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Keenan Chen

@kcinbk.bsky.social
1.2K followers 207 following 63 posts

- Data investigations for @chicago.suntimes.com and @wbez.org - Formerly First Draft News, brownpublichealth.bsky.social, Columbia Journalism Investigations - Lang: 普通話, 廣東話 - Email: kchen[at]chicagopublicmedia.org - Personal site: kcinbk.github.io

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Keenan Chen
Stephanie Kirchgaessner @skirchy.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
This is great and what I love about America www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
In the United States, Every World Cup Team Is a Home Team
At block parties, backyards and beer halls, an expanded tournament gave immigrant diasporas large and small the chance to revel in support of their home countries.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
For @nysfocus.com, I wrote about the sharp rise in New York City’s most serious housing code violations over the past decade, and how the city has failed to enforce its own laws, according to city's own data and interviews with tenants and housing advocates.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
For @nysfocus.com us.com, I wrote about the sharp rise in New York City’s most serious housing code violations over the past decade, and how the city has failed to enforce its own laws, according to city's own data and interviews with tenants and housing advocates.
us.com
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
As airbag thefts surged this year, the Chicago Police Department spent less time investigating them and solved almost no cases. My latest for @chicago.suntimes.com and @wbez.org , with Zoe Singer and @sophiesherry.bsky.social.
chicago.suntimes.com
1,200 crimes, 1 arrest: Chicago police fail to address boom in air bag thefts
A former high-ranking Chicago cop says the surge in thefts likely means criminals have noticed that police aren’t doing much to address the problem. An alderperson has now proposed a crackdown on the ...
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Late to this incredible @bostonglobe.com story. Using court records and mapping shuttle routes against census data, this investigation shows how New England casinos target Asian communities and engage in predatory pratices. apps.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/metr...
apps.bostonglobe.com
How casinos like Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods target Asian communities
More than 80 percent of those sued by Encore for gambling debts are people of Asian descent.
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Matthew Facciani @matthewfacciani.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
If you see a photo online and you're not sure if it's real or not, here is a free website that lets you scan through fake images that were debunked, and it's updated daily! imagewhisperer.org/factcheck-db/
imagewhisperer.org
Fact-Check Database — 1,100+ Debunked Images | ImageWhisperer
Search 1,100+ debunked images verified by international fact-checkers. Free, no login required.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
A year ago, I wrote about NYC's parking corruption using publicly available data and evidence. @nydailynews.com today reports an Adams admin official giving out NYPD placards like candy. No wonder parking agents, civilians employed by NYPD, rarely ticket these bogus permits. tinyurl.com/3mc9cpt3
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 26/02/2026
Fascinating new research paper asks: why did Biden receive so little political credit for his enormous investments in manufacturing? Turns out people give all the credit to governors (ironically, in this case, mostly red-state governors who were hostile to the policy!).
pnas.org
Why Biden-era clean energy investment policies had limited political returns | PNAS
The Biden Administration enacted the largest federal policy framework to incentivize clean energy and decarbonization in U.S. history. We examine w...
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Craig Silverman @craigsilverman.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Here's a video about my recent investigation into more than two dozen accounts using AI-generated doctors and health professionals to push dubious advice and sell products on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube: indicator.media/p/ai-generat...
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Jack Sapoch @jacksapoch.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
This investigation was a collaboration with @motherjones.com, @nashvillebanner.bsky.social, News Channel 5, Nashville Noticias, and the Institute for Public Service Reporting - Memphis You can find links to stories here + our methodology write-up: www.lighthousereports.com/methodology/...
lighthousereports.com
How We Unpacked Tennessee’s Cooperation with ICE
Combining bodycam footage, police reports, and more than a million ICE records, this is how we investigated Tennessee Highway Patrol's collaboration with ICE
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Craig Silverman @craigsilverman.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
"Crying girls will make you rich." That's the actual pitch from a marketer selling packages of emotional videos that brands use to flood TikTok with undisclosed ads. I just published an investigation into industrial UGC campaigns. What I found is troubling. 🧵 indicator.media/p/crying-gir...
