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Oliver Buchannon
Alexios Mantzarlis

I am a recovering fact-checker and tech worker. I care about online information quality as a fundamental prerequisite for healthy societies.


Briefing: Disinfo spreads in wake of “El Mencho” killing

Briefing: Disinfo spreads in wake of “El Mencho” killing

Plus: how to view tweets without logging in, investigate ecommerce sites, and more.

Feb 27, 2026

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9 min read

This AI-generated podcast network publishes 11,000 episodes a day. It also ripped off media outlets

This AI-generated podcast network publishes 11,000 episodes a day. It also ripped off media outlets

Daily News Now tops search results for local news podcasts with AI content

Feb 25, 2026

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13 min read

Briefing: New deepfake rules go into effect in India

Briefing: New deepfake rules go into effect in India

Plus: updates to tools for inspecting websites and analyzing Telegram.

Feb 20, 2026

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11 min read

Briefing: Tracking the AI takeover of Community Notes

Briefing: Tracking the AI takeover of Community Notes

Plus: Tools for counting crowd size and generating Google Dorks.

Feb 13, 2026

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10 min read

San Francisco's city attorney sued the operators of 22 AI nudifiers. He wants others to step up, too.

San Francisco's city attorney sued the operators of 22 AI nudifiers. He wants others to step up, too.

David Chiu, San Francisco's top lawyer, speaks to Indicator

Feb 11, 2026

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15 min read

Briefing: X wants humans and AI to fact-check together

Briefing: X wants humans and AI to fact-check together

Plus: a world map of OSINT tools and methods for investigating GitHub.

Feb 6, 2026

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11 min read

How much does a TikTok account cost?

How much does a TikTok account cost?

In one prolific WhatsApp group, anywhere between 95¢ and $235

Feb 4, 2026

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10 min read

Watch the first episode of "Show & Tell" from Indicator

Watch the first episode of "Show & Tell" from Indicator

We talk about investigating Meta scam ads with Jeff Horwitz from Reuters

Feb 3, 2026

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3 min read

Briefing: Misleading video turns Italy’s PM into unlikely anti-American icon

Briefing: Misleading video turns Italy’s PM into unlikely anti-American icon

Plus: A tool for AI-powered company searches, and news sites are blocking the Internet Archive's crawlers.

Jan 30, 2026

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9 min read

@Grok is this true: How X’s chatbot performs as a fact-checking tool

@Grok is this true: How X’s chatbot performs as a fact-checking tool

Grok, Community Notes, and seeking truth on X

Jan 28, 2026

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12 min read

Briefing: YouTube CEO promises to tackle AI slop

Briefing: YouTube CEO promises to tackle AI slop

Plus: The best tool to download videos from YouTube and other sites.

Jan 23, 2026

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10 min read

Meta is *still* running thousands of ads for AI nudifiers

Meta is *still* running thousands of ads for AI nudifiers

But hey, at least some of them appear to be scams that can’t be used to undress

Jan 21, 2026

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10 min read

Briefing: New tool checks when a website was created

Briefing: New tool checks when a website was created

Plus: The US Senate passed a law allowing victims of nonconsensual deepfake nudes to sue their abusers.

Jan 16, 2026

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8 min read

‘Digital desecrations’: when deepfakes are used to mock tragic deaths and what platforms should do about it

‘Digital desecrations’: when deepfakes are used to mock tragic deaths and what platforms should do about it

Synthetic videos of Renée Good are the latest form of technology-facilitated dehumanization

Jan 14, 2026

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13 min read

Briefing: Grok brings nonconsensual image abuse to the masses

Briefing: Grok brings nonconsensual image abuse to the masses

Plus: a new feature in the Meta Ad Library and a new Telegram investigation tool.

Jan 9, 2026

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16 min read

An 18-month study found that fact-checking on Facebook reduced engagement with false info

An 18-month study found that fact-checking on Facebook reduced engagement with false info

It also identified weaknesses in Meta's fact-checking program, which faces an uncertain future outside the US

Jan 7, 2026

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11 min read

Briefing: US State Dept restricts disinfo researchers, welcomes back a propagandist

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.

Dec 31, 2025

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11 min read

How the Crabtree conspiracy theory played out on X’s Community Notes

How the Crabtree conspiracy theory played out on X’s Community Notes

A case study on crowdsourced fact-checking during breaking news events

Dec 22, 2025

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12 min read

Briefing: Meta's fraudulent ad pipeline flows from China to you

Briefing: Meta's fraudulent ad pipeline flows from China to you

Plus: tools of the year and what OSINT practitioners need to know about AI videos

Dec 19, 2025

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14 min read

Elon Musk is this year’s King of Digital Deception

Elon Musk is this year’s King of Digital Deception

And some more serious findings – including a great reading list – from our survey of 53 experts

Dec 17, 2025

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26 min read

35 notable AI fails from 2025

35 notable AI fails from 2025

Just because it’s "intelligent" doesn’t mean it’s always right

Dec 15, 2025

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23 min read

Briefing: Liam Neeson narrated an antivax documentary

Briefing: Liam Neeson narrated an antivax documentary

Plus: tools for analyzing Reddit and visualizing network graphs.

Dec 12, 2025

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12 min read

2025: The year tech embraced fakeness

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.

Dec 9, 2025

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30 min read

Briefing: Trump administration wants to ban foreign fact-checkers and online safety workers

Briefing: Trump administration wants to ban foreign fact-checkers and online safety workers

Plus: free tools for analyzing ads and extracting links and emails, and X gets fined by the EU.

Dec 5, 2025

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17 min read

Nonconsensual nude generators had another banner year. What will it take to defeat them?

Nonconsensual nude generators had another banner year. What will it take to defeat them?

Deplatforming the companies, debilitating the technology, and deterring the users

Dec 4, 2025

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24 min read

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Indicator is your essential guide to understanding and investigating digital deception.

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