Our guest is David McGarry. He is Research Director at an organization called the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. He is a pundit and a frequent contributor to magazines and news sites on a wide range of topics. He usually writes about things tied to technology, government accountability and consumer impact.

Lately, he’s been weighing in on a new law in Europe that seems targeted toward American companies and Americans online. It’s called the Digital Services Act.

The EU’s Digital Services Act (or DSA) was enacted in 2022 and just went into effect. It seeks to regulate online platforms by addressing illegal content, including hate speech and disinformation. How do you define hate speech and disinformation? That’s one of the things we’ll be talking about today.

The Digital Services Act applies to tech sites that have more than 45 million users in Europe. These sites include Twitter, or X, Meta, and Google. It requires them to conduct more comprehensive “content moderation, transparency in algorithms, and user tools to flag harmful content.”

Companies that don’t comply can be fined up 6% of their global revenue, or they may face bans in Europe.

Links:

* David McGarry at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (website)

* European Technology Policy Mistakes: Lessons for American Lawmakers | National Review by David McGarry

* The EU Wants to Censor the Global Market, Spiked

What you don’t know can hurt you.

Our guest today is Stacy Malkan. She’s the co-founder and the managing editor at a nonprofit public health research group called, U.S. Right to Know. The group covers public health science, and it tracks industry lobbying efforts. She’s covered everything from how pesticides impact the foods you eat, to the health risks of the cosmetics you use.

Some links from this episode:

* U.S. Right to Know (website)

* AGRA - Sustainably Growing Africa's Food Systems (website)

* Alliance for Science (website)

* The Bill Gates Problem by Tim Schwab (book/Amazon)

* Gates Foundation (website)

* Merchants of Poison, by Stacy Malkan

We are back after a long hiatus, and we’re ready to go!

As before, this is a video and an audio podcast. We’re on Substack at ShapingOpinion.com, YouTube, Rumble, and all of the audio channels, from Apple to Spotify.

If you watch, you’ll notice we have new digs. We’ve moved into the heartland of America and now have a more permanent “studio.” As for format, you’ll notice we’re familiar but streamlined. In terms of content, that’s going to be much more focused, too. But no need to elaborate here. Just stay tuned and the podcast will speak for itself. One thing you can be sure of is, “the guest is the thing.”

That said, our guest this week is Greg Schlueter. He’s an author, a radio host, a movement leader and an opinion writer who focuses on things like restoring faith, family and the culture. He’s the head of communications for the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership.

I read something he wrote recently and decided to invite him on the podcast to talk about the topic. That topic? The culture of victimhood.

Some links from the episode:

* Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl, (Amazon)

* Institute of Constitutional Thought and Leadership

* Slaying the Giants in Your Life by David Jeremiah

* The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt (Amazon)