indicator.media
“Crying girls will make you rich”: How marketers trick users with mass-produced "organic" content
Indicator analyzed UGC campaigns that generated over 2 billion TikTok views and found rampant violations of disclosure rules.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Since PlowNYC is currently offline, I decided to take matters into my own hands and built a map to track snow removal efforts by DSNY using the department’s extensive GPS data from its fleet of snow removal vehicles. You can find the tracker at kcinbk.github.io/SnowDay_NYC/
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Canary Media Inc. @canarymedia.com · 19/12/2025
Clean energy went through a lot this year, but it still managed to dominate new power deployment in the U.S.
canarymedia.com
Chart: Clean energy remains dominant in the US — despite Trump
Trump spent much of 2025 boosting fossil fuels and blocking renewables, but 92% of new power additions through November were solar, wind, or batteries.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
For @nysfocus.bsky.social and @thecity.nyc , I took a deep-dive into NYC’s Department of Social Services. OT spending has soared while frontline positions processing SNAP and Cash Assistance applicants remain unfilled, impacting the city’s most vulnerable residents (with @reuvenblau.bsky.social)
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
You can actually see the changes—the removal of human causes of climate change—side-by-side on the Internet Archive. web.archive.org/web/diff/202...
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Jason Scott @textfiles.com · 10/12/2025
I was sent some screenshots of HTML sites around the 1994 election cycle, one of the really rare to find examples of websites playing a part in politics so early. I'll get them on the archive but now you get them too.
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Reuters @reuters.com · 01/12/2025
Refugees feeding refugees: Sudanese families fleeing violence find little aid at Chad border reut.rs/3M7Wvs9
reut.rs
Refugees feeding refugees: Sudanese families fleeing violence find little aid at Chad border
At a transit camp here on the Chad-Sudan border, Najwa Isa Adam, 32, hands out bowls of pasta and meat to orphaned Sudanese children from al-Fashir, the site of a recent violent takeover by paramilitary forces in Sudan.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Made a precinct-level map on the results of the NYC six ballot measures. - A majority of voters in almost every single precinct on Staten Island voted against all of these proposals. - Affordable housing–related measures proved popular even in some affluent neighborhoods and also outer borough.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Not all misinformation requires sophisticated tech or AI. For @craigsilverman.bsky.social's @indicator.media, I deep-dived into these accounts generated millions of views—and potentially handsome profits—with a little clever editing and an understanding of how strong emotions drive clicks.
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Annie Waldman @anniewaldman.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen...they promptly let the individual go." The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:
propublica.org
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
I wrote about how foreign apparel sellers rushed to cash in on Charlie Kirk’s death. Within hours, these astroturf accounts started flooding Facebook and Instagram with merch ads. Some of these paid posts even claimed “100% of the profits” would go to his orgs and family. tinyurl.com/4x253yn7
theguardian.com
Merch sellers cash in on Kirk’s killing with flood of social media ads
Foreign brands not linked to Kirk’s Turning Point USA sell patriotic gear with unclear promises to donate profits
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 20/09/2025
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are walking and driving south to escape Israel's Gaza City offensive. wapo.st/4pwffkf
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Jarvis: I hate to say this to my friends here at CNN, mass media is dying, so they're taking the last of these vestiges of institutions that matter and they're trying to turn them into propaganda organs under threat from the head of the FCC
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
The New York Times @nytimes.com · 17/09/2025
Israel’s minister of culture announced plans to cancel the funding for the country’s top film award ceremony after a 90-minute drama about a Palestinian boy won best feature on Tuesday night. nyti.ms/4mla5oe
nyti.ms
Israel Says It Will Defund Film Awards After Palestinian Win
A drama about a Palestinian boy who sneaks into Israel won the top prize at Israel’s version of the Oscars. The country’s culture minister called the ceremony “shameful.”
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Conservative voices are now coalescing around the idea of “online radicalization,” claiming Kirk’s suspected shooter, a white, Christian male, was groomed into a violent leftist. Quite a surprising turn, given their past hostility to the concept rigorously researched by academics and journalists.
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
