Alan Kyle

For 17 years working in trust and safety, I've watched talented people burn out on impossible tasks. The problem isn't the people, it's the systems. Traditional moderation requires months of retraining for every policy change. Only big companies can afford it, and even then it works poorly. 🧵 1/9

Wrote about the DOJ's investigation into the faculty at George Mason for daring to... support their President after a series of bogus DOJ investigations into him and the school.

And I wonder where all the "but mah academic freedom" people are, noting that Bari Weiss's Free Press is silent...

My piece in @techdirt.com commends South Park for their bold and unapologetic political clap-back at Trump. Today's tenuous climate around the First Amendment makes it a huge risk, especially with a federal deepfake law on the books that carries criminal charges. www.techdirt.com/2025/07/28/o...

Oh My God, TAKE IT DOWN Kills Parody

Donald Trump is a notorious media bully. He uses lawsuits, executive power, and political pressure to punish critics and bend institutions to his will. Disney, Meta, and Paramount have since paid out multi-million-dollar settlements over content disputes. CBS…

Harmeet Dhillon tweeting "Is there a way to set this to music and have it lull me to sleep at night? Is there an app for this?" in quote tweeting a screenshot of the NY Times article about how Media Matters is struggling to stay afloat due to Elon Musk's scorched earth SLAPP suits against the non-profit.

Seems bad that the head of the DOJ's "civil rights division" is cheering on Elon Musk using SLAPP suits to silence non-profit media orgs. But what do I know?

But tell me again how MAGA is the "free speech" party.

Tesla Diner SoCal Protest (#TeslaTakedown All Hands on Deck) START: Saturday, July 26, 2025 • 05:00 PM END: Sunday, July 27, 2025 • 07:00 PM LOCATION: Tesla Diner • 7001 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90038 US HOST CONTACT INFO: takedowntesla@gmail.com

We, the People find Elon Musk guilty of: Aiding and abetting the effective dismantling of American democracy Unilaterally killing hundreds of thousands of US-allied innocents around the world Allowing his "Full Self-Driving" fraud to kill hundreds of his own paying customers Stoking hate against vulnerable groups and boosting dangerous conspiracy theories 24/7 on his rightwing extremist propaganda site

WE SAY HELL NO We're calling on ALL #TeslaTakedown SoCal crews to come together outside Elon's Diner this Saturday 7/26 AND Sunday 7/27 between 5pm-7pm to send a clear message that Elon is STILL guilty; that we STILL demand accountability; and that we WILL NOT REST until the world has internalized the truth that TESLA FUNDS FASCISM. To Tesla's impotent, bought-and-paid-for Board of Directors: Hell no, we won't go! Time to fire your CEO! Important: Tesla Takedown is a 100% peaceful protest movement. We oppose violence, vandalism and destruction of property. This protest is a lawful exercise of our First Amendment right to peaceful assembly. #TeslaTakedown #BoycottTesla #BoycottMusk #MuskMustFall

📢 @teslatakedown.com

🚨 ALL HANDS ON DECK in LA

We're calling on ALL SoCal crews to come together at the newly opened TESLA DINER this weekend.

Elon thinks he can destroy democracy, take innocent lives, and celebrate with a milkshake?

We say HELL NO ✊

📍 actionnetwork.org/events/tesla...

Technically reverse chronological is an algorithm...

*ducks*

I thought the TikTok ban was an idiotic moral panic and a gross curtailment of expressive freedom, but I’m at least as uncomfortable about a scenario where a platform with 170m US users exists entirely on the personal sufferance of Donald Trump (or any president).

LAPD Publishes Crime Footage It Got From a Waymo Driverless Car Police are starting to realize they can demand footage from driverless cars.

important note: the LAPD has figured out it can get footage from Waymos: www.404media.co/lapd-publish...

The White House has tweeted a video of Trump at UFC hanging out with Dana White right after retweeting Stephen Miller saying the US is experiencing an insurrection in LA.

According to the official White House account, the US is in the midst of an "insurrection" that warrants federalization of the National Guard, which is why the President is attending a UFC fight and hanging out with Dana White.

