Full story from me and @anujchopra.bsky.social: www.barrons.com/news/us-bett...

Paid partnership tags for prediction markets still appear on several posts casting doubt on California's election, including from: - Top disinformers - People charged over the January 6 insurrection - An account that once admitted to taking money to share fakes linked to Russian disinformation

New with @anujchopra.bsky.social: Liz Benz still believes the distressed caller's voice was her son's -- the tone, enunciation and cadence all matched her 16-year-old. But it was an AI clone, making her yet another victim of a growing wave of impersonation scams. www.barrons.com/news/20-minu...

Troublemaker is my middle name.

So true. "Our ability to participate in witnessing, to corroborate each other's commonsense... is a threat to the administration's assumption of total power, not only over events but over how those events are interpreted." www.newyorker.com/culture/on-t... — Vinson Cunningham in the New Yorker

NEW with @anujchopra.bsky.social: After the fatal shooting in Minneapolis, AI fakes of the ICE agent, the victim and a woman mistaken as the victim flooded X. One X user prompted Grok to undress an image of Renee Good's body slumped in her car after she was shot. www.rfi.fr/en/internati...

America has 925 billionaires as of this year. Collectively they have a record $6.9 trillion in wealth. The bottom 50% of Americans control $4.2 trillion in wealth. When 925 people control more wealth than half a country’s population, we have a very serious problem.

"'If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a "kill switch" for any reporting they find inconvenient,' Ms. Alfonsi wrote." {gift link} www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...

The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5

"Trump peddles disinfo on & offline to boost his own image, attack his adversaries & control public discourse. For someone like him, unregulated generative AI is the perfect tool to capture people's attention & distort reality." Thnx @anujchopra.bsky.social @afp.com www.barrons.com/news/ai-pres...

Honored to join such an inspiring group of writers and filmmakers and to connect with the incredible policy minds at @newamerica.org as a #NewAmericaFellow.

🎊 We’re thrilled to announce the Class of 2026 New America Fellows! The Fellows Program selected 10 immensely talented Fellows from hundreds of applicants & will support 9 book projects and 1 film project. 🔗 Meet the 2026 #NewAmericaFellows: https://go.newamerica.org/new-america-fellows-current-5

New story from @anujchopra.bsky.social on AI-powered 'nudify' apps, with additional reporting by me and Sonia González Fernández. Deeply concerning that these apps -- which rose to prominence targeting celebrities -- are being increasingly weaponised against children www.yahoo.com/news/ai-powe...

Proud to see @benmshultz.com / @americansunlight.org's work referenced in this excellent article from @anujchopra.bsky.social detailing the attacks on the counter-disinfo space in Trump's first 100 days www.france24.com/en/live-news...

“Who other than a liar would cancel misinformation research?” www.science.org/content/arti...

New from me and @anujchopra.bsky.social for @afpnews.bsky.social Looksmaxxing influencers have surged in popularity across social media, capitalising on the insecurities of young men eager to boost their attractiveness to women. www.france24.com/en/live-news...

NEW: A grant to research farm-grown feminine hygiene products was axed after US officials falsely labeled it a study on transgender menstrual cycles. @anujchopra.bsky.social and I spoke to 5 people close to the project about the impact of its lie-driven cancelation. www.yahoo.com/news/real-lo...

The bloodletting at US universities continues. "Federal Cuts Prompt Johns Hopkins to Cut More Than 2,000 Workers" www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/u...

On the Mongolian steppe, climate change pushes herders to the brink. u.afp.com/SUms

"The threats facing Ellis ... highlight the real-life impact of disinformation for transgender people at a time when there has been a sharp uptick in the political rhetoric against them." Important story from @anujchopra.bsky.social 👇

A deluge of disinformation about a flu-like virus called HMPV is stoking anti-China sentiment across Asia and spurring unfounded concerns of renewed lockdowns, @tommywang.bsky.social and @anujchopra.bsky.social report

Harsh! Imagine working in the federal government under Musk—where loyalty is tested, cruelty is rewarded, and nobody is safe. A former Twitter exec, @ruchowdh.bsky.social , who lived through it speaks out.

Trump's War With The US Media @afpnews.bsky.social @afpfr.bsky.social www.barrons.com/news/trump-s...

I really don't want to be the person who habitually reposts tragicomic headlines, but I must somehow diffuse the psychic injury this caused.

NYT EXPLAINER: Trump Wants to Play Real Estate Developer with Gaza, one-time home to 2 million. Turns out Trump family already has a load of real estate deals in the Middle East. A NYT rundown. (My second explainer of the day) www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/u...

