Alexios Mantzarlis
@mantzarlis.com
đ€ 3361
đ„ 1268
đ 1938
Tech, facts, and carbonara. mantzarlis.com
pinned post!
From the moment Zuck shot his hostage video on Jan 7, the tone was set for a year of rampant digital deception. Platforms rolled back interventions on misinformation, bad actors embraced AI, brainrot infected startup culture, and scam states thrived. Indicator's 2025 Wrapped for Digital Deception:
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2025: The year tech embraced fakeness
This year, powerful people, companies, and institutions welcomed digital deception like never before. The rest of us faced the consequences.
https://indicator.media/p/2025-the-year-tech-embraced-fakeness
27 days ago
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Eoghan Sweeney
1 day ago
The term "police action" also comes to mind - the US was using that at a time when it had over 300,000 troops in Korea, and was happy to use it informally in reference to Vietnam
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I'm sure NYT editors spent a lot of time deciding what to call the regime change in Venezuela but I do think this word choice evokes the Putinist "special military operation" and understates what is in practice an invasion
1 day ago
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Don Moynihan
2 days ago
Translation: We found more pliable officials we can work with who won't ask too many questions about Venezuelan sovereignty
add a skeleton here at some point
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Trump says he hasn't spoken with Machado and doesn't think she has the "support" to be President
2 days ago
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"we want to help the people in Cuba," Trump responds to a question about whether this operation has any consequence on Diaz-Canel's regime
2 days ago
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"we're going to be selling their oil"
2 days ago
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Sounds like the Venezuelan VP is collaborating and notionally in charge, per Trump
2 days ago
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southpaw
2 days ago
Just as a practical matter, how is the United States going to ârun Venezuelaâ after the overnight abduction raid. Do US forces currently control an airport? A television station? A major road?
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"He f-ed around and find out" is a sentence the US Secretary of War just said.
2 days ago
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Trump on Venezuela: "We're going to run the country"
2 days ago
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Michael Kagan
2 days ago
I feel like I havenât even been properly lied to about the purposes of this war
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James Ball
2 days ago
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts. Which means itâs now the US administrationâs position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
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Paris Marx
3 days ago
feels like a great pretext for countries to justify banning twitter/x if only the political and media classes didnât continue believing there was some continued value to posting there
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France to investigate deepfakes of women stripped naked by Grok
Hundreds of women and teenagers have reported their photos published on social media have been âundressedâ by Grok.
https://www.politico.eu/article/france-lawmaker-investigate-deepfakes-women-stripped-naked-grok-x/
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are there really no direct flights to New Mexico from NYC or am I doing something wrong?
4 days ago
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Pessimists Archive is a gem
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New Year's Resolutions of the Past: Vices That Became Virtues
Virtues we now aspire to were once habits people vowed to quit
https://newsletter.pessimistsarchive.org/p/new-years-resolutions-of-the-past
4 days ago
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Michael Li (æäčæšž)
5 days ago
The final Calvin and Hobbes, which appeared in papers 30 years ago today.
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Brandi đŸ
5 days ago
A few weeks ago, they sent a robot to the Mavs and Kyrie accidentally killed it by pushing it over and this so funny
www.instagram.com/reel/DSYWNRj...
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America in 2025: Disinformation researchers get their visas revoked, while two DOJ-investigated Russian information operation assets are welcomed back for Christmas.
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Briefing: US State Dept restricts disinfo researchers, welcomes back a propagandist
Plus: a new reverse image search tool, tips for cleaning up your digital footprint, and law firms discover AI slop.
https://indicator.media/p/briefing-us-state-dept-restricts-disinfo-researchers-welcomes-back-a-propagandist
5 days ago
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Bill Grueskin
6 days ago
There it is. The final print edition, after more than 150 years, of the Atlanta Journal Constitution
elink75f.mail.breakermedia.com/ss/c/u001.o7...
