iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Global Investigative Journalism Network @gijn.org · 26/09/2026

📢 @craigsilverman.bsky.social, open source expert and co-founder of @indicator.media, is conducting a hands-on workshop at #IJWeek offering easy-to-implement strategies for weighing and analyzing digital evidence. A must attend for investigative journalists! Tickets ⬇️ twp.ai/9OaM0A

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 25/09/2026

i'm looking to chat with folks who overpaid for a tourist visa recently because they landed on the website in a rush searching on Google and it looked like the real deal... ping me here or at alexios at indicator dot media plsss

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 17/09/2026

Pod drop alert! The one and only @noupside.bsky.social joined me and @craigsilverman.bsky.social on @indicator.media's Show & Tell to chat Grokipedia, Community Notes, and the wobbly state of platform disclosures on influence operations.

youtube.com

How Renée DiResta realized Grokipedia’s suddenly stopped accepting edits

YouTube video by Indicator

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 15/09/2026

This is the 116th reported case logged on @indicator.media's map of AI nudifiers being used in school communities, launched with @mattburgess1.bsky.social or @wired.com earlier this year. indicator.media/nudifiers-un...

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 10/09/2026

New on @indicator.media: Community Notes on Instagram covered just 3% of false posts debunked by the US bureau of AFP Fact Check. This analysis comes one day after Meta announced it would expand the program to 16 new countries.

indicator.media

Meta says Community Notes is bigger than fact-checking. That's not the whole story

Crowdsourced fact-checking on Instagram covered just 3% of false posts debunked by one fact-checking website

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Tara Calishain @researchbuzz.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

@craigsilverman.bsky.social sent me a bunch of interview questions a couple weeks ago to which I responded in a giant Google Doc. He thoughtfully trimmed my ramblings into a Q&A you can read in today's Indicator Briefing. Thank you for your interest, sir. indicator.media/p/briefing-n...

indicator.media

Briefing: New web search tools to cut through the slop

Plus: fact-checking the midterms and tracking Russian flights in Africa.

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 26/08/2026

We tracked it back to a single scammy affiliate marketing operation which pushed almost 8,000 reels with slightly altered assets to evade moderation. This story led Meta to remove all 107 accounts and Lovable to shut down ten domains. Subscribe to @indicator.media to support our impact.

indicator.media

AI-generated Costco employees got over 100 million views on Facebook and Instagram

We tracked it back to a single scammy affiliate marketing operation

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 12/08/2026

Detector tools built and made available by AI providers are mandatory -- but often missing, according to a new report we published today on @indicator.media. We found detectors for 6/13 companies and fooled all but one.

indicator.media

AI generators are now required to offer detection tools. We tested them (and they need work)

We found detectors for six out of thirteen companies, and fooled all but one

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Bruna Martins dos Santos @brums.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

@witnessorg.bsky.social and @indicator.media tested some of the detection tools available in order for companies to comply with the California AI Transparency Act and the AI Act and the outcomes were a bit concerning... indicator.media/p/ai-generat...

indicator.media

AI generators are now required to offer detection tools. We tested them (and they need work)

We found detectors for six out of thirteen companies, and fooled all but one

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Sam Gregory @samgregory.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Good @indicator.media report, in tandem with @witnessorg.bsky.social on gaps in detection tools mandated by rules that came into force on Aug 2: EU AI Act, and California AI Transparency Act. They found detectors for 6 out of 13 companies, and fooled all but one. indicator.media/p/ai-generat...

indicator.media

AI generators are now required to offer detection tools. We tested them (and they need work)

We found detectors for six out of thirteen companies, and fooled all but one

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 19/08/2026

In this month's @indicator.media Show & Tell, we heard from Caitlin Ostroff and Neil Mehta, who investigated Polymarket's outrageously deceptive marketing campaign. (ICYMI: Polymarket made a fake version of its own website, then paid creators to film themselves winning fake bets.)

youtube.com

How WSJ reporters caught Polymarket faking its own site

YouTube video by Indicator

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Indicator @indicator.media · 06/08/2026

