iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Not that it'll stop me! -- you can keep following my internet culture coverage here on my new Substack. Please feel free to share. bytatumhunter.substack.com

bytatumhunter.substack.com

Tatum Hunter | Substack

My internet coverage to your inbox. Click to read Tatum Hunter, a Substack publication. Launched 2 hours ago.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Not that it'll stop me! -- you can keep following my internet culture coverage here on my new Substack. Please feel free to share. bytatumhunter.substack.com

bytatumhunter.substack.com

Tatum Hunter | Substack

My internet coverage to your inbox. Click to read Tatum Hunter, a Substack publication. Launched an hour ago.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Lost my job at the Washington Post today, along with many of the best in the business. I want to keep covering tech and the internet. If you have leads on jobs for me or my colleagues, please reach out. I’m so proud of our work.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

X says Grok account will stop undressing women. I just tested the standalone Grok app, which immediately complied with my request to undress a photo of me. This is illegal, according to the legal experts I spoke with.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Critics say we're seeing a major social media app popularize -- and then profit from -- digitally undressing women and girls. This comes after Congress passed a federal anti-deepfake law last April.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

4. Musk announces Thursday that Grok's image generation and editing will be limited to paying subscribers. X's in-app revenue jumps 20 percent day-over-day compared to the same period last year. Sexual deepfakes continue to soar -- about 60 percent of Grok's total public output.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

3. Musk and X's head of product Nikita Bier take to the platform repeatedly to boast about X's soaring traffic and downloads.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

2. X ignores questions from the press. Its safety account posts that the company is taking "action against illegal content" including child sex abuse material. Images depicting real women and children in degrading sexual clothing, poses and scenarios continue to pile up.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

1. Users begin flocking to X to use its chatbot Grok to "undress" photos of real women and children. Unlike other image generators, Grok doesn't meaningfully limit these requests. Non-consensual deepfakes and child sex abuse material proliferates across X.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

As we speak, non-consensual deepfakes are making the jump from shadowy forums and small nudify apps to mainstream social media. This has huge implications for women and children, who are almost always the targets. Here's what's happening: 🧵

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 07/01/2026

. @maryannefranks.bsky.social to @tatumhunter.bsky.social: “All law, in order to be effective, has actually got to mean something to the person who is potentially going to violate it, right? They have to be scared that they’re going to be punished in some way" www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

washingtonpost.com

X users tell Grok to undress women and girls in photos. It’s saying yes.

The site is filling with AI-generated nonconsensual sexualized images of women and children. Owner Elon Musk responded with laughing emojis.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

The industry has spent years fighting to contain non-consensual deepfakes. X just threw open the floodgates, seemingly with impunity?

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Will Oremus @willoremus.com · 16/12/2025

wrote about the rise and further rise of candace owens, whose unapologetically unhinged right-wing conspiracy theories have made her one of the most popular political voices in america — and are now causing headaches for the MAGA movement that backed her wapo.st/3MKjPwg w/ @tatumhunter.bsky.social

wapo.st

She was MAGA’s favorite conspiracist. Then she dug into Charlie Kirk’s killing.

The right-wing firebrand rose to prominence as a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist. Her latest claims have infuriated some of her former allies.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Candace Owens has said that Bill Gates uses laced mosquitoes to make people allergic to beef, that the earth may not be round and that the moon landing was “fake and gay.” Her MAGA fellows draw the line, however, at her comments on Charlie Kirk and Israel. wapo.st/3MKjPwg

wapo.st

She was MAGA’s favorite conspiracist. Then she dug into Charlie Kirk’s killing.

The right-wing firebrand rose to prominence as a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist. Her latest claims have infuriated some of her former allies.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

This has interesting implications for bigger conservations about mental health, infinite scroll, self-diagnosis and the attention economy. I hope you give it a read! From @jeremybmerrill.com and me.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Exclusive: TikTok's mental health "rabbit hole" is real. We used user data to show that the algorithm bends toward this content -- watching one mental health video spawns more similar videos than watching one about sports or Taylor Swift. And it takes more work to get it back out of your feed. 🧵/1

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Are you an Australian with tweenage kids? I'm a journalist who'd like to chat about your upcoming week, for reasons you've already guessed 🙃 DMs open, or tatum.hunter@washpost.com

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

this year, mainstream corporate marketing took up the ragebait playbook, and you helped 😃 w @nitasha.bsky.social

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

“I understand that by posting all this on her TikTok that she has upped her ratings and gained followers,” Kathy McDonald-Choate, a congregant at East Somerset Baptist in Kentucky, told The Washington Post. “I would not want to be her on Judgment Day.”