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Mor Naaman
8 days ago
What happened in digital deception this year (gift link): survey of experts (+me) by the people of
@indicator.media
. Already highlighting a dire state, even if missing the (recent) most troubling development of U.S. going after Trust & Safety people abroad
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
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Elon Musk is this yearâs King of Digital Deception
And some more serious findings â including a great reading list â from our survey of 53 experts
https://indicator.media/p/elon-musk-is-this-year-s-king-of-digital-deception?gift_content=53363763-29b4-4e41-af4d-e7f52601e919
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đđđđ
add a skeleton here at some point
7 days ago
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Scott Horton
8 days ago
Trumpâs wealth increased by about $2.5 bn since his reelection, to $6.9 bn. Ericâs increased 10Ă, to $400 mn. Don Jr.âs 6Ă, to $300 mn. Barron, a college sophomore, is worth $150 mn. Trump's policies are picking winners and losersâand blurring the lines between business and government.
n.pr/48P2QSb
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How Trump's 'crony capitalism' has shaken up U.S. business
His policies are picking winners and losers â and blurring the lines between business and government.
https://n.pr/48P2QSb
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Air travel in 2025 is just a long series of small insults, that you get to pay for
13 days ago
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Mark D. Levine
13 days ago
Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan⊠* Vehicle traffic: -11% * Foot traffic: +3.4% * Storefront vacancy: -0.9% * Pollution: -22% * Revenue for mass transit: $548M So YES this has been a huge success.ïżŒ
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Jeet Heer
14 days ago
The smear campaign against Mustapha Kharbouch -- falsely accused of the Brown shooting and MIT murder by powerful politicians, pundits and plutocrats -- is a prime example of how pervasive racism has become. It's also a story largely ignored by the mainstream media
www.thenation.com/article/poli...
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Islamophobic Elites Lied to Destroy the Life of a Palestinian Brown Student
Plutocrats, pundits, and government officials joined together in a racist smear campaign against a queer Palestinian student at Brown University.
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/islamophobia-brown-school-shooting/
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Ernie Smith
14 days ago
Oh lord no
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Justin Hendrix
14 days ago
For many, the end of the year is an opportunity to catch up on reading or to purchase books as gifts. In 2025, a number of authors joined the Tech Policy Press podcast, providing fresh insights into how technology interacts with people, politics, and power. Check out the list:
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Tech Policy Press: The Year in Books 2025 | TechPolicy.Press
In 2025, a number of authors joined the Tech Policy Press podcast, providing fresh insights into how technology interacts with people, politics, and power.
https://www.techpolicy.press/tech-policy-press-the-year-in-books-2025/
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this is my favorite, but the whole list is fun / depressing
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14 days ago
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Matthew Facciani
14 days ago
Even with an available fact-check, Twitter/X failed to display it on 80% of the posts misidentifying the Bondi Beach hero.
indicator.media/p/how-the-cr...
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How the Crabtree conspiracy played out on Xâs Community Notes
A case study on crowdsourced fact-checking during breaking news events
https://indicator.media/p/how-the-crabtree-conspiracy-played-out-on-x-s-community-notes
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How well did X's Community Notes handle misinformation about the identity of Ahmed al-Ahmed, the man who disarmed one of the Bondi Beach terrorists? It's complicated... new on
@indicator.media
:
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How the Crabtree conspiracy played out on Xâs Community Notes
A case study on crowdsourced fact-checking during breaking news events
https://indicator.media/p/how-the-crabtree-conspiracy-played-out-on-x-s-community-notes
14 days ago
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Matt Novak
14 days ago
It looks like it's been scrubbed from every official 60 Minutes page now. It's only a 30-second promo but here it is if you didn't get a chance to see it.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Helpful overview of someone whose account is pushed to me any time I open the hellscape app
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Elon Musk Loves What This Guy Has to Say
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/business/media/elon-musk-mario-nawfal-x.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
15 days ago
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This story is bonkers
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The HermĂšs heist: how an heir to the luxury dynasty was swindled out of $15bn of shares
Nicolas Puech had a 6% stake in the French fashion house. Then his stock went missing
https://economist.com/1843/2025/12/11/the-hermes-heist-how-an-heir-to-the-luxury-dynasty-was-swindled-out-of-15bn-of-shares
15 days ago
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10 years since the Macedonian teens, we continue to see clickbait-amplifying platforms providing financial incentives for the same type of fake news generation
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DerriĂšre la vidĂ©o du faux coup dâEtat en France dĂ©noncĂ©e par Emmanuel Macron, un adolescent burkinabĂ© qui voulait « percer »
Le prĂ©sident français a dĂ©noncĂ© une vidĂ©o Facebook gĂ©nĂ©rĂ©e par IA comme un exemple de propagation de fausses informations et des manquements de Meta. Le diffuseur des images assure, lui, quâil ne cher...
https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2025/12/17/derriere-la-fausse-video-du-coup-d-etat-en-france-denoncee-par-emmanuel-macron-un-adolescent-burkinabe-qui-cherchait-a-percer_6658408_4408996.html#
15 days ago
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Tim Onion
17 days ago
The Epstein Files, everybody!
