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So to Speak podcast: Techdirt’s Mike Masnick

On today’s episode of So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, we speak with Techdirt.com founder and editor Mike Masnick.
Since founding Techdirt in 1997, Masnick has written nearly 50,000 blog posts for the publication and covered many of tech’s hottest free speech controversies. He even coined the phrase “Streisand Effect.”
In this conversation, we discuss some of the issues Masnick has recently written about for Techdirt, including defamation lawsuits and content moderation. We also ask Mike about the founding of Techdirt, the culture for free speech in Silicon Valley, the fear surrounding new technologies, and, of course, the story behind the Streisand Effect.
Show notes:
- Mike Masnick’s Techdirt blog post archive
- Time Magazine cover, July 3, 1995
- Time Magazine cover, May 10, 1999
- "Nat Hentoff and David Kelley on Libel Laws: Pro and Con"
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