News Update 8/13: DDoS Attacks Everywhere

Alex and Evelyn talk about what has been happening on social media, and the discourse about what has been happening on social media, in the run up to the 2024 US Election, how it compares to past US elections, and what to watch in the aftermath.

Alex and Evelyn sit down with New York Times technology reporters Ryan Mac and Kate Conger to talk about their new book on Elon Musk's acquisition (and destruction) of Twitter, Character Limit, and where they think Musk goes from here.

Alex and Evelyn repeat the now-annual tradition of recording the podcast in front of probably their entire active listener base. They are joined by David Thiel, Brian Fishman, and Daphne Keller, to say goodbye to Theirry Breton and RT's accounts on Meta, talk about Zuckerberg's retreat from politics, and all the developments in the land of the First Amendment and platform regulation.

Alex and Evelyn are joined by Carlos Affonso Souza, a Professor of Law at Rio de Janeiro State University and the Director of the Institute for Technology & Society in Rio de Janeiro, to talk about Brazil's ban of X, the local legal and political context, and how this is similar or different to other show downs between regulators and American tech platforms.

Alex and Evelyn discuss the arrest and charges against Telegram's CEO, Pavel Durov, in France, what we do and don't know, and what it means for the future of platform regulation, with Frédérick Douzet, Professor at the French Institute of Politics and the director of GEODE, and Daphne Keller, director of the Program on Platform Regulation at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center.

Alex and Evelyn talk about Trump's return to X and other platforms, Thierry Breton's attempt to make it all about him, the hack and leak of Trump's campaign, the FBI's new rules around communicating with platforms about foreign interference, Apple imposing its 30% commission on Patreon, and a small little sporting event that happened recently.

Evelyn sat down with Professor Genevieve Lakier, of the University of Chicago Law School, to discuss the Supreme Court's decision regarding the Texas and Florida social media laws. Not the worst opinion the Supreme Court issued on July 1, but predictably there's a lot to complain about anyway.

The Supreme Court's decision in Murthy v. Missouri is finally here! Evelyn sat down with Professor Genevieve Lakier, of the University of Chicago Law School, to discuss the good, bad and ugly of the opinions.

Stanford’s Evelyn Douek and Alex Stamos weigh in on the latest online trust and safety news and developments:The attention grabbing 404 Media headline “Has Facebook Stopped Trying?” could be on to something. Alex discusses significant disinvestment in trust and safety at Facebook with lots of junk spreading (such as AI-generated Shrimp Jesus) and a sextortion challenge. - Jason Koebler/ 404 MediaYouTube announced it is testing a feature for users to add notes under videos with context or fact checks. - YouTubeThe U.S. military ran a covert anti-vaccine influence operation on social media intended to discredit China’s COVID vaccine in the Philippines. - Chris Bing, Joel Schectman. ReutersU.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for a warning label on social media platforms in a New York Times opinion essay. - Vivek Murthy/ The New York Times, “The Daily”, Erin Burnett/ CNNNot everyone agrees with his recommendation (not to mention the First Amendment or existing evidence). - Clay Calvert/ AEI, Deidre McPhillips/ CNN, J. Nathan Matias, Janet Haven/ Tech Policy Press, Mike Masnick/ The Daily Beast, Caroline Mimbs Nyce/ The AtlanticThey reference this report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine - National Academies And this one pagerNew York state lawmakers passed and Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act prohibiting social media companies from using “addictive” algorithmic feeds for minors under 18 without parental consent. - Anthony Izaguirre/ Associated Press, Carolyn Thompson/ Associated Press, Mark Wilson/ Fast Company, Kat Tenbarge/ NBC News, Austin Jenkins/ Pluribus News, Anthony Ha/ TechCrunch, Common Sense Media, Governor of New YorkNegotiations at the end of the state legislative session on June 6 limited a restriction on overnight notifications and removed the right to take private legal action against social media companies for alleged violations.Tech trade associations oppose the legislation arguing it is unconstitutional with free speech restrictions that make children less safe with less curation of social media feeds. - Chamber of Progress, NetChoiceJoin the conversation and connect with Evelyn and Alex on Twitter at @evelyndouek and @alexstamos.Moderated Content is produced in partnership by Stanford Law School and the Cyber Policy Center. Special thanks to John Perrino for research and editorial assistance.Like what you heard? Don’t forget to subscribe and share the podcast with friends!

Alex and Evelyn sit down with the authors of two recently released books about our online information ecosystem and what to do about it: Annalee Newitz, author of Stories are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind, and Renee DiResta, author of Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality.