Scoop: We unmasked who’s behind viral YouTube videos using actors to promote Canada joining the U.S. — it’s not who you might expect. We link 3 men in the Netherlands to the videos; 2 of them took the same online course on making money from “faceless” YouTube channels. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

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...

cbc.ca

Fascinating read here based on extraordinary OSINT journalism via @ericszeto.bsky.social www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

How a Russian oligarch imported a Canadian-made luxury jet despite sanctions | CBC News

Dozens of Canadian-made planes have made their way to Russia, even after that country was subjected to strict sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine, a CBC News visual investigation has found.

cbc.ca

Me and the homies are gonna slouch towards Bethlehem later if you wanna come through. Yeah we're going to see how wide the gyre is it's supposed to be nuts

good piece that took the time to actually look into this -- i'm still seeing stories saying the crowds are totally fake, when they were in fact real, just still photos (likely) boneheadedly run through AI to turn into a video. what a world!

Waxy.org@waxy.org · 11mo ago

Will Smith is being accused of generating fake fans with AI, but it's complicated: the crowds are real, but the videos were manipulated by Smith's team and YouTube itself. https://waxy.org/2025/08/will-smiths-concert-crowds-were-real-but-ai-is-blurring-the-lines

every new story like this convinces me more that the cat is entirely, irrecoverably out of the bag with these systems. no amount of guardrails or consulting with experts will ever fix this. they built a product designed to make people reliant on it emotionally/mentally, and that's the original sin

this story raises an important point that is too often completely ignored in discussions around "AI psychosis" etc.: conversational LLMs are products designed to maximize engagement from users, like any app

Katie Drummond@katie-drummond.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Heartbreaking reporting from @kashhill.bsky.social

Move over, Planet Nine. There's a new hypothetical planet in town and it's closer, smaller, and likely to be homegrown—if it indeed exists. My latest for @404media.co www.404media.co/a-warp-in-ou...

A ‘Warp’ In Our Solar System Might Be an Undiscovered World: Planet Y

In addition to Planet Nine, the solar system may also contain a closer, smaller world that could be spotted soon, according to a new preprint study.

404media.co

For months, Kick has been the home of bizarre, degrading livestreams of wannabe influencers abusing a man for money. This week, he died on one of the streams. www.lemonde.fr/en/france/ar...

French streamer dies live on air after months of humiliation and abuse

Raphaël Graven, known online as Jean Pormanove, was well-known on the streaming platform Kick. The 46-year-old former soldier was regularly beaten and abused by two other influencers during livestream...

lemonde.fr

Hello! I've spent the past year developing the CBC's visual investigations unit—the first in Canada. It's been a pleasure to build this from the ground up with talented journalists, from strategy to the nitty-gritty of story execution. Check out the work. www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

This is the inside story of how Tea's male founder convinced millions of women to share their most intimate secrets on his app, then exposed those secrets in devastating security breaches www.404media.co/how-teas-fou...

How Tea’s Founder Convinced Millions of Women to Spill Their Secrets, Then Exposed Them to the World

A 404 Media investigation reveals how the man who started Tea, the ‘women dating safety’ app, tried to hire a female ‘face’ for the company and then hijack her grassroots community.

404media.co

GPS hacking, power grid attacks, deepfake scams. You’re not ready for what’s coming next, but in this WIRED special edition, we take a look at the attacks of the future so at least you'll know what to expect: 🧵 wrd.cm/3FpD4YW

You're Not Ready

Seems bad out there. Unfortunately, it can always get worse. From evil hacker AI to world-changing cyberattacks, WIRED envisions the future you haven't prepared for.

wired.com

very happy to say that we'll be publishing more science reporting on 404 Media. Please subscribe to the site to get our The Abstract science newsletter also! www.404media.co/the-entire-e...

The Entire Earth was Mysteriously Shaking Every 90 Seconds. Now, Scientists Know Why

For nine days in September 2023, the world was rocked by an “Unidentified Seismic Object.”

404media.co

very happy to have @jordanpearson.lol on 404 Media with a story about an online community developing its own hair loss drugs www.404media.co/inside-the-d...

Inside the Discord Community Developing Its Own Hair Loss Drugs

HairDAO is a “decentralized autonomous organization” trying to cure hair loss.

404media.co

today i saw someone wearing a faded Reddit t shirt and orange shorts and orange Reddit slides and i haven’t even fully processed it yet

you: god, a sequel to The Thing? is anything sacred anymore in this marvel hellscape! me: doing a blood sacrifice for one more carpenter/Russell matchup before one of them goes

Striking film and TV writers say it's now or never to fight back against AI being used to devalue workers: https://www.vice.com/en/article/5d9gkq/striking-writers-are-on-the-front-line-of-a-battle-between-ai-and-workers

real "sorry. im sorry. im trying to remove it" situation here trying to post a link that doesnt look horrendous

a nice thing about bluesky is actually using my domain name for something lol

everyone is hating on the UK's french fries-chinese food takeaway combo, but i am bravely saying i would proper tuck into a spicebag m8 https://www.tiktok.com/@nasti_2k/video/7227561269325253914?lang=en

this landlord protest could not possibly be funnier (or more dire). tag urself, i'm "tenant (evil)" https://www.vice.com/en/article/ak3v3k/my-property-my-rights-landlords-bravely-protest-to-evict-people-faster

ok he cooked with this one

mama we made it