Craig Silverman
Investigative journalist and OSINT trainer. I write the free Digital Investigations newsletter and edited the Verification Handbook series. Previously: ProPublica, BuzzFeed News.
digitalinvestigations.substack.com
https://craigsilverman.ca
- Personal news: Friday was my last day @ ProPublica. It was a thrill to work in one of the world's best newsrooms. More news soon about what's next. Feel free to reach out abt working together or workshops for your org! Sub to my newsletter to follow my next steps: digitalinvestigations.substack.com
- BREAKING: The head of the $42 billion federal BEAD program that aims to bring broadband internet to rural and unserved areas has left the Commerce Dept. He sent a departing email warning of "deeply negative outcomes" for people if the Trump admin shifts $$ from fiber internet to Musk's Starlink:
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanNEW: @law360.bsky.social has created a *public* database of legal cases involving President Trump's executive orders and other actions. The data is searchable and sortable and will be updated regularly; links to coverage for subscribers. Graphics by @benjayingly.com www.law360.com/trump-legal-...
- New from me: Meta decided to stop working with U.S. fact-checkers at the same time as it’s revamping a program to pay bonuses to creators with high engagement numbers, potentially pouring accelerant on the kind of false posts the company once policed: www.propublica.org/article/face...
- @mommamia.bsky.social Hi! I'm a reporter with ProPublica. I was wondering if you took the photo in this post? Could you message me here or contact me at craig.silverman@propublica.org? Thank you! bsky.app/profile/momm...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanThe “Machines That Fail Us” podcast is so back. Season 2 starts with a great chat with @craigsilverman.bsky.social on AI, disinfo, fears and myths. Listen here (or on your fav podcast platform): www.unisg.ch/en/newsroom/.... Cheers
- In a new podcast episode of "Machines That Fail Us", host @philipdisalvo.bsky.social discusses with @craigsilverman.bsky.social the rise of #syntheticmedia and how #AI is being used for #disinformation purposes. Silverman is one of the foremost authorities on online disinformation. unisg.link/gwu
- Time is running out to apply for the Global Investigative Journalism Network's free Cyber Investigations Training Course! Journalists (staff/freelance) learn to investigate the digital environment and to expose attacks and manipulation. Apply by Feb. 1: gijn.org/stories/digi...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanNew study finds that three different strategies of countering politically polarized misinformation failed to reduce misinformed beliefs in a Hong Kong sample. ijoc.org/index.php/ij... #MisinfoResearch
- I encourage anyone interested in Meta’s decision to stop working with US fact checkers to read this analysis of the program and decision from @mantzarlis.com: open.substack.com/pub/fakedup/...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanOver the past 4–5 years, Facebook has sunset tools (chiefly CrowdTangle) used by researchers and journalists, made data difficult and expensive to get, and iced out academics studying disinformation. Now, it's shutting down the fact checking on its platform.
- Massive change at Meta, as Zuckerberg announces they’re ditching fact checkers in the US and replacing them with community notes. Meta is probably the single largest funder of fact checking in the world right now. But that appears to be coming to an end. www.facebook.com/share/v/18Rc...?
- Reposted by Craig Silverman🕵️♀️ Learn to geolocate images, analyze digital footprints and verify online content in our 5-week course, New Digital Investigative Techniques. Led by top journalists Craig Silverman & Jane Lytvynenko. Starts Jan. 13! 🚨 Register now!
- UnitedHealth has been limiting access to important autism treatment, leaving children and their parents stranded: www.propublica.org/article/unit...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanHegseth has said that he got into West Point but didn’t attend. We asked West Pt public affairs, which told us twice on the record that he hadn’t even applied there. We reached out. Hegseth's spox gave us his acceptance letter. We didn't publish a story. That's journalism.
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanRead @annamerlan.bsky.social's fascinating reporting from the Alex Jones-Onion bankruptcy showdown. This is the best article out there on what's gone on the last two days www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanSummarization tools for text, audio and video from Journalist's Toolbox:
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanIf you haven’t had a conversation with your boomer parents about scam websites and investment schemes, please do not hesitate. Scammers have gotten so advanced. Take the time to talk to your parents and grandparents. Send articles or podcasts.
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanThe White Helmets have finished searched the Saydnaya complex for hidden basements and further detainees - they've found none and believe that all the detainees have been rescued. whitehelmets.org/node/1691
- Reposted by Craig Silverman🚨New WP🚨 We examine news sharing on 7 platforms: 1)Right-leaning platforms=lower quality news 2)Echo-platforms: Right-leaning news gets more engagement on right-leaning platforms, vice-versa for left-leaning 3)But low-quality news gets more engagement EVERYWHERE, even BlueSky! osf.io/preprints/ps...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanAnother week, another thread of online first articles on the far right, populism, radicalism etc. Since so many colleagues have joined BlueSky, I focus mostly on articles that I havent retweeted yet 1. A. Yates: Pluralising pluralism in the study of populism journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanI had to watch 45 hours of Kash Patel’s Epoch Times show www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanA must read. “Are you killing your patients?” A Montana Hospital Let Dr. Thomas Weiner Continue Practicing Despite Concerns @davidmcswane.bsky.social
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanNew: Trump won the popular vote narrowly. But in news deserts—counties where there are no local news sources or reporters —he won in a landslide. Latest by me and @volk_maps for Medill School’s Local News Initiative. localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/posts/2024/1...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanI don't know who needs to know this, but Pro Publica has an online thing that will format a letter to your US health insurance company to demand the records behind a claim denial. (which the insurance is then legally required to provide in most cases) projects.propublica.org/claimfile/
- Meta released a review of activity on its platforms during an unprecedented year of elections. It covers a lot of ground but fails to address how Meta’s political ad system has been abused to scam and deceive people on a global scale during such a critical year for democracy. Here’s a rundown 🧵:
- "So deepfake Elon Musk clickbait was used to sell deepfake Schwarzenegger endorsements of shady supplements. That’s 2024 in a nutshell for you." fakedup.substack.com...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanI believe some people can be comforted and helped by AI companions, but it seems clear that the companies making them are not acting responsibly. Excellent from Josh Dzieza www.theverge.com/c/24300623/a...
- Last call for signups! This webinar is at 1 ET TODAY. Still time to register:
- 🚨 TOMORROW! 🚨 Join @propublica.org reporter, @craigsilverman.bsky.social, on a 60-minute workshop that offers an in-depth look at the year’s most useful free and paid tools to analyze documents, verify images and videos, background individuals, and much more. 👉 bit.ly/3V4dTj5
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanThe creator of a widely debunked movie that became a central pillar in the false narrative that the 2020 election was stolen has admitted that some of the film’s claims are flawed. www.cnn.com/2024/12/02/p...
- Still time to sign up for this! I’ll give a rundown of lots of new and updated tools to help with your reporting:
- 🚨 TOMORROW! 🚨 Join @propublica.org reporter, @craigsilverman.bsky.social, on a 60-minute workshop that offers an in-depth look at the year’s most useful free and paid tools to analyze documents, verify images and videos, background individuals, and much more. 👉 bit.ly/3V4dTj5
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanHuge news in @semafor.com: Apple employees are suing the company, alleging it’s spied on them through their personal iCloud accounts and non-work devices. So much for all those claims about respecting people’s privacy.
- Reposted by Craig Silverman[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanNEW REPORT: We investigate the rising trend of gender-based digital transnational repression by drawing on the lived experiences of 85 women human rights defenders living in exile across the globe. Read the full report: citizenlab.ca/2024/12/the-...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanI’ve created a group for those reporting on and researching corruption and organized crime. bsky.app/starter-pack... Will do my best to keep it up-to date, but let me know if you’d like to be added.at://did:plc:ipw2apglok33ujtsof5fohvn/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3lazmtvbsxg2h
- The new episode of Big [If True] is up on YouTube! Here's a useful segment about how unscrupulous marketers and others steal content from influencers to sell products or push propaganda: www.youtube.com/watch?v=n71q...
- Reposted by Craig Silverman❌ Watch out for impersonation accounts! This deepfake of Mark Wahlberg appeared on Bsky linked to a channel impersonating the actor. The deepfake was taken from a clip uploaded by the actor in March on his Instagram about a screening of his movie, Arthur The King: www.instagram.com/p/C4iSFazL5N...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanWalmart has long been a facilitator of fraud on a mass scale, a ProPublica investigation found. More than $1 billion in fraud losses were routed through the company’s financial services between 2013 and 2022. (Published Jan. 2024) By @craigsilverman.bsky.social & Peter Elkind
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanImposter and crypto scammer pretending to be @bloomberg.com columnist, Conor Sen, @conorsen.bsky.social How to spot? ⦿ New account shows a sun graphic near user name ⦿ Only 194 followers vs 17k for real Sen ⦿ Name in handle is "Jeremy" Profile link to Report and Block: bsky.app/profile/jere...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanI’m super excited to announce I'm part of an amazing team (<3 @williambrady.bsky.social @killianmcloughlin.bsky.social @mjcrockett.bsky.social) that just published a paper in @science.org on the role of outrage in spread of misinformation Link here: science.org/doi/10.1126/... Summary in🧵🔽 1/
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanIf this were an authentic @zekemiller.bsky.social account, you would think it would at least occasionally include links to AP stories as evidence for all the bizarre stuff it's been posting. I also checked with Zeke; he says it's not him. bsky.app/profile/zeke... #CaveatCaelumator
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanNew: Recordings from private autism conferences show Trump HHS pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vilifying & conspiracy theorizing about agencies he's set to lead. Videos show RFK Jr comparing CDC vaccine programs to "Nazi death camps" & calling for researchers to be jailed. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanThis is a story a lot of reporters have been chasing: Starting in 2015, a massive cyberespionage campaign targeted some of America's most prominent environmentalists. Now, we can reveal that the FBI has been probing whether a longtime Exxon lobbyist was involved. www.reuters.com/business/ene...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanGift link to my story on how social media has systematically devalued links for years — and how Bluesky is bucking that trend. wapo.st/3CHfmp6
- A great starter pack if you want to learn