Competitive Enterprise Institute

Otherwise Objectionable

Technology EN ↓ 9 episodes

The true story of the most misunderstood law on the internet. Tech journalist Mike Masnick brings you inside the making of Section 230 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, featuring witnesses to Silicon Valley’s Wild West era, the Congressmen who wrote the law, and innovators who benefited from its balance of freedom and responsibility. Why do so many people hate this law, how does the rest of the world deal with these issues, and how can it be used to take on new challenges like A.I.? Listen to find out. Otherwise Objectionable is executive produced by Bilander Media.

Author

Competitive Enterprise Institute

Episodes

Episode 8: Prescriptions to Save the Internet 30.04.2025 42:25

Our panel of experts — Charles C.W. Cooke from the National Review, trust and safety expert Dave Willner, Mike Masnick from Techdirt, and CEI’s Jessica Melugin — dissect this podcast’s raison d'être. What have we learned? Where are we now? And where are we going?

Episode 7: The Future of Speech Online 23.04.2025 31:11

The rise of A.I. has ushered in a new era for the internet, right when Section 230 and its protections have never been more threatened. Today’s innovators look to the past for guidance.

Episode 6: The Rest of the World 16.04.2025 24:29

The web gets big enough to impact presidential elections. And the rest of the world grapples with speech on the internet.

Episode 5: Blowback, and the Dust Settles 09.04.2025 30:05

The first real attempt to regulate the internet goes down in flames. But what remains is a structure to support the new, more interactive world of Web 2.0.

Episode 4: The Solution 02.04.2025 24:34

A bill intended to keep smut off the internet threatens to undo everything Representatives Christopher Cox and Ron Wyden have accomplished. How will their compromise play out?

Episode 3: Law and Disorder 26.03.2025 29:23

Enter the dotcom era. Dueling lawsuits leave early web companies with a massive question — can they moderate speech without getting sued off the face of the earth? Two tech-savvy Congressman just might have an answer.

Episode 2: The Dawn of the Internet 19.03.2025 25:32

We travel back in time to the birth of the world wide web to hear how the earliest forums sparked a war over the future of free speech on the internet.

Episode 1: The Most Misunderstood Law on the Internet 12.03.2025 41:22

Pundits and politicians blame an obscure law for everything bad that happens online. What exactly is Section 230, and how did it spark a debate that could change the internet forever?

Introducing Otherwise Objectionable 25.02.2025 2:00

In 1996, two Congressmen drafted a bill that would give us the internet as we know it. Now Democrats and Republicans want it gone. Follow the true story of the most misunderstood law on the internet starting March 12.