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Tim Onion
17 days ago
Gonna stop looking at the Epstein Files in a second because I'm frankly way too skeeved out to keep going but I will say this: the CSAM isn't blacked out nearly enough while the faces of guys in ties are obscured by vanta black rectangles the size of the sun.
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Usually when you publish things at the end of day on the Friday before Christmas youâre aiming for maximum dissemination and transparency
17 days ago
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I still can't get over the fact that the AI Safety Institute, which produces safety guidance like this one published yesterday, had to be renamed "AI Security Institute" because safety is a trigger word for some
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Our approach to tackling AI-generated child sexual abuse material | AISI Work
How weâre partnering with government and experts to prevent the creation and spread of AIâgenerated CSAM
https://www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/our-approach-to-tackling-ai-generated-child-sexual-abuse-material
18 days ago
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Indicator
18 days ago
Craig was on On the Media! He spoke about our analysis of the year in digital deception, which is free to read:
indicator.media/p/2025-the-y...
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Tom Stafford
18 days ago
I'm quoted in the Indicator end of year newsletter
https://indicator.media/p/elon-musk-is-this-year-s-king-of-digital-deception?gift_content=53363763-29b4-4e41-af4d-e7f52601e919
Come at me pessimists!
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Renee DiResta
19 days ago
The Digital Deception awards by Indicator Media are out... I will be a contrarian here, I'm not among the voters but I think AI in Community Notes has significant positive potential. đ€·ââïž Not bc of factuality -human voters/reviewers matter- but for neutral language.
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
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This preprint suggests the introduction of Grok may have reduced both the demand and the supply for Community Notes on X (h/t
@dgrand.bsky.social
). And if I had to bet on which of the two is going to get more resources in the future...
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
18 days ago
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hm. is anyone else having trouble downloading Community Notes data on X?
18 days ago
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
18 days ago
This made me genuinely laugh out loud.
add a skeleton here at some point
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io glieli auguro 685,000 abbonati a
@ilpost.it
ma credo che l'IA di Google abbia preso una bella cantonata citando un articolo scritto dal Post ma riguardante il Corriere della Sera
18 days ago
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Dr Emma L Briant
19 days ago
Happy to share a gift link to this excellent reporting I've been interviewed in by
@mantzarlis.com
- according to experts, 'Elon Musk is this yearâs King of Digital Deception'
indicator.media/p/elon-musk-...
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Elon Musk is this yearâs King of Digital Deception
And some more serious findings â including a great reading list â from our survey of 53 experts
https://indicator.media/p/elon-musk-is-this-year-s-king-of-digital-deception?gift_content=53363763-29b4-4e41-af4d-e7f52601e919
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Kolina Koltai
19 days ago
Honored to be one of the experts for this end-of-the-year roundup! No surprise to me reading the summary of what my colleagues said as well!
add a skeleton here at some point
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Justin Hendrix
19 days ago
Pleased to contribute to this, many excellent observations and reading recs!
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On the Media
19 days ago
New pod is up and it's a good one! Brooke speaks with
@craigsilverman.bsky.social
of
@indicator.media
about the digital fakery that defined 2025. Listen:
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Big Tech Embraced Fakeness in 2025 | On the Media | WNYC Studios
This year, Silicon Valley poured its collective resources in AI. Billions  and billions of dollars. But behind the snazzy ads and glowing endorsements, some users and journalists are ...
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm/articles/big-tech-embraced-fakeness-in-2025
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that's a pity, i was looking forward to Racist Barbie
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Scoop: Mattel and OpenAI won't release their AI toy in 2025
The companies announced a partnership earlier in the year.
https://www.axios.com/2025/12/15/mattel-openai-toys-kids
19 days ago
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