We first published our overview of how different platforms have said they will label AI content in October of last year. We've had to update this guide several times since and it now covers the situation on Bluesky, LinkedIn, Meta, Pinterest, Snap, Spotify, TikTok, X, and YouTube.

indicator.media

The Indicator Guide to AI labels

We’ve collected in one place how and when major platforms label AI content

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 05/08/2026

I wrote a guide to red teaming AI tools for safety for @indicator.media. It's a combination of simple frameworks and snippets of worked-through examples built from my experience at Google, running a pro bono clinic at Cornell Tech, and doing this kind of work as a journalist.

indicator.media

How to red team an AI tool for safety

Indicator’s no-code and product-agnostic guide to probing for harmful stuff

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Riana @riana.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

I'm quoted in today's @indicator.media newsletter, talking about the xAI lawsuit against Minnesota's deepfake nudes law: indicator.media/p/briefing-m...

indicator.media

Briefing: Musk sues Minnesota over synthetic nudes law

Plus: Tools for tracking foreign interference and LinkedIn launches "AI slop" button

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 31/07/2026

Today's free Indicator Briefing is *full* of things you need to know, tools you can use, and research you should read on the digital deception beat. Check it out:

indicator.media

Briefing: Musk sues Minnesota over synthetic nudes law

Plus: Tools for tracking foreign interference and LinkedIn launches "AI slop" button

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 27/07/2026

I'm preparing a guide on red teaming AI tools for safety. If you have background in this space, what are some essential resources you turn to frequently or have recommended to newcomers in this space? Here are a few I share:

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 24/06/2026

Two Spanish operators running 20+ lookalike domains for the official sites have flooded Google with ads for {attraction name} + tickets. They then overcharge for a base ticket by a factor of 2x to 7x.

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 07/07/2026

A great, detailed, guide on web scraping tools for investigations by David Weisz, who ran three different tests on seven different scrapers. His take: "I'm blown away by the progress scrapers have made over the past decade, particularly the Chrome extensions and AI tools."

indicator.media

No code, no budget: 7 web scrapers put to the test

Scraping no longer demands coding skills or a big budget. Here's how seven options held up across three real-world tests.

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 18/06/2026

I'm looking for people who mistakenly booked overpriced tickets on a website that imitated the official one for any of these attractions: Alhambra, Colosseum, Louvre, Museo del Prado, Palace of Versailles, Sagrada Familia, Uffizi Galleries, Vatican Museums This is for @indicator.media

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Indicator @indicator.media · 18/06/2026

This work is made possible by our members, who pay our salaries. If you are already a member: thank you! If you are able to contribute to our work in this space, please consider doing so today: indicator.media/upgrade

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Indicator @indicator.media · 18/06/2026

To celebrate this win, we are dropping the paywall on all our AI nudifier coverage through the end of June. We hope this will make the problem clearer and more accessible to more people who can bring about positive change. Find all our reporting here: indicator.media/nudifiers-un...

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Indicator @indicator.media · 18/06/2026

We’ve repeatedly found that Apple, Google, and Meta failed to detect and remove ads and apps associated with AI nudifiers. Our reporting led to thousands of removals across these platforms and also informed regulatory interventions from Australia to the United States.

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Indicator @indicator.media · 18/06/2026

Indicator has been covering the companies that have turned synthetic non-consensual intimate imagery into a profitable industry of abuse since our launch. We prioritized this coverage because – contrary to some of the more fanciful risks of AI – these generators are causing real harm, right now.

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Indicator @indicator.media · 18/06/2026

We are delighted to share this award with @benmshultz.net and @santi4dc.bsky.social, who collaborated on two of our investigations. We are also grateful to the experts who have informed our coverage and to colleagues who cover this beat at publications like 404 Media, Bellingcat, and WIRED.

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Indicator @indicator.media · 18/06/2026

Last week, Indicator won the inaugural CJF Hinton Award for Excellence in AI Safety Reporting for our work exposing the infrastructure behind nonconsensual deepfake nude generators.