"The spectacle of powerful media organizations debasing themselves before Mr. Trump has become so familiar that it is beginning to feel like scheduled programming." www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/o...

Donald Trump has sought to make "condoms for Gaza" a poster child for wasteful US aid spending. The only problem? The United States sent no condoms to any part of the Middle East since 2019. @afpnews.bsky.social www.barrons.com/news/aid-exp...

A lot to enjoy in this story www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

NEW: @anujchopra.bsky.social and I spoke to a mother whose teen daughter was targeted by a deepfake nude scandal at school. The girl was mortified by the fakes. Her mother worries they could resurface as she applies to college, starts dating or enters the job market. www.rfi.fr/en/internati...

"You wouldn't rely on just anyone to stop your toilet from leaking, but Meta now seeks to rely on just anyone to stop misinformation from spreading on their platforms." Disinformation experts slam Meta decision to end US fact-checking, via @anujchopra.bsky.social: www.barrons.com/news/disinfo...

Bombshell announcement from Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: "We're going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with community notes, similar to X, starting in the U.S." “The recent elections feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech.” #disinformation

'Form of violence': Across globe, deepfake porn targets women politicians With AFP colleagues Masroor Gilani in Islamabad and Rachel Blundy in London #disinformation #deepfakes @afpnews.bsky.social @afpfr.bsky.social uk.news.yahoo.com/form-violenc...

There's a lesson in here about business leadership that actually knows and cares about the product they're selling. www.cnn.com/2024/11/16/b...

Thanks to the Republican Congress, and a tsunami of lies from Musk and others, the only US agency dedicated to tracking and exposing Russian and Chinese propaganda around the world ceases to exist www.france24.com/en/live-news...

The Israeli assassination of Hezbollah’s leader was the result of two decades of preparation for an all-out war that many expected would eventually come. A New York Times investigation shows how extensively Israeli spies had infiltrated the Lebanese militia.

RIP Global Engagement Center This was the State Department unit that tracked foreign disinformation. It terminated ops after Congress failed to extend its funding following years of criticism by the Republicans (& Elon Musk) @afpfr.bsky.social @afpnews.bsky.social www.france24.com/en/live-news...

'Who's Next?': Misinformation, Online Threats After US CEO Slaying "The danger here is clear: unchecked hate and disinformation online have the potential to spill over into real-world violence." @afpnews.bsky.social @afpfactcheck.bsky.social @afpfactuel.bsky.social www.barrons.com/news/who-s-n...

'Who's Next?': Misinformation, Online Threats After US CEO Slaying "The danger here is clear: unchecked hate and disinformation online have the potential to spill over into real-world violence." @afpnews.bsky.social @afpfactcheck.bsky.social @afpfactuel.bsky.social www.barrons.com/news/who-s-n...

actual lol www.newyorker.com/news/news-de...

So, to everyone who thought the Bessent pick meant that Trump would be reasonable on economic policy: I hope you enjoyed your vacation from reality 1/ www.nytimes.com/2024/11/25/b...

End of a love affair: news media have begun quitting X. So far those include Britain's @theguardian.com, Sweden's Dagens Nyheter and Spain's Vanguardia. Vanguardia said it would rather lose subscribers than remain on a 'disinformation network.' @afpnews.bsky.social www.rfi.fr/en/internati...

I spoke with @anujchopra.bsky.social @afpfr.bsky.social about how ubiquitous disinformation has become. It's part of everyday life and all the more potent around the election. Information as warfare is now just part of the authoritarian playbook to divide & confuse. www.barrons.com/news/after-t...

Want more facts on your Bluesky timeline? Here's a starter pack!

“Information warfare is only becoming more pernicious and, when given time to take root, serves as a critical building block to advance authoritarianism and bigotry,” Benavidez told @anujchopra.bsky.social of @afpfr.bsky.social: www.barrons.com/news/after-t...

"The Democratic leadership has not questioned the election's outcome ... But just hours after the election, X was flooded with over 30,000 mentions of the hashtag 'Do Not Concede Kamala' alongside the words 'rigged,' 'fraud,' or 'stolen,'" @anujchopra.bsky.social reports www.ndtv.com/world-news/u...

"The left-wing warping of reality underscores how disinformation is peddled across both sides of the political aisle, feeding information chaos on increasingly unmoderated social media platforms." From @anujchopra.bsky.social: www.ndtv.com/world-news/u...

I love that my timeline is full of bookish types again!

I need to be part of any social media site, so seemingly civilized, that people are posting pictures of their bookshelves.

Librarians moving dystopian novels to the nonfiction shelves.