E166: Is the Internet Too Big to Moderate? — John Wihbey

A wide-ranging conversation with Northeastern’s John Wihbey on how algorithms, laws, and business models shape speech online—and what smarter, lighter regulation could look like. Guest bio: John Wihbey is a professor of media & technology at Northeastern University and director of the AI Media Strategies Lab. Author of Governing Babel (MIT Press). He has advised foundations, governments, and tech firms (incl. pre-X Twitter) and consulted for the U.S. Navy. Topics discussed: Section 230’s 1996 logic vs. the algorithmic era EU DSA, Brazil/India, authoritarian models AI vs. AI moderation (deepfakes, scams, NCII) Hate/abuse, doxxing, and speech “crowd-out” Platform opacity; case for transparency/data access Creator-economy economics; downranking/shadow bans Dead Internet Theory, bots, engagement gaming Sports, betting, and integrity (NBA/NFL) Gen Z jobs; becoming AI-literate change agents Teaching with AI: simulations, human-in-loop assessment Main points & takeaways: Keep Section 230 but add obligations (transparency, appeals, researcher access). Europe’s DSA has exportable principles, adapted to U.S. free-speech norms. States lead on deepfake/NCII and youth-harm laws. AI offense currently ahead; detection/provenance + humans will narrow the gap. Lawful hate/abuse can practically silence others’ participation. CSAM detection is harder with synthetics; needs better tooling/cooperation. News/creator models are fragile; ad dollars shifted to platforms. Opaque ranking punishes small creators; clearer recourse is needed. Engagement metrics are Goodharted; bots inflate signals. Live sports thrive on synchronization; gambling risks long-term integrity. Students should aim to be the person who uses AI well, not fear AI. Top 3 quotes: “Keep 230, but add transparency and obligations—we don’t need censorship; we need visibility into how platforms actually govern speech.” “AI versus AI is the new reality—offense is ahead today, but defense will catch up with detection, provenance, and human oversight.” “The platform is king—monetization and discoverability are controlled by opaque algorithms, and that unpredictability crushes small creators.” 🎙 The Pod is hosted by Jesse Wright 💬 For guest suggestions, questions, or media inquiries, reach out at https://elpodcast.media/ 📬 Never miss an episode – subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts. ⭐️ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review the show. It helps others find us. Thanks for listening!