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 17/06/2026

Sometimes you have to (metaphorically) kill off an emu to fact-check a shady marketing firm.

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 17/06/2026

Had a lot of fun chatting to Omer Benjakob, the disinformation and cyber reporter for Haaretz, for the latest episode of @indicator.media's "Show & Tell"

youtube.com

How a Haaretz reporter infiltrates companies offering disinformation as a service

YouTube video by Indicator

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Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

WIRED and @indicator.media's tracker of deepfake sexual abuse in schools is now at more than 100 cases around the world. When we published this piece in April, the total count was under 90: www.wired.com/story/deepfa... Map and data here: indicator.media/nudifiers-un... (cc @mantzarlis.com)

Screenshot of WIRED/Indicator Media's tracker of AI nudifiers targeting school communities. The screenshot shows a global map with instances plotted onto it

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 11/06/2026

New on @indicator.media: I ran an adversarial audit of Pangram, one of the buzziest AI text detectors out there. It claims a 99.98% accuracy rate. I was ultimately able to get Pangram to misidentify AI text as human 85.7% of the time in an adversarial set of 588 text samples.

indicator.media

What I learned running an adversarial test on an AI text detector

If you get your bot to rhyme / Pangram will misclassify it many a time

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 11/06/2026

Excuse me but AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

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Indicator @indicator.media · 10/06/2026

We are now also on Instagram -- because who doesn't want to be reminded about scams and disinformation while looking at pics of food and faraway beaches? Follow us at: instagram.com/indicatordotmedia

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 10/06/2026

You think you know your co-founder and then you find out he's interviewing to get a SWE gig for a North Korean hiring scam, smdh. Read @craigsilverman.bsky.social's awesome new investigation:

indicator.media

I got inside a North Korean hiring scam. What I found reveals a troubling shift in tactics

DPRK hackers hired unwitting freelancers in the Philippines, Nigeria, and Colombia to put a human face on a malware operation — and make fake companies feel real.

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Indicator @indicator.media · 05/06/2026

Pic or it didn’t happen

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Kolina Koltai @koltai.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

This is what always surprises people. The ability to make deepfake nudes isn't hidden in some dusty, hard to access part of the internet. It's available in the most accessible ways like the Google Play store and the Apple App store. Anyone with a cell phone can make a deepfake nude in minutes.

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Indicator @indicator.media · 04/06/2026

We love to see it! Indicator is a Digital Media Awards 2026 global winner in the "Best in Countering Disinformation" category. Thanks to the World Association of News Publishers for the recognition. wan-ifra.org/events/digit...

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Craig Silverman @craigsilverman.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Absolutely awesome to see that my guide to using Skills in Chrome helped an investigator with his work! Here's the post: indicator.media/p/the-indica...

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 04/06/2026

After Indicator reached out, Apple and Google deleted 43 of the unsafe apps flagged by the audit.

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 04/06/2026

New on @indicator.media: We have long known that some "face swapping" apps market themselves as deepfake nude generators. At least one of these was used in a recent case in a US high school. But new research shows the majority of these tools do not have any guardrails against nonconsensual abuse.

indicator.media

Most faceswap apps in the Apple and Google stores could be used to make deepfake nudes

Apple and Google removed 43 apps flagged by Indicator

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Celeste Labedz @celestelabedz.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

I'm a former Community Notes super-user interviewed for this piece. Whether the notes are written by people or language-mimicking algorithms, the central flaw of Twitter's Community Notes is the same as it's always been: it's a "fact-checking" system that doesn't involve the checking of facts.

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Alexios Mantzarlis @mantzarlis.com · 26/05/2026

Today on @indicator.media: A handful of anonymous bots have taken over fact-checking on X. This isn’t hyperbole. In the first three weeks of May, just eight AI contributors wrote 50.3% of all visible Community Notes on the platform.

indicator.media

8 AI bots now write 50% of X’s Community Notes

The crowdsourced moderation project faces a choice between scale and legitimacy

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