Writing and speaking about tech, policy, and law with an eye on the bigger picture.
I'm internet policy counsel at TechFreedom. I speak and write at the intersection of technology and legal, regulatory, and social issues. I publish at a range of outlets, including City Journal, The Bulwark, Reason, Lawfare, Techdirt, Pirate Wires, and The Daily Beast.
I'm a member of TikTok's US Content Advisory Council. And I host the Tech Policy Podcast, where I interview some of the tech world's best journalists, lawyers, and academics.
Ask me about the internet and the First Amendment, content moderation, Section 230, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, administrative law and the modern regulatory state (especially the FTC and FCC), data privacy and digital civil liberties, and more.
A lot of law and technology.
A little history, economics, philosophy, and literature.
Infinite curioisity.
"'If anyone can get inside his head, I'd love to hear it,' said Corbin Barthold, an appellate lawyer for TechFreedom, a nonpartisan think tank. 'He seems to shift from free-speech absolutism until he decides he doesn't like something.'"
Elon Musk Is Finding Out That Free Speech Isn't Rocket Science
"'That's really likely to prod the Supreme Court to act,' said Corbin K. Barthold, an Internet policy counsel at TechFreedom, a tech policy think tank, during a public discussion about the provision on Twitter."
11th Circuit blocks major provisions of Florida's social media law
"'An uncomfortably large number of the justices peered down an uncomfortably large number of rabbit holes that, if they fall in, will result in disaster for the platforms and the Internet as a whole,' commented Corbin Barthold, internet policy counsel at TechFreedom. (Barthold did a very extensive, real-time rundown of the arguments on X.)"
Texas and Florida Want the Supreme Court To Bless Their Unconstitutional Social Media Laws
"Corbin Barthold, internet policy counsel at TechFreedom, predicted last month that the justices could be interested in taking on the case, writing on his Substack page: 'A majority of the sitting justices have expressed interest in ending that dry spell, and they are about to get their chance.'"
Supreme Court to consider another major test of federal regulatory power
"The government could widen the definition of adversary countries, says Corbin Barthold, at TechFreedom, a think-tank."
The side-effects of the TikTok tussle
"'They're falling right into the strictest First Amendment scrutiny,' said Corbin K. Barthold, internet policy counsel at TechFreedom, a nonprofit, nonpartisan technology think tank. 'Saying that children are getting exposed to ideas and they're finding those ideas convincing translates into, 'Our bill is attacking what we see as a speech problem based on the content of the speech and potentially who the speaker is.''"
The TikTok debate featured many disputed claims. Here are 7 of them.
"'Florida's and Texas's laws are obvious First Amendment trainwrecks,' Corbin Barthold, director of appellate litigation for the tech advocacy group TechFreedom, wrote in a statement. 'Unfortunately, the justices got turned around at oral argument, getting distracted by procedural issues that should not have affected the outcome of this dispute.'"
The Supreme Court just ducked a major decision in its social media 'censorship' cases
"'If anyone can get inside his head, I'd love to hear it,' said Corbin Barthold, an appellate lawyer for TechFreedom, a nonpartisan think tank. 'He seems to shift from free-speech absolutism until he decides he doesn't like something.'"
Elon Musk Is Finding Out That Free Speech Isn't Rocket Science
"'That's really likely to prod the Supreme Court to act,' said Corbin K. Barthold, an Internet policy counsel at TechFreedom, a tech policy think tank, during a public discussion about the provision on Twitter."
11th Circuit blocks major provisions of Florida's social media law
"'An uncomfortably large number of the justices peered down an uncomfortably large number of rabbit holes that, if they fall in, will result in disaster for the platforms and the Internet as a whole,' commented Corbin Barthold, internet policy counsel at TechFreedom. (Barthold did a very extensive, real-time rundown of the arguments on X.)"
Texas and Florida Want the Supreme Court To Bless Their Unconstitutional Social Media Laws
"Corbin Barthold, internet policy counsel at TechFreedom, predicted last month that the justices could be interested in taking on the case, writing on his Substack page: 'A majority of the sitting justices have expressed interest in ending that dry spell, and they are about to get their chance.'"
Supreme Court to consider another major test of federal regulatory power
"The government could widen the definition of adversary countries, says Corbin Barthold, at TechFreedom, a think-tank."
The side-effects of the TikTok tussle
"'They're falling right into the strictest First Amendment scrutiny,' said Corbin K. Barthold, internet policy counsel at TechFreedom, a nonprofit, nonpartisan technology think tank. 'Saying that children are getting exposed to ideas and they're finding those ideas convincing translates into, 'Our bill is attacking what we see as a speech problem based on the content of the speech and potentially who the speaker is.''"
The TikTok debate featured many disputed claims. Here are 7 of them.
"'Florida's and Texas's laws are obvious First Amendment trainwrecks,' Corbin Barthold, director of appellate litigation for the tech advocacy group TechFreedom, wrote in a statement. 'Unfortunately, the justices got turned around at oral argument, getting distracted by procedural issues that should not have affected the outcome of this dispute.'"
The Supreme Court just ducked a major decision in its social media 'censorship' cases
- Email: cbarthold@techfreedom.org
- Substack: corbinkbarthold.substack.com
- X: @corbinkbarthold
- Bluesky: @corbinkbarthold.bsky.social