My thoughts on the Take It Down Act as someone who used to handle copyright takedown (and other) requests at Google. 🧵

As many have said, this law will be used as the ultimate weapon for the Trump Admin to censor speech from their political opponents (and more).
www.theverge.com/policy/62497...

I am not at IAPP GPS, but reading my LinkedIn feed right now, I'm seeing /so many/ posts from privacy friends who are outraged at the keynote from Sam Altman, who was apparently expected to talk about AI and privacy and instead spent the whole time doing a sales pitch for Worldcoin.

Defamation Dipshittery of National Magnitude John Ruiz continues to go big in the bad way

Some of you might remember my old pal John Ruiz.

That's right, the one who threatened frivolous defamation suits, told me he was a "litigator of national magnitude" and filed a bar complaint against me for being mean to him online.

He's back!

platformpolemics.aricohn.com/p/john-ruiz-...

Silicon Valley crosswalk buttons apparently hacked to imitate Musk, Zuckerberg voices Crosswalk buttons along the mid-Peninsula appear to have been hacked, so that when pressed, voices professing to be Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk begin speaking.

Twelve of them! They got Zuck too

Another day, another online government snitch form that you know damn well what to do with.

enddei.ed.gov

the shift from “I never thought leopards would eat MY face” to “eat my face harder leopard daddy” must be studied

Pretty surreal moment! Next week, I’ll be testifying to the house judiciary committee to discuss #government #surveillance of U.S. citizens. A very timely and important conversation given #FISA is up for reauthorization in 2026. judiciary.house.gov/committee-ac...

Cc: @dell.bsky.social

FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson requests public comment about content moderation practices because he wants declare social media "censorship" an unfair/deceptive trade practice--which the First Amendment doesn't allow.

Here's the comment form. Do your thing, Internet: www.regulations.gov/commenton/FT...

Maybe I wasn’t clear about this. I wanted more egg and no plane crash, not many plane crash and no egg.

Brendan Carr tweet in response to a Daily Beast tweet. The Daily Beast tweet says "Donald Trump's FCC chairman Brendan Carr is boasting to friends that he is having "the time of his life" after launching an all-out attack on the media, the Daily Beast has learned." To which Carr smugly responds: "Find a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life."

Brendan Carr's biggest accomplishment in life is to make a mockery of the First Amendment he pretended to support to win the praise of a dictator who barely knows he exists.

I have to say that the fact that the people destroying the country are such fucking morons kind of stings.

This is an excellent essay and should be shared widely.
"Musk, a man who appears to view the United States government as merely another acquisition target for his interplanetary ambitions, is participating in the dismantling of constitutional governance."

This article includes a reference to my post suggesting that Musk is violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Yeah, one of the few current reporting groups I have no problems putting money towards. (Though, I don't know why my old, supposedly recurring membership, did not actually reoccur...).

So I posted this late yesterday on a whim, because I always forget to ask people to support Techdirt, and... wow. So many of you donated to us, and I'm so thankful for every donation, no matter how much. The Bluesky community is amazing.

And stay tuned to what articles we've got lined up today...

I’ve spent years battling people like Carr in the online speech arena—trust me, this is just the beginning.

The FCC is about to steamroll every speech institution we have, all while pretending it’s for the sake of "more speech."

Tweet from Rob Bluey: You might not agree with @karaswisher ’s politics, but you can’t argue with her success. Q: “What did Kara Swisher, Inc. bring in in 2024? A: “Millions of dollars. For me, millions of dollars, many, many millions of dollars.” This year she’s expecting a $20 million payout from Vox. Fascinating interview about how to make money in media with @semaforben and @maxwelltani

SO COOL that Vox Media had two rounds of layoffs in the past three months and keeps cutting our budgets and yet somehow there's $20 million for one person

"Watching televised sports in 2025 can feel a little like sitting through one long gambling commercial"

oh, youre here from tik tok? (chuckle's lightly ) Is that like reddit for babies

YouTube video by PBS NewsHour LISTEN LIVE: Supreme Court hears arguments on Texas law restricting access to porn websites

Oral arguments in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton just started. I'm listening here. www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Jf...

Debriefing with @brianfung.me and @htsuka.bsky.social here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wEf...

Live-posting about it here on this thread 🧵