Our researchers investigated a network of VK pages promoting an essay-writing company based in Cyprus. The accounts appear to be running on generative AI and targeting prospective customers writing in English. The network posted more than 200k times in the last year. openmeasures.io/vk-pages-ess...

It's been a busy couple months at Open Measures -- so busy, if fact, that we forgot to send a monthly roundup of our research pieces last month! Here's nine stories worth checking out, covering everything from Syrian insurgent groups to Sydney Sweeney's jeans. blog.openmeasures.io/p/icymi-sept...

Thanks to @craigsilverman.bsky.social and @mantzarlis.com for shouting out our latest research on Rumble in their newsletter briefing this morning. Be sure to check out what Craig and Alexios are doing over at Indicator indicator.media/p/grokipedia...

Rumble, an alternative video platform, can be tricky to navigate and harder to research/investigate. That's where we come in. Our researchers looked closer at the Rumble data we have, starting with the platform's power users. What they found was eye-opening. 🧵 1/n openmeasures.io/rumble-power...

Users on Rumble -- a video-based alt-platform -- posted at least 4.4 million videos and 10.7 million comments last year. We looked closer at the most-active uploaders and commenters on the site. What we found was a mix of hateful, scammy, and suspicious. openmeasures.io/rumble-power...

Users on Rumble -- a video-based alt-platform -- posted at least 4.4 million videos and 10.7 million comments last year. We looked closer at the most-active uploaders and commenters on the site. What we found was a mix of hateful, scammy, and suspicious. openmeasures.io/rumble-power...

Earlier this month, we published research showing these concerns about Tylenol were not popular outside a fringe subset of Trump’s online base on Truth Social. When the White House amplified these dubious claims, the platform lit up with posts repeating them. openmeasures.io/tylenol-and-...

Trump’s executive order labeling “Antifa” a domestic terrorist group is echoing internationally. Hungary, the Netherlands, and Poland are exploring similar measures, framing left-wing activism as a security threat. Read more:

Our latest examines the ways two post-Assad insurgent groups in Syria have used Telegram to shape public perception. Both Saraya Ansar al-Sunna and the Coastal Shield Brigade show that today's conflict in Syria is as much a digital war as a ground war. openmeasures.io/syrian-insur...

Early voting the NYC mayoral election starts tomorrow. ICYMI -- We took a closer look at the surge of identity-based attacks against front-runner Zohran Mamdani that appeared after he won the Democratic primary in June. Read it here: openmeasures.io/zohran-mamda...

We'll be at Christchurch Hacker Con in New Zealand next week! Come see our Liv Rowley present on stolen credential markets on Telegram on Oct 31 (spooky!). 2025.chcon.nz/schedule/

Narratives about "Antifa" were largely dormant for most of Trump's current term in office, even on alt-platforms popular with right-wing communities. That all changed when a gunman killed activist Charlie Kirk and federal officials rushed to blame the "radical left" openmeasures.io/antifa-narra...

You can get the latest from Open Measures researchers delivered to your inbox by signing up for our free newsletter. openmeasures.substack.com

After the White House endorsed poorly supported claims that Tylenol is linked to autism last month, Truth Social users began to parrot the claims and engaged with posts that supported them more frequently. The topic was obscure and unpopular on Truth Social before that.

Data on Sydney Sweeney Ad Controversy Shows How MAGA Weaponizes Social Trends https://gizmodo.com/data-on-sydney-sweeney-ad-controversy-shows-how-maga-weaponizes-social-trends-2000667399

Thanks @gizmodo.com for covering our latest case study! gizmodo.com/data-on-sydn...

American Eagle was dragged into an online outrage cycle after conservative media figures claimed that liberals were offended by the clothing company's ads featuring Sydney Sweeney and a denim-themed pun about her "great jeans." We checked the data. That wasn't true. openmeasures.io/american-eag...

Our research on the online outrage cycle surrounding Cracker Barrel's logo change was cited in this piece at Gizmodo: "According to data collected by Open Measures ... posters regularly tied the Cracker Barrel logo change to terms like 'woke' and 'DEI.'” gizmodo.com/cracker-barr...

Cracker Barrel changed its logo, then changed it back. We looked at how certain online communities reacted, and found that nearly a quarter of posts referenced terms related to social justice and diversity. Read more here: openmeasures.io/cracker-barr...

Many perpetrators "almost view their acts as a type of performance art." Thank you @drewharwell.com for including us in this story about political messages reportedly left on bullet casings in high-profile shootings. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Our latest investigation reveals how extremist networks amplified a harassment site targeting people accused of making distasteful comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Read more here: openmeasures.io/far-right-ex...

Online chatter about "Pallywood" -- the conspiracy theory that Palestinians stage suffering for propaganda -- gained renewed attention in July this year, after famine was declared in Gaza. Written with input from our partners at @freepressunlimited.org. Read more:

We’re pleased to be taking part in @bsidescbr.bsky.social next week. Our Liv Rowley will be presenting on September 27, sharing insights into stolen credential markets on Telegram. If you’re attending, come say hi! cfp.bsidescbr.com.au/bsides-canbe...

When crises occur and hard facts are at a premium, we're seeing the void filled with conjecture and dangerous conspiracy theories. In this case, Charlie Kirk’s death is being leveraged to stoke flames. @jaredlholt.bsky.social and @stuartathompson.bsky.social in NYT: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/t...

