X has taken one more step towards handing Community Notes over to the machines. I understand the motive and don't even think it is net negative from a quality perspective. But for a project meant to bring content moderation into the hands of users, this is the wrong direction of travel.

le grand sigh "Grok produced images on the first attempt for all five tests. Gemini produced convincing images in four of five cases, but only when provided with authentic images of public figures to use as a reference. ChatGPT refused to comply to all five prompts." via @newsguard.bsky.social

Wrote about some of the history of the Wyden Siren from @wyden.senate.gov and why we should take it VERY seriously when he sends a cryptic letter like he did yesterday.

We at the @postguild.bsky.social are raising money for the hundreds of journalists the Post just laid off. This goes to the people who are hurting, not the Post. Or if you'd rather, go subscribe to an independent journalist. Support is hugely appreciated. www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t...

NEWS: The cuts were so severe that at least one department head asked to leave The Post rather than be included in the planning. Peter Finn, The Post's international editor, requested that he be laid off once he learned about the scope of the cuts to his section. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...

Nitasha is one of the absolute best on the tech beat. What a nonsensical and self-harming move.

We gotta come up with a better system than “everything rests on whether these twelve billionnaires are nice”

Grok is erasing the leader of India's opposition when being asked to remove "the terrorist sympathiser".

Today on Indicator: How much does a TikTok account cost? Well, it depends. But on one prolific marketplace I track, you can get a handle for anywhere from 95¢ to $235.

happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.

"Without writers, editors, photographers, and photo editors, our company will incur almost no expenses when putting out Total Crap."

Any recommendations for an Icelandic novel to bring with me on a trip to Iceland later this month? (Ideally something newer than Laxness.)

"The loss of the theatrical rights is attributed to the Lake Theater’s marquee messages for the documentary. These included: 'DOES MELANIA WEAR PRADA? FIND OUT FRIDAY!' and 'TO DEFEAT YOUR ENEMY. YOU MUST KNOW THEM. MELANIA.'"

New: Together with colleagues I’ve been testing Grok. The chatbot still produces sexualized images — even when told the subjects don’t consent. even when told the photos will be used for public humiliation. even when told the subjects are survivors of abuse. www.reuters.com/business/des...

Craig and I were tired of going to the Bar for Newsletter Dudes and getting asked "Bros, do you even *have* a podcast?" -- so we launched one. Our first guest is @jeffhorwitz.bsky.social of "Facebook Files" fame. Jeff loves LinkedIn and handling bees. Check out Show & Tell from @indicator.media:

Haiti’s TPS continues for now!!!!! And zowie: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.283214/gov.uscourts.dcd.283214.124.0_1.pdf

The last time he started talking like this, his allies minimized the risks and we ended up with January 6. This time we must take him literally and seriously. These comments are a five-alarm fire for democracy. In a functioning republic, he would be impeached and removed from office today.

BREAKING: The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez.

“The United States is responsible for about 95 percent of the money owed to the United Nations” really should have been the headline here

Elon Musk, refusing: "Hey man, when can I come to Epstein Island"

No no no no no no no no

Georgia Fort, an independent journalist and vice president of the Minnesota NABJ chapter, was also arrested by federal agents this morning I was sent this video of agents at her door:

Indicator's weekly Briefing is free and includes all the news, tools, and research you need to know to keep up with our broken online information ecosystem. Give it a spin:

Let’s try this one in foreign correspondent voice: State Security Forces Arrest Journalist Who Covered Protests Against Regime Official

feds have arrested jamael lundy alongside journalists georgia fort and don lemon for the protest at a st. paul church led by an ICE agent lundy is currently running for state senate district 65 in minnesota. his wife is anika bowie, a st. paul city councilmember www.jlundyforsd65.com

We are grateful to @theguardian.com for citing Indicator's findings on AI nudifier ads running on Meta. Reporters at the newspaper found 150 Telegram channels that trade in nonconsensual deepfake nudes. Here's their full article: www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Maldita is doing some really great work exposing the polarization-for-profit mechanisms of TikTok.

Happy to see that there is no need to worry about the historical accuracy of new 1776 AI slop because it happens in the mystical land of Λamereedd.

A pro-Putin Indian content farm on X clipped a statement by the Italian PM satirizing her opponents as wanting to "close US bases and storm McDonald's" and flipped it to make it seem like her position. "Meloni dropping truth bombs like a boss! 🔥🇮🇹🇺🇸" says one of the posts, with millions of views.

Adam Mosseri ended 2025 saying that "we like to complain about 'AI slop' but there's a lot of amazing AI content" I wonder whether this qualifies as 'amazing':

"There’s an extremely hurtful narrative going around that my product, a revolutionary new technology that exists to scam the elderly and make you distrust anything you see online, is harmful to society."

“.. The $35 million for marketing is 10 times what some other high-profile documentaries have received.” @nytimes.com #$AMZN www.nytimes.com/2026/01/28/b...

Hello! This is a reminder that @cornelltech.bsky.social runs a Red Team Clinic that provides a *free* safety consultation to nonprofits / public sector orgs that are developing a public-facing AI tool and want to stress-test it for possible abuse vectors. Applications welcome on a rolling basis:

When I think about measles I think about the number 1,000. Thats the number that epidemiologists use to explain harm from measles in children. With 1,000 cases, about 200 children will require hospitalization, 50 will develop pneumonia, and one to three will die. South Carolina is at 789.

New on @indicator.media: "@grok is this true" was the single most frequent reply tagging X's AI chatbot in the six months following its launch.

BREAKING Greg Bovino has been removed as Border Patrol "commander at large" and will return to El Centro Calif, where he is expected to retire soon. A stunning turnaround after Pretti killing. Bovino's traveling blue city crackdown is over www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

“the platform that normally gives me fake big numbers is now giving me fake small numbers”

Synthetic doctors are outperforming real ones on social media. I found more than 25 AI health accounts with +8.5 million followers. The Canadian Medical Assoc runs a program featuring real doctors. Its prez told me: "I would say that our following is not as large." indicator.media/p/ai-generat...

welcome to america, the country that makes you watch executions in the street frame by frame a few times a month just to stay up in current events

AI-generated doctors dispensing claims that medical experts described as "misleading and disturbing" have millions of followers on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. They're typically used to sell health products. Check out @craigsilverman.bsky.social's latest on @indicator.media:

Deepfakes, die Frauen ohne Einverständnis entkleiden, erniedrigen oder in pornografisches Material einfügen, sind seit Jahren ein Riesenproblem. Grok ist nur ein Teil davon. Mein Gastbeitrag für @campact.de - mit Zahlen zu Werbeanzeigen bei Meta von @mantzarlis.com. www.campact.de/blog/2026/01...

Even fewer people believe administration lies the second time

Kudos to the NYT editor who took “Appears to” out of the lead headline (finally)

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara: "People have had enough. This is the third shooting in less than 3 weeks. The MPD went the entire year last year recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn't shoot anyone ... this is not sustainable."

From the NY Post. You know they are really scrambling when they are running "The gun was no angel" stories.

A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.

The statement from Alex Pretti’s parents is just “tell the government to stop telling smirking, transparent lies about why it killed our son” which feels like a new low for our nation. This president and his toadies have brought us to our knees and must be driven out

You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.

🚨 SCHUMER just now: “Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”