iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

my feel it isn't. Many variables leading to rapid growth

Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

He decided against it after learning what they were truly about: violence, hatred for Jews, adoration for Adolf Hitler and mass deportations by gunpoint.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

We learned this through a confidential source — a former Canadian Armed Forces member — after he attempted to join, what he believed, was a patriotic men's group.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

In the weeks leading up to the attack, the former CAF members alluded to killing Jews — trying to use a deeply offensive slur for Jewish people combined with the word "killer" as a username for an online game. He settled on "kitekiller" after the original name was censored.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

— a person who not only routinely engaged in antisemitic speech, but who more recently espoused anti-immigrant sentiments, blaming them for his lack of employment.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Here's the video — where we track down one of the former directors from Maple Finance, and her response to her role at the company www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEmz...

youtube.com

Exposing a Canadian 'banking' company linked to money launderers

YouTube video by CBC News

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Reposted by Eric Szeto

Elise Thomas @elisethomas.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

This kind of thing is why, as an OSINT investigator, working with journalists like @ericszeto.bsky.social and @ivanangelovski.bsky.social is so valuable. Here they are following the leads from our OneGate investigation all the way to a director's front door. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEmz...

youtube.com

Exposing a Canadian 'banking' company linked to money launderers

YouTube video by CBC News

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Seeing all this had us asking a bigger question about the state of social media — why are companies like Facebook allowing this slop to proliferate on their platforms? Because, as experts told us, they need this content — there's money for platforms to make from slop.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

HTV Network claimed to have 100 employees, paid double the average monthly salary in Vietnam, and held lavish corporate parties with dancing mascots and pyrotechnics. The AI slop economy appears to be pretty lucrative.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

An overseas AI slop empire is responsible for a torrent of inflammatory and misleading political and religious content on social media — we connected it back to Vietnam-based company HTV Network. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEHH...

youtube.com

Exposing a Vietnamese AI fake news empire targeting Canadians

YouTube video by CBC News

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Financial and legal experts all had similar takeaways after reviewing the evidence: this Vancouver company is at high risk for suspicious activity — and warrants examination by Canada's financial intelligence agency.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Using digital clues — unearthed by @cen4infores.bsky.social — corporate records, and on-the-ground reporting, we tracked down who's behind this Vancouver-based company, and uncover its connections to this sanctioned money laundering syndicate. www.info-res.org/financial-in...

info-res.org

The OneGate: TGR’s international digital payments network

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Using digital clues — unearthed by @cen4infores.bsky.social s.bsky.social — corporate records, and on-the-ground reporting, we tracked down who's behind this Vancouver-based company, and uncover its connections to this sanctioned money laundering syndicate.

s.bsky.social

Bluesky

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Another account we found appears to have partial selfies — and a photo posted of Metallica's album "Kill 'em All." A similar phrase also happens to be written at the end of that 104-page manifesto.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

A deleted YouTube channel, we discovered, showed his favourite videos included topics involving conspiracy theories and nazis.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Latest: We used digital clues to create composite of the alleged shooter involved in the deadly Montreal attack this week. We learned, using metadata, that 25 year old Seth Hatfield had created a manifesto two weeks prior to the shooting on June 8th. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

cbc.ca

Alleged Montreal shooter followed conspiracy theorists, wrote manifesto weeks before attack | CBC News

The alleged gunman in a shooting in Montreal Monday that left two people dead prepared his manifesto weeks in advance, according to a CBC News visual investigation.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

In May 2025, after informing David Do that we were going to name him in our investigation — one of the biggest deepfake porn websites globally shutdown permanently. He was subsequently fired from his job as a hospital pharmacist in Ontario. Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOf5...

youtube.com

Finding Mr. DeepFakes | Visual investigations

YouTube video by CBC News

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Big kudos to the team for our investigation into MrDeepFakes: TjekDet, Politiken, Dutch Bellingcat and CBC's visual investigation team were honored with the international “Global Fact-Checking Award 2026”

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

(Shoutout to the folks at the Sudan Witness Project at the @cen4infores.bsky.social and @bellingcat.com (and its community members!) for their help on Sudan

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

We shared those findings with the gun maker. We also approached Foreign Affairs minister Anita Anand. Multiple experts believe the United Arab Emirates, who provided arms in these conflicts, had a role.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

To figure out where some of these weapons might have come from, we spoke to Yemeni arms dealers. But besides learning they were smuggled, the info was limited. Without more key information, it would be hard to track — then we found a serial number on a rifle www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

cbc.ca

Canadian sniper rifles openly flaunted in Yemen, Sudan, Libya — despite arms sanctions | CBC News

CBC's visual investigation team reveals Canadian-made Sterling Cross rifles can be seen in the hands of armed groups in Sudan and Libya, and advertised openly online in Yemen.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

We ID'd Canadian sniper rifles in the hands of paramilitary fighters in Sudan, a Libyan militia and arms dealers in Yemen. These are some of the most war-ravaged part of the world — where there are accusations of torture, ethnic targeting and genocide. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZBX...

