Tech Policy Podcast

Jeffrey Fisher (Stanford Law) argued the TikTok case before the Supreme Court, on behalf of a group of U.S. TikTok users. He and host Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) discuss the SCOTUS TikTok ruling that should have been.Links:U.S. TikTok Petitioners’ Opening Supreme Court BriefTech Policy Podcast 394: Tech and Trump 2.0Tech Policy Podcast 371: So You Want to Ban TikTokTech Policy Podcast 344: TikTok and the First Amendment

TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold, Andy Jung, and Santana Boulton continue their discussion of the many, many things going on in AI innovation, competition, and regulation. Topics include:The Lina Khan AI crackdown (that we averted)What’s next for the FTC and AI?(More) AI culture war600 state AI bills (might be 600 too many)Blackpilled about EuropeMicromanaged deregulation (is not a thing)Will the EU become unaligned?Links:Don’t California My Texas: Stargate EditionThe European Commission’s (Anti)Competitiveness CompassHow Liberal Democracy Might Lose the 21st CenturyTech Policy Podcast 394: Tech and Trump 2.0

TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold, Andy Jung, and Santana Boulton take you on a tour of the many, many things going on in AI innovation, competition, and regulation. Topics include:First signs of AI escape velocity?Automated luxury libertarianismThe Trumpian vibe shiftAI culture warThe AI $$$$ bonfireThe one-week DeepSeek freakoutIs regulation futile?Links:Tyler Cowen on OpenAI’s Deep ResearchDwarkesh Patel on fully automated firmsTrump Signs AI and Tech Executive OrdersSome Simple Lessons From China’s Big AI BreakthroughTech Giants Double Down on Their Massive AI Spending

Maggie Miller (Politico) discusses the Chinese Communist Party’s sweeping cyberwar on the United States.Topics include:What is Salt Typhoon?The CCP is on the phoneHoliday break > national securityVolt Typhoon (it gets worse!)Is the Trump team taking this seriously?Save CISA!The CCP ♥️ the Thucydides TrapLinks:We Need to Talk About Salt TyphoonHow Chinese Hackers Graduated From Clumsy Corporate Thieves to Military Weapons

Orin Kerr (Stanford Law) discusses his new book “The Digital Fourth Amendment: Privacy and Policing in Our Online World.”Topics include:The un-original Fourth AmendmentShould crooks just not carry smartphones?Do originalists cheat on the 4A?SCOTUS 4A rulings as equilibrium adjustmentContent vs. metadataThe mosaic theory (is unworkable)Applying the 4A to tomorrow’s tech todayLinks:The Digital Fourth Amendment: Privacy and Policing in Our Online WorldTech Policy Podcast 368: How the Government Gets Your DataTech Policy Podcast 339: Will Tech Swallow the Fourth Amendment?Tech Policy Podcast 294: Border Searches of Digital Devices

Ari Cohn (FIRE) and Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) preview the biggest tech policy issues of the Trump II administration.Topics include:TikTok ban: still unconstitutionalTrump’s bonkers TikTok briefWas it worth it, Brendan Carr?Obsolete rules for obsolete TV networksCarr & Sec. 230: not how any of this worksAndrew Ferguson plays MAGA Mad LibsFerg & antitrust: not how any of this worksKOSA rises from the cryptLinks:Tech Policy Podcast 344: TikTok and the First AmendmentTech Policy Podcast 371: So You Want to Ban TikTokChristopher Terry’s Carr/Fox FOIA requestThe Incoming FCC Chair Is Threatening to Censor Views He Doesn’t LikeAndrew Ferguson’s FTC enforcement prioritiesThe Trump II FCC and FTC Will Use Any Stick to Beat a Dog

From October 31, 2022 (Episode 331): Emma Llansó discusses the history and importance of Section 230.Links:The Third Circuit’s Section 230 Decision In Anderson v. TikTok Is Pure PoppycockFive Decisions Illustrate How Section 230 Is Fading Fast

Herbert Hovenkamp (Penn Law and Wharton) shares his thoughts on the progressive antitrust movement, the government’s antitrust campaign against Big Tech, the 2023 Merger Guidelines, the famous tech antitrust cases of the past, and more.Links:Charting Antitrust’s FutureAntitrust Policy After BidenStructural Antitrust Relief Against Digital PlatformsBreaking Up Google Would Be a Big MistakeWhat Big Tech Antitrust Gets Wrong

