JRE 2272 · February 12, 2025

Mike Benz

politicstechnologyconspiracyphilosophy

Who is Mike Benz?

Mike Benz is a former official with the U.S. Department of State and current Executive Director of the Foundation For Freedom Online, is a free speech watchdog organization dedicated to restoring the promise of a free and open Internet.

🌐 Website

Topics and Timestamps

01Mike Benz discusses his work at the State Department and how he became a free speech advocate
02Deep dive into government censorship operations and coordination between tech platforms and federal agencies
03The role of the National Security State in controlling information and narrative during elections
04How the U.S. exported censorship infrastructure globally through the State Department
05The difference between Section 230 protections and how platforms use them selectively
06What needs to happen to restore internet freedom and reduce corporate-government collaboration
▶Mike Benz introduces his background and transition from State Department to free speech advocacy0:00:00
▶Discussion of government censorship infrastructure development and export0:15:00
▶How agencies coordinate with tech platforms to flag content as problematic0:35:00
▶The expansion of censorship post-2016 election interference concerns0:55:00
▶Discussion of the chilling effect and self-censorship in the current system1:20:00

The Show

Mike Benz sits down with Joe to talk about his journey from State Department official to free speech crusader. He runs the Foundation For Freedom Online, an organization dedicated to fighting censorship and restoring an actually free internet. The conversation goes deep into how government and big tech have become deeply intertwined, operating as what Benz calls a de facto censorship regime.

Benz explains how during his time at the State Department, he watched the government develop and export censorship infrastructure globally, often under the guise of fighting disinformation and election interference. What started as genuine security concerns evolved into something much more expansive, where the government effectively outsources censorship to tech companies by flagging content as problematic, and the platforms comply. The whole system operates in a murky legal gray area where platforms can claim they're making independent moderation decisions while actually just following government suggestions.

The episode explores how this accelerated post-2016 when there was genuine panic in D.C. about election interference. Instead of addressing actual problems, the response was to build an infrastructure for controlling what Americans could see and say online. Benz details how multiple government agencies coordinate with each other and with tech platforms to suppress speech around elections, public health, foreign policy, and anything else deemed problematic by the national security establishment.

Joe and Mike discuss the chilling effect this has on free speech, even beyond what actually gets removed. People self-censor because they know the system exists. The platforms operate with such vague community standards that they can remove content retroactively or shadowban accounts without ever explaining why. It's a system designed to be opaque and hard to challenge.

Benz emphasizes that this isn't about left versus right politics, though it often appears that way. The national security state wants control over information flow regardless of political party. What changed is that tech companies gave the government a tool to do it at scale, and once you build that infrastructure, it doesn't go away. It expands.