Have really been enjoying the work I've been doing at @openmeasures.bsky.social. There's some cool stuff in the hopper I'm excited to share when it's out, but here's a recap of what I've published so far. 🧵 (1/6)

People fled Twitter in pursuit of "free speech platforms"; why are some of these people not returning to Musk's X? Tensions between Musk and Trump seem to play a role at discouraging a return. Read more here: openmeasures.io/leaving-x-tw...

@mantzarlis.com & @craigsilverman.bsky.social are building something special at @indicator.media that really resonates with us at Open Measures. Thank you for featuring us on your great write up and demo + workshop last week. indicator.media/p/3-free-or-...

Did 4chan's April outage have a lasting negative impact on its activity levels and userbase? In short: no. Check out our thoughts here: openmeasures.io/4chan-returns/

August is a busy month for the Australian far-right. An Aug 9 neo-Nazi rally in Melbourne was followed by a weekend gathering of the same group, & details of an Aug 31 anti-immigration rally are being shared in far-right Telegram channels & socials. Read more: openmeasures.io/flash-report...

Nearly 1/3 of all posts about New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani contain Islamophobia or accusations of antisemitism, according to our research across 5 major alt-tech platforms. Check it out here: openmeasures.io/zohran-mamda...

Has Trump’s online base moved on from the ‘Epstein Files’ scandal? In my first piece for @openmeasures.bsky.social, I ran the numbers. Of the alt-platforms I looked at, the only one keeping Epstein discussion alive was this one: Bluesky. openmeasures.io/epstein-files/

Fixation on the release of the "Epstein files" seems to have been a passing obsession for pro-Trump communities online. Interest, which skyrocketed in early July, has since subsided. Read more here: openmeasures.io/epstein-files/

See you in Canberra! On September 27th, Open Measures' Research Manager, Liv Rowley, will be presenting @bsidescbr.bsky.social‬ on how stolen credentials are sold on Telegram channels. Reach out to talk cybercrime, Telegram, and other online threats. cfp.bsidescbr.com.au/bsides-canbe...

Welcome @jaredlholt.bsky.social!!

August is a busy month for the Australian far-right. An Aug 9 neo-Nazi rally in Melbourne was followed by a weekend gathering of the same group, & details of an Aug 31 anti-immigration rally are being shared in far-right Telegram channels & socials. Read more: openmeasures.io/flash-report...

Criminal gangs sell access to stolen "clouds" of information over Telegram. Check out how we uncover the various channels and groups in support of one such offering here: openmeasures.io/omega-cloud-...

Just out: the June/July Roundup! New platform features, plus research on disinformation networks and online attacks on the French judiciary. More here: blog.openmeasures.io/p/open-measu...

💫 Launch day! Today we're psyched to announce the launch of AI Search, an innovative tool that provides a helping hand in the creation of complex boolean strings. Read on to learn about what it can, and can't (🤖) , do for users. openmeasures.io/ai-search/

Online attacks against members of the French judiciary spiked 300% leading up to and following the March conviction of far-right leader Marine Le Pen for embezzlement. Find out more here: openmeasures.io/french-judic...

The VK pages for sites linked to the RU disinformation network "Pravda" share the same banners, bios, and MO. Despite that, they can also have markedly different tones. Take a look at our deep dive into Pravda Catalan as we compare and contrast Pravda pages on VK. openmeasures.io/pravda-catal...

The April/May Roundup is here! We look at deplatforming influencers, Australian politicians online, and a disinformation network on VK. Check it out: blog.openmeasures.io/p/open-measu...

~75% of EN posts on VK about the recent Canadian elections originated from a Russian disinfo network, as well as 45% of posts about the Australian elections. Check out how the Pravda disinfo network is using one of Eastern Europe's largest social media sites here: openmeasures.io/pravda-netwo...

Violent threats and calls for impeachment on social media platforms against US judges have skyrocketed by 327 percent since last year, according to new research from the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE).

One of the best online social media analysis tools out there, @openmeasures.bsky.social, now supports Whatsapp! openmeasures.io

WhatsApp coverage is now live on Open Measures. It's included in our Public and open source tooling which means you can check it out today! Take it for a spin at public.openmeasures.io and get in touch for deeper insights! openmeasures.io/whatsapp/

Following the latest cuts to research funding in the US, risks of undetected online activities from foreign influence operations to cybercrime could be higher than ever. Researchers are asked to do more with less. OM is now offering free Pro platform access to those impacted by recent NSF cuts.

The Australian election is less than 2 weeks away 🇦🇺 Are there any Australian politicians reaching out to their constituents via Gettr/Truth Social? Our research found just one politician currently active on these sites (+ a few more who have gone inactive). See more: openmeasures.io/australian-p...

4chan (one of our platform's sources) was allegedly hacked this morning by users on Soyjak AKA Soyjak Party (also one of our platform's sources), and we've got the context. Give us a shout if you want to get a better sense of the fallout. openmeasures.io

Andrew Tate was widely deplatformed in 2022. While in the years since he has amassed a large following on alt-tech platforms, it's a fraction of what he achieved on mainstream platforms. Food for thought. openmeasures.io/andrew-tate-...

✨ It's launch day! We're thrilled to introduce the Discover tool. This innovative tool empowers researchers to explore multimedia and text-based social research from any number of sources, all through a unified interface. Contact us to get your team access to Open Measures! openmeasures.io/platform/