know about this case.

Is Humphrey's Executor going down? Probably. But there's a conservative case for keeping it. You could even say that keeping it is the *conservative* thing to do. My debut @theunpopulist.net: an open letter to Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-suprem...

If she’s removed from office, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez says, it will be because she insisted on doing her job. On a new Tech Policy Podcast, we replay @berinszoka.bsky.social‬’s interview with @agomezfcc.bsky.social‬ at our recent policy forum. podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/408...

Losing my mind waiting for further word in A.A.R.P. and Wilcox (among others). Feels like the executive-order blizzard has broken the Supreme Court.

Register now for our policy forum! 🗓️ Join @techfreedom.org and the Competitive Enterprise Institute on May 15–16 for a 2-day workshop exploring the constitutional limits on what government can (and can't) do about alleged “censorship” and “bias.” Event info 👉 cei.org/event/media-...

The Take It Down Act would be a censorship tool in the hands of any government—never mind an authoritarian one. On a new Tech Policy Podcast, @jmiers230.bsky.social discusses the new federal law that (ostensibly) targets non-consensual intimate imagery. podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/406...

On a new Tech Policy Podcast, the one and only @jmiers230.bsky.social tells me about the problems with the TAKE IT DOWN Act. A poorly crafted law at the best of times. And this is ... not the best of times. podcast.techfreedom.org/episodes/406...