Jonathan Adler (Case Western Law) and Ari Cohn (FIRE) discuss the FDA’s war on vaping and the Supreme Court case FDA v. Wages and White Lion Investments.Topics include:The (comparative) health case for vapingYet another moral panicKids take risks!The bungling FDAA disappointing oral argumentFine points of administrative lawWill the Trump admin switch course?Links:En Banc Fifth Circuit Rejects FDA's Vaping Regulation "Surprise Switcheroo"Baptists, Bootleggers & Electronic CigarettesUneducating Americans on VapingThe Food & Drug Administration Has a Vaping ProblemMore Evidence that Bans on Flavored Vaping Products May Increase Teen SmokingSpeech Regulation and Tobacco Harm Reduction

Samantha Lai (Carnegie Endowment) discusses the state of federated social media (Bluesky, Threads, Mastodon, etc.).Topics include:A map of the fediverseWhat makes Bluesky new?Tools for tiny moderatorsTurning the dial of centralization“Community” or “echo chamber”?Will one platform “win” the fediverse?The beauty of exitThe beauty of the unknownLinks:Online Safety and the “Great Decentralization” – The Perils and Promises of Federated Social MediaSome (Slightly Biased) Thoughts on the State of Decentralized Social MediaDot Social with Mike McCueTech Policy Podcast 358: Information Animals Fighting Information WarsTech Policy Podcast 352: Yoel Roth on the Future of Content Moderation

Geoff Manne (International Center for Law & Economics) and Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) discuss the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple.Topics include:The DoJ’s case: five weird tricks Apple: closed from the startLet’s talk about green bubbles …Refusal to deal or exclusionary conduct?A well-defined product market (for once)Triple-bank-shot antitrust liability (eww)DoJ-designed smartphones: what could go wrong!Links:Lina Khan’s Norm-Busting LegacyTech Policy Podcast 384: The Facebook Antitrust CaseTech Policy Podcast 357: The Amazon Antitrust CaseTech Policy Podcast 353: The Google Search Antitrust TrialTech Policy Podcast 302: Epic v. Apple

Daphne Keller (Stanford Cyber Policy Center) and Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) have a wide-ranging conversation about the impact of the EU’s Digital Services Act on content moderation, the costs and benefits of platform transparency, the pervasiveness of complexity, the work of James C. Scott, Germans’ abiding thirst for data, the Burmese heroin trade, and more. For more, see Daphne’s recent article in Lawfare, “The Rise of the Compliant Speech Platform.”Topics include:Big Tech and the DSADaphne the investigative reporterA court case for every comment removalThe EU: bean counter of human dignityJames C. Scott appreciation dayWhat does the DSA mean for the fediverse?Capitalism as a force for quantificationDaphne’s metaphysicsLinks:The Rise of the Compliant Speech PlatformThe Humpty Dance

Marshall Kosloff (The Realignment) discusses the abundance agenda—what it is, what it could achieve, how it applies in various policy areas, how to build a political coalition around it, how to implement it, and more.Topics include:Abundance of what?Energy policy: wtf is going onFixing defense procurementFixing state capacityBuilding an abundance coalitionCulture war forever?Abundance after the 2024 electionLinks:The RealignmentArsenal of DemocracyThe Harris Broadband Rollout Has Been a FiascoThe White House Bet Big on Intel. Will It Backfire?(Still) Against DegrowthTech Policy Podcast 381: American Techno-Industrial Leadership — With Noah Smith

From April 12, 2022 (Episode 317): Alec Stapp discusses the work, goals, and philosophy of his innovative new think tank, Institute for Progress.Topics include:Metascience: the key field you’ve never heard ofTech industry

