Right About Now with Ryan Alford: Episode Summary Episode: Moderation vs Censorship & Helping Brands Safely Navigate Social Media w/ Matthew McCrory
Release Date: March 4, 2025

Introduction In this engaging episode of Right About Now with Ryan Alford, host Ryan Alford delves deep into the intricate dynamics of social media moderation and censorship with guest Matthew McCrory, CEO of Arwen AI. The conversation navigates the delicate balance between ensuring brand safety and upholding free speech on digital platforms, offering valuable insights for business owners and marketers striving to navigate the ever-evolving social media landscape.

1. The Current Landscape of Social Media Moderation vs. Censorship

Matthew McCrory opens the discussion by reflecting on Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter (now X), likening Musk's vision to China's multifaceted platform Weibo, which integrates payment systems, advertising, and product offerings into a single ecosystem.

"[00:00] Matthew McCrory: If someone was to ask me, why did Elon buy Twitter?... that's the futuristic vision of social media."

Ryan Alford sets the stage by highlighting the importance of social media in modern marketing:

"[01:36] Ryan Alford: ...one of my favorite topics, social media. If you're not into social media, then you're probably not really into marketing because it is the way to market these days."

The conversation touches on the global sentiment towards moderation, with Matthew noting a predominantly left-leaning perspective overseas:

"[03:07] Matthew McCrory: I think generally it's probably more 60, 40, left leaning, I would have said, is the sentiment."

Ryan emphasizes the inevitability of addressing issues like immigration in the context of social media discourse:

"[04:44] Ryan Alford: ...we have to have laws in place and measures. It's been a little bit of the wild, wild west for sure in that regard."

2. Balancing Brand Safety and Free Speech

Matthew introduces Arwen AI's role in providing moderation tools that prioritize brand safety while respecting individual expression:

"[05:35] Matthew McCrory: ...this is about brand safety. We typically our clients are brands like Formula One's, a client, ATP Tennis or a client."

He uses an analogy to illustrate their approach:

"[09:45] Matthew McCrory: ...Patrick Sway's in Roadhouse. So he's the bouncer... creating spaces based on choice."

Ryan complements this by discussing the necessity of moderating harmful content without infringing on free speech:

"[10:02] Ryan Alford: ...Zuckerberg said it in front of Congress under testimony that he was pressured to censor."

Matthew elaborates on the distinction between illegal harmful content and "lawful but awful" content, advocating for user-driven content filtering:

"[08:50] Matthew McCrory: ...We draw a line on what we call illegal stuff... lawful but awful should be absolutely fine."

3. Arwen AI's Technological Advancements and Solutions

Ryan reflects on past social media sentiment tools and highlights Arwen AI's advancements:

"[23:20] Ryan Alford: ...finding nuggets that could be transactional opportunities or brand opportunities... that's what you guys are doing."

Matthew details how Arwen AI leverages large language models and synthetic data sets to enhance brand interactions:

"[24:12] Matthew McCrory: ...we're able to create synthetic data sets... suggesting replies to human agents."

He introduces AskArwen, a user-friendly interface allowing non-technical marketing teams to query their social media data conversationally:

"[27:15] Matthew McCrory: ...we have a development we're doing at the minute. It's called AskArwen... ask a question of their data."

Ryan underscores the transformative potential of AI in making data actionable and interpretable:

"[27:00] Ryan Alford: ...process it can interpret. Right. It's like it's the interpretation probably that's the... that'll blow your mind."

4. Scalability, Data Privacy, and GDPR Considerations

Ryan inquires about the scalability of Arwen AI's solutions for smaller businesses:

"[29:07] Ryan Alford: ...is this attainable or reachable or scalable?"

Matthew explains the partnership-driven model designed to extend Arwen AI's reach to SMEs through marketing agencies and service providers:

"[29:48] Matthew McGrory: ...our model is really to address that part of the market is to do it through partners."

He addresses data privacy concerns, particularly in the European context with GDPR:

"[32:18] Matthew McGrory: ...in Europe, we're beholden to GDPR regulations... demographic overlays are quite important."

Ryan highlights the importance of aggregating publicly available data responsibly:

"[36:29] Ryan Alford: ...aggregated In a way that could tell you things. I'm not saying that's what Arwen does..."

Matthew clarifies Arwen AI's compliance with data privacy agreements:

"[39:07] Matthew McCrory: ...Arwen doesn't do it because we've signed a T's and C's agreement with meta that says we won't do that."

5. Future Directions and Vision for Arwen AI

As the episode wraps up, Matthew shares Arwen AI's vision amidst the shifting tides of social media moderation:

"[40:48] Matthew McCrory: ...social media is headed what we call our kind of insights intelligence. We think that's a little bit more exciting."

He envisions a future where social media platforms offer more personalized and engaging user experiences without overwhelming ads:

"[41:14] Matthew McCrory: ...don’t hammer them with loads of ads... give them exactly what people want."

Ryan echoes this sentiment, recognizing the potential for Arwen AI to empower brands with actionable intelligence:

"[42:18] Ryan Alford: ...tools like this could help you pivot and or adapt target markets that are maybe larger or different than what you anticipated."

Matthew concludes by reaffirming Arwen AI's commitment to enhancing brand engagement and protecting brand integrity in an increasingly toxic online environment:

"[41:16] Matthew McCrory: ...we'll be standing there waiting to help people, to protect people's brands."

Conclusion This episode of Right About Now with Ryan Alford offers a comprehensive exploration of the balance between moderation and censorship on social media, emphasizing the pivotal role of AI-driven tools like Arwen AI in safeguarding brand reputation while fostering meaningful audience engagement. Through insightful dialogue, Ryan and Matthew underscore the importance of strategic content management and the transformative potential of advanced AI technologies in the marketing domain.

For more information on Arwen AI and to stay updated with their latest developments, visit www.arwenai.com or follow Matthew McCrory on LinkedIn.