If the federal show of force in Washington has had a deterrent effect on crime, it appears to have deterred entirely normal aspects of city life, too. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/u...
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
The Associated Press @apnews.com · 09/09/2025
An AP investigation finds that Silicon Valley companies sold surveillance technology to Chinese police and security contractors, ignoring warnings that the tools were being used to quash dissent, persecute religious sects and target minorities.
bit.ly
US tech companies enabled the surveillance and detention of hundreds of thousands in China
U.S. technology firms such as IBM, Dell and Cisco largely designed and built China’s surveillance state, an AP investigation finds. The tech companies deny wrongdoing.
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Timmons Roberts @timmonsroberts.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
My lab's been attacked by an anti-wind group and their lawyers. They threatened the science funding of my whole university, to shut me and my undergraduate research assistants up. NYT just covered it. 1/n www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/c...
nytimes.com
Law Firm Pressures Brown University to Erase Research on Anti-Wind Groups
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
When I reported for a leading Chinese-language newspaper in NYC years ago, I often had to explain: “No, I can’t take your red envelopes.” Even now, seeing them still give me anxiety. I wrote about my personal experience on my SubStack. kcinbk.substack.com/p/a-former-i...
kcinbk.substack.com
A former insider on NYC's “Red Envelope Gate”
I had anxiety whenever I saw these "red envelopes."
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
I started my Substack because… why not? For my first post, I wrote about how the NYC FARE Act — which bans mandatory broker fees for new tenants — has yet to trigger any significant rent hikes. tinyurl.com/4tfnbyfr
tinyurl.com
New York City's broker fee ban, explained in three charts.
It’s still very early, but only a small fraction of rental listings appear to have increased asking rent since the FARE Act went into effect.
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Jon Keegan @jonkeegan.com · 18/06/2025
Amazing presentation, fascinating data: www.pewresearch.org/journalism/f...
pewresearch.org
News Media Tracker
Pew Research Center’s News Media Tracker shows data on Americans’ awareness of, use of and trust in 30 major news sources to map out part of the U.S. media ecosystem.
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Matthew Facciani @matthewfacciani.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
"More than half (54%) of people get news from networks like Facebook, X and YouTube - overtaking TV (50%) and news sites and apps (48%)" www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Social media now main source of news in US, research suggests
A report also finds right-leaning audiences on X have almost doubled in the UK since Elon Musk's takeover.
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Sophia Lebowitz @sophlebo.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
NEW: A cottage industry of unlicensed, unregulated driving schools in New Jersey are targetting the state’s immigrant population, evading the system carefully set up for safety.
nyc.streetsblog.org
Unsafe at Any Speed: NJ Officials Allow Illegal Driving Schools To Run Rampant - Streetsblog New York City
A cottage industry of unlicensed, unregulated driving schools targets the state’s immigrant population, evading the system carefully set up for safety.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
First Take should do a segment like this: If beef were a sport, where does the Trump-Musk beef rank of all time?
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
She’s essentially calling a naturalized citizen "illegal" in another comment, while her a district- including Whitestone, Flushing, and Little Neck- has a significant population of foreign-born Chinese and Cantonese residents. Curious how the local Chinese-language press will cover this, or not.
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
New from 404 Media: Republicans are trying to cram a ban on AI regulation into the Budget Reconciliation bill, which would stop states from regulating AI entirely for 10 years. www.404media.co/republicans-...
404media.co
Republicans Try to Cram Ban on AI Regulation Into Budget Reconciliation Bill
Republicans try to use the Budget Reconciliation bill to stop states from regulating AI entirely for 10 years.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
"The leader of a Bulgarian spy ring helped Wirecard fugitive Jan Marsalek organise an airlift of 200 personnel from Kabul for the CIA during the military retreat from Afghanistan in 2021, a court in London has heard." What a lede. www.ft.com/content/17c9...
ft.com
Bulgarian spy helped Wirecard’s Marsalek plan Kabul airlift for CIA, court told
Claim dismissed by prosecution lawyers at Old Bailey sentencing hearing
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Streetsblog NYC @nyc.streetsblog.org · 07/05/2025
🚨 🚲 NYC CYCLIST ALERT 🚨 🚲 Have you been stopped by NYPD during the recent crackdown on cyclists in New York City? Confidentially talk about it with reporters at Streetsblog NYC. Get in touch by emailing kevin@streetsblog.org or sending a secure message on Signal / WhatsApp via the QR codes below:
 NYC CYCLIST ALERT 