Paul Grewal (Coinbase) takes us on a deep dive into all aspects of crypto regulation, litigation, and legislation. A crossover episode with the Washington Legal Foundation / TechFreedom Tech in the Courts series.Topics include:The elevator pitch for cryptoSecurities law: it’s not the New Deal anymoreThe inconsistent SECSEC v. Coinbase / Coinbase v. SECOperation Choke Point 2.0The need for crypto legislationCentral bank digital currencies (are dumb)Satoshi Nakamoto: a $68 billion mysteryLinks:Keep Crypto FreeCoinbase’s Petition for Rulemaking to the SECOperation Choke Point 2.0 Is Underway, and Crypto Is in Its CrosshairsTech Policy Podcast 312: Web3

Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) provides a guided tour of the Supreme Court’s major questions doctrine.Topics include:Major questions: an introductionNo one knows what it means, but it’s provocativeIs major questions new?Stories we tell about CongressWelcome to the kludgeocracyPolitics vs. expertiseThe Supreme Court cannot save usLinks:West Virginia v. EPA: Sound and Fury, Signifying What?Tech Policy Podcast 311: Administrative Law, and Why You Should Care

Sayash Kapoor (Princeton) discusses the incoherence of precise p(doom) predictions and the pervasiveness of AI “snake oil.” Check out his and Arvind Narayanan’s new book, AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference.Topics include:What’s a prediction, really?p(doom): your guess is as good as anyone’sFreakishly chaotic creatures (us, that is)AI can’t predict the impact of AIGaming AI with invisible inkLife is luck—let’s act like itSuperintelligence (us, that is)The bitter lessonAI danger: sweat the small stuffLinks:AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the DifferenceAI Existential Risk Probabilities Are Too Unreliable to Inform Policy AI Snake Oil (Substack)

Geoff Manne (International Center for Law & Economics) and Corbin Barthold (TechFreedom) discuss the many, many flaws in the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit against Meta (Facebook). A crossover episode with the Washington Legal Foundation / TechFreedom Tech in the Courts series.Topics include:- The ontology of Facebook- Social networking: it’s not 2008 anymore- The FTC’s made-up market- The WhatsApp Catch-22- Has Facebook been enshittified?- Product design by government: bad idea!- Growing startups: hard, actuallyLinks:The Feds Unfriend Facebook: Why the FTC’s Meta Antitrust Case Should FailTech Policy Podcast 357: The Amazon Antitrust CaseTech Policy Podcast 353: The Google Search Antitrust TrialTech Policy Podcast 302: Epic v. Apple

TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold, Ari Cohn, and Santana Boulton partake in a summer doldrums bitchfest about recent and upcoming Supreme Court internet speech cases. Topics include:SCOTUS ducks in Moody v. NetChoiceHey, let’s *not* reward bad-faith legislatingJustice Kagan: progressive traitor (and we love it)Justice Alito is madWhat’s next for online speech?SCOTUS ducks in Murthy v. MissouriJudge Terry Doughty: incompetent boobThe censorship industrial complex that wasn’tSCOTUS takes up Free Speech Coalition v. PaxtonTexas tries to age-gate XXXIs porn getting more extreme?The seven dirty wordsLinks:Tech Policy Podcast 350: When the Government Yells at Social MediaTech Policy Podcast 373: Porn and the First AmendmentProject 2025 Co-Author Caught Admitting Secret Conservative Plan to Ban Porn

Is AI a miracle? A threat? Will it free us? Enslave us? Both? Neither? What’s the future of AI and governance? AI and art? AI and elections? AI and social media? AI and the economy? AI and the world?Welcome to the Tech Policy Podcast: AI and Everything. On this special episode, we present highlights from more than a year of conversations with leading experts on the state of the AI revolution.Featuring Adam Thierer, Samuel Hammond, Liza Lin, Arnold Kling, Brian Frye, Joseph Tainter, James Pethokoukis, Robert Atkinson, Alice Marwick, and Ari Cohn.Links:Tech Policy Podcast 327: The Collapse of Complex SocietiesTech Policy Podcast 337: China and Domestic SurveillanceTech Policy Podcast 346: Who’s Afraid of Artificial Intelligence?Tech Policy Podcast 355: Conservative FuturismTech Policy Podcast 361: AI, Art, Copyright, and the Life of BrianTech Policy Podcast 363: AI and ElectionsTech Policy Podcast 369: AI and State CapacityTech Policy Podcast 375: Tech Facts and FallaciesTech Policy Podcast 377: AI and Wicked P