youtube.com

We talked to arms dealers illegally selling Canadian guns in a war zone | Visual investigations

YouTube video by CBC News

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Experts told us this is all part of a wider issue with social media — where users are rewarded / paid for high engagement posts through Facebook's monetization program. And guess what gets high engagement? Alberta separatism.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

That in itself isn't necessarily a story — until we noticed some were stealing content from Albertans, pretending to be Canadians. Then we saw some of them posting about making money from Facebook. Some, as we later connected, were part of a bigger network of inauthentic accounts.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

We were going through some of the biggest independence groups on Facebook when we noticed some odd behavior. When we looked at some of the user profiles, several turned out to be from outside Canada — mostly Pakistan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

(Investigation built off a Media Ecosystem Observatory's report, where they identified many of these accounts we looked into)

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

We took digital clues from these Youtube channels, identified the paid actors, linked them to overseas creators through leaked databases, got internal chats, and video scripts to reveal how it all works. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

cbc.ca

Dutch YouTube creators behind Alberta separatist videos getting millions of views | CBC News

A number of accounts creating misleading YouTube videos about Alberta separatism with millions of views appear to have their origins in a Dutch digital marketing course, a CBC/Radio-Canada investigati...

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

While some suggest this is a possible covert operation to influence the annexation of Canada's Western provinces to the United States — they're actually 'faceless' Youtube business operators gaming the algorithm to generate income./

cbc.ca

Dutch YouTube creators behind Alberta separatist videos getting millions of views | CBC News

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Our investigation unmasks the Dutch Youtube creators hiring actors to front videos promoting Alberta separatism. The videos, which have gotten tens of millions of views, exploit genuinely-held grievances, use exaggeration and lies to drive engagement./

cbc.ca

Dutch YouTube creators behind Alberta separatist videos getting millions of views | CBC News

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Reposted by Eric Szeto

Justice For Myanmar @justiceformyanmar.org · 10/03/2026

Press Release 📣 Canada urged to enforce Myanmar sanctions against four Canadians in pearl business with junta following police submission ✅ Read the press release online here 👉🏽 buff.ly/NKHnrJK ✅ See CBC reporting on Belpearl here 👉🏽 buff.ly/af8acMi

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

We analyzed corporate documents, and shipping records, used hidden cameras and satellite imagery to show how a Canadian family continued operating a pearl venture in the war-torn country, despite sanctions — while tracking where some Myanmar pearls end up. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

cbc.ca

This Canadian family fuelled Myanmar's civil war with 'blood pearls' | CBC News

A company with Canadian directors funnelled valuable pearls to Myanmar’s brutal military regime long after the 2021 military coup that sparked a bloody civil war — despite sanctions imposed by Canada ...

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

"Blood pearls" are fueling a civil war in Myanmar. The military junta, which conducted a coup in 2021, has been using revenue generated from the pearl trade, among others, to commit 'war crimes' against it's own people — aerial bombardments, torture, village razings www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHqq...

youtube.com

How a Canadian family fuelled a civil war with ‘blood pearls’

YouTube video by CBC News

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

While much of the focus was on the school — after reviewing videos from the scene, and satellite imagery — it's apparent the area was hit more than once — the result of a precision airstrike on an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps military complex adjacent to the building www.cbc.ca/news/world/i...

cbc.ca

Who bombed a girls' school in Iran? A visual investigation | CBC News

CBC's visual investigations team analyzes satellite images and video of the bombing of an elementary school that Iranian state TV says has killed at least 165 people.

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Eric Szeto @ericszeto.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Who bombed a girls' school in Iran? Almost immediately after the incident which killed at least 165 people, mostly children, several competing narratives about who struck the school emerged. Some accused Iran, others say it was the US or Israel. www.tiktok.com/@cbcnews/vid...

tiktok.com

In the days following the deadly strike at a girls school in Iran, no country has claimed responsibility. But there are already many competing narratives about who struck the school, and whether it wa...

TikTok video by CBC News

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Reposted by Eric Szeto

Beau Donelly @beaudonelly.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

With Ross Higgins, @conplnk.bsky.social, @georgekatz.bsky.social, @koltai.bsky.social, @galen.reich.me.uk, Daniel Greneaa Hansen, Zakaria Hameed, @idaherskind.bsky.social, @ericszeto.bsky.social, Jordan Pearson & Ivan Angelovski

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Reposted by Eric Szeto

Beau Donelly @beaudonelly.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Thrilled that our @bellingcat.com investigation "Unmasking MrDeepFakes" has been shortlisted in the 2025 Fetisov Journalism Awards (Contribution to Civil Rights category). In collaboration with @tjekdet.dk, @politiken.dk & the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. fjawards.com/events/%2Fsh...

fjawards.com

Fetisov Journalism Awards

Journalism’s richest prize, celebrating world class reporting in a global campaign for public interest news and information

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