Have you been stopped by NYPD during the recent crackdown on cyclists in New York City? Confidentially talk about it with reporters at Streetsblog NYC.

Get in touch by emailing kevin@streetsblog.org or sending a secure message on Signal / WhatsApp via the QR code.Avis aux livreurs!

Avez-vous récemment été arrêté par la police alors que vous étiez à vélo ? Utilisez ce QR code pour contacter un journaliste de Streetsblog NYC.

Contactez notre journaliste Sophia via WhatsApp.Atención Repartidores

¿Te han detenido la policía cuando estás andando en bicicleta recientemente? Usa este QR Code para hablar confidencialmente con una periodista de Streetsblog NYC. 

Envía un mensaje a nuestro periodista Sophia en WhatsApp.
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Dylan Freedman @dylanfreedman.nytimes.com · 05/05/2025
"... reasoning systems from companies like OpenAI, Google and the Chinese start-up DeepSeek ... are generating more errors, not fewer. As their math skills have notably improved, their handle on facts has gotten shakier. It is not entirely clear why." — Great read from Cade Metz and Karen Weise
nytimes.com
A.I. Hallucinations Are Getting Worse, Even as New Systems Become More Powerful (Gift Article)
A new wave of “reasoning” systems from companies like OpenAI is producing incorrect information more often. Even the companies don’t know why.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
The @dallasnews.com is hiring a Cowboys beat reporter? I know someone highly passionate and extremely available.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Great reporting by @sophlebo.bsky.social on dangerous vehicles in NYC. Lax enforcement is also allowing out-of-state plates to keep roaming: over 4,000 such vehicles were caught at least 15 times in 2024 and still haven’t paid their fines, accounting for 45% of the most egregious repeat offenders.
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Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
This chart was made in America by skilled artisans. It also provides important context for understanding our current tariff situation.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Back from two weeks in Asia. What did I miss in the US?
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
For Slate, I dived into what a viral real estate influencer in NYC may reveal our increasingly polluting news environment of, and how a profitable business model of amplifying polarizing political and cultural content is making it even worse. slate.com/technology/2...
slate.com
He Used to Make Videos About NYC Real Estate. Then He Became Radicalized by the Right.
Cash Jordan made a name for himself showing off New York apartments. Now his YouTube channel is all crime and conspiracy. What happened?
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Reposted by Keenan Chen
Jehiah @jehiah.cz · 12/02/2025
📈 MTA Bus Cameras caught 419,433 vehicles double parked or blocking a bus stop for 4+ minutes in their first 5 months. That $23M reasons for drivers to park legally! reports.jehiah.cz/bus_enforcem...
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Here is an interesting observation on the USAID saga: Last year, the Republican-controlled House overwhelmingly voted to send $1.6 billion to the agency, which would distribute it to civil and media organizations abroad to push back against Chinese influence. www.congress.gov/bill/118th-c...
congress.gov
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
For @hellgateny.bsky.social, I wrote about thousands of drivers in New York City continuing to display fraudulent parking placards despite receiving multiple fines, highlighting how existing laws and enforcement efforts failed to deter these repeat offenders. hellgatenyc.com/crackdown-on...
hellgatenyc.com
City Council’s 'Crackdown' on Bogus Parking Placards Is Itself Bogus, Data Reveals
Thousands of drivers have been repeatedly issued $65 citations for displaying fraudulent parking permits, with some of the worst offenders racking up more than 30 tickets.
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The City Reporter @thecityreporter.nyc · 17/12/2024
The number of car crashes following police chases has skyrocketed under Mayor Eric Adams. buff.ly/49HhKbT
 Crashes Following Police Pursuits Shot Up After Key Police Appointments Under Eric Adams' Administration

The toll began to slow down this year — but both numbers are still overall up notably so far this year compared to the same time periods last year.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
This is gold. Can't wait to read how this "bias meter" tool will label the prosecutors and the defendants in the same article. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/b...
nytimes.com
L.A. Times Owner Plans ‘Bias Meter’ Next to Coverage
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong said that he planned to introduce the tool, which he said would appear next to the paper’s news articles and opinion pieces, in January.
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Keenan Chen @kcinbk.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
👀 Fun tidbit from experimenting with the PullPush API to dig through Reddit data: Children's Health Defense (CHD), the anti-vaccine group RFK Jr. founded, maintains a Reddit account and has made over 1,400 posts since 2020. Their top destinations? r/Conspiracy and r/Conspiracy_commons.
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