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

NEW: With SNAP benefits paused, one TikToker started calling churches and asking if they'd help with a can of baby formula. Most said no. Then their responses went viral. from me and @michelleboorstein.bsky.social wapo.st/4oJywOk

wapo.st

This pastor fell for a TikTok stunt and sparked a debate on Christian charity

An influencer’s test of churches went viral, rewarding the generous and shaming the stingy.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

"It's a log in MAGA's fire," political scientist Richard Flanagan told me. For Mamdani's opponents, his continued success is grist for the content mill.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

In the hours following Mamdani's victory, major conservative figures and elected officials fired off pithy posts about the downfall of America. Many referenced mandatory hijabs or terrorism. The NRSC sent a flurry of tweets and emails accusing candidates across the country of being "mini-Mamdanis."

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

good news!! instagram is fixing teen safety. here’s a short history of all the other times they’ve fixed teen safety one day before or after landing in hot water with regulators.

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 11/10/2025

Fake AI videos mocking dead celebrities are going viral. We talked to their families, and they're horrified. We break down OpenAI's Sora 2 and the moral and legal problems of "synthetic resurrection." Gift link: wapo.st/4nNKzd3 w/ @tatumhunter.bsky.social

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Ope! I reported in August about the quiet rise of vertical "micro-dramas": TV series in 60-second episodes designed to game your attention. Now the screen actors guild is officially recognizing this exploding industry with a new contract. 👀 www.sagaftra.org/turning-indu...

sagaftra.org

Turning the Industry on Its Side: SAG-AFTRA Goes Vertical With New Agreement

New Verticals Agreement Caters to Serialized Micro-Dramas in Mobile Formats

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

Yesterday we heard from dozens of parents and other people upset by the prevalence of the Charlie Kirk clip on social media. We found that social media apps amplified the video broadly -- often an autoplay to unsuspecting viewers. From me and @willoremus.com. Here's a gift link: wapo.st/4n6oBSi

wapo.st

‘My kid has seen this. Now what?’: Parents reel as Charlie Kirk video goes viral

Gory social videos of Charlie Kirk’s shooting have inundated children, leaving parents feeling powerless and disturbed.

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Will Oremus @willoremus.com · 12/09/2025

Visceral closeup videos of Charlie Kirk getting shot in the neck were everywhere on social media. A lot of parents were not pleased that mainstream social apps’ algorithms showed it to their kids. Story today by @tatumhunter.bsky.social & me (gift link): wapo.st/4n6oBSi

wapo.st

‘My kid has seen this. Now what?’: Parents reel as Charlie Kirk video goes viral

Gory social videos of Charlie Kirk’s shooting have inundated children, leaving parents feeling powerless and disturbed.

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Rachael Myrow @rachaelmyrow.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

“A user isn’t joining any of these platforms expecting to have their privacy and physical security at risk, just by being in an online space, especially one that presents itself as secure.” www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2... via @tatumhunter.bsky.social

washingtonpost.com

When apps leak our data, who is responsible?

The Tea and Flo apps put women at risk. Where are the consequences?

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

motion for a moratorium on the word "performative" you people can't be trusted

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

NEW: The most-downloaded app in America this week lets women rate their dates, complete with green and red flags alongside the guy’s name and photo. Some men say it’s an abuse of technology and a violation of their privacy. wapo.st/415AZc2

wapo.st

The Tea app lets women review their dates. Men are worried.

The Tea Dating Advice app rose to the top of the charts for exposing abusive behavior, but some say it raises privacy concerns.

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Tatum Hunter @tatumhunter.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

Gone are the days when you could have an affair or yell at a flight attendant or bully your neighbors in peace. In the internet age the cameras are always rolling, and people’s worst moments draw millions of eyeballs as online audiences flock to weigh in. wapo.st/44DNhL6

wapo.st

Analysis | An awkward Coldplay kiss cam went viral. Cue the morality police.

In the internet age, cameras are always rolling. It’s leading to a new era of interpersonal surveillance, which Astronomer CEO Andy Byron is the new focus of.

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Fenit Nirappil @fenitn.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

PBS Kids is at risk while YouTube videos engineered for maximum child engagement thrive. @tatumhunter.bsky.social examined the future of kids entertainment after Republicans slashed PBS funding www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

washingtonpost.com

With PBS funding cut, will the next generation be raised by ‘Skibidi Toilet’?

Cuts to PBS funding could change kids’ media forever, as families opt for short-form video and online series optimized for attention.

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