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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.


AI Nudifiers continue to reach millions and make millions

AI Nudifiers continue to reach millions and make millions

Our exclusive analysis estimates that the nudifier economy may be worth up to $36 million a year

Jul 14, 2025

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4 min read

Briefing: Grok goes on a Nazi bender and YouTube hints it will go after AI slop

Briefing: Grok goes on a Nazi bender and YouTube hints it will go after AI slop

Plus: A look at Community Notes en español, how to jailbreak LLMs with fake citations, and a Google dork generator

Jul 11, 2025

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8 min read

TikTok has a celebrity giveaway scams problem

TikTok has a celebrity giveaway scams problem

An organized network of accounts is using TikTok to get tens of thousands of leads for an advance fee scam

Jul 7, 2025

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1 min read

Briefing: AI bots join Community Notes and Clothoff whistleblower speaks

Briefing: AI bots join Community Notes and Clothoff whistleblower speaks

Plus: Academics try fighting AI peer reviews with hidden prompts, SCOTUS refuses to review case against fact-checkers, and a tool that lets you search X without being logged in.

Jul 4, 2025

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10 min read

YouTube ran highlights for Club World Cup games before they were played

YouTube ran highlights for Club World Cup games before they were played

A clever scheme got millions of views (and top tier ads) by exploiting data voids and abusing the trimming functionality

Jun 30, 2025

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2 min read

Briefing: Google kills fact-checking feature and Meta monetized sanctioned Russian entities

Briefing: Google kills fact-checking feature and Meta monetized sanctioned Russian entities

Plus, a new feature in OpenAleph, Elon fights Grok, and John Oliver on AI slop

Jun 27, 2025

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11 min read

How Israel uses Google Ads in its information offensive against Iran

How Israel uses Google Ads in its information offensive against Iran

Ads shown millions of times in five European countries promote Israel's justification for military intervention

Jun 24, 2025

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1 min read

Briefing: Elon Musk's rare Community Notes and AI slop everywhere

Briefing: Elon Musk's rare Community Notes and AI slop everywhere

Your must reads and must tries on the digital deception beat this week

Jun 20, 2025

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14 min read

A first look at Meta’s Community Notes

A first look at Meta’s Community Notes

Zuckerberg's pivot to crowdsourcing features three jacked dudes, a flirty farmer, and some useful notes

Jun 17, 2025

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3 min read

Briefing: X changes its verification messaging and platforms face greater liability in Brazil

Briefing: X changes its verification messaging and platforms face greater liability in Brazil

Your must reads and must tries on the digital deception beat this week

Jun 13, 2025

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13 min read

Meta is suing the company behind a noxious network of AI nudifiers

Meta is suing the company behind a noxious network of AI nudifiers

The platform also says it built custom tools to detect ads for AI undressers like Crush AI

Jun 12, 2025

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6 min read

Amazon is selling hundreds of seemingly AI-generated biographies for children

Amazon is selling hundreds of seemingly AI-generated biographies for children

Gather around kids, time to to learn about “Genshis Khan” from a “whiite lady”

Jun 11, 2025

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2 min read

June 6 Briefing: Viral paraglider takes media for a trip and some good news about nudifiers

June 6 Briefing: Viral paraglider takes media for a trip and some good news about nudifiers

Your must reads and must tries on the digital deception beat this week

Jun 6, 2025

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10 min read

AI nudifiers pivot to video and reach users via Apple, Google, Meta, Telegram, and X

AI nudifiers pivot to video and reach users via Apple, Google, Meta, Telegram, and X

Deepfake nude generators can still get ads, apps, and verified accounts approved on mainstream platforms

Jun 2, 2025

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2 min read

May 30 Briefing: X Community Notes goes down and new tool fools running apps

May 30 Briefing: X Community Notes goes down and new tool fools running apps

Your must reads and must tries on the digital deception beat this week

May 30, 2025

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10 min read

The top Community Notes contributor is...an antivirus startup?

The top Community Notes contributor is...an antivirus startup?

I thought someone was gaming X’s crowdsourced moderation; instead, they appear to be helping clean up the platform’s mess for free.

May 26, 2025

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2 min read

Indicator Briefing (May 23, 2025)

Indicator Briefing (May 23, 2025)

Your must reads and must tries on the digital deception beat this week

May 23, 2025

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10 min read

Meta ran thousands of pornbait ads for fraudulent networks that monetize with Google

Meta ran thousands of pornbait ads for fraudulent networks that monetize with Google

Nothing says "healthy online advertising ecosystem" like deceptive ads on one platform being used to drive traffic to deceptive ads on another platform

May 21, 2025

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2 min read

Welcome to Indicator!

Welcome to Indicator!

Your guide to understanding and investigating digital deception

May 18, 2025

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2 min read

We have always worried about new forms of communication – and we shouldn't stop now

We have always worried about new forms of communication – and we shouldn't stop now

Superbloom situates our current information crisis

May 7, 2025

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11 min read

Facebook scammers push fake auctions for Italian villas

Facebook scammers push fake auctions for Italian villas

Wanderlust as lure

Apr 30, 2025

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12 min read

NSF takes Ignorance is Strength approach to misinformation research

NSF takes Ignorance is Strength approach to misinformation research

On Friday night, the U.S. National Science Foundation announced it would terminate grants already awarded to academic institutions for research projects on misinformation.

Apr 23, 2025

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12 min read

Doubling down on denialism

Doubling down on denialism

Executive orders seek to dissuade denialism debunkers; Tariff AI memes get 31 million views; and deepfake Sydney Sweeney sells boost gummies

Apr 16, 2025

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11 min read

Turns out Community Notes are also "biased"

Turns out Community Notes are also "biased"

A preprint finds X's Community Notes disproportionately label Republican posts; Rome's chatbot resists my jailbreaks; and Barron Trudeau is trending

Apr 9, 2025

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11 min read

OpenAI says "f**k it, we're doing impersonation now"

OpenAI says "f**k it, we're doing impersonation now"

OpenAI wants a cut of the deepfake disinfo market; TikTok job-bait accounts target would-be emigrants; and Meta is still running ads for AI nudifiers

Apr 2, 2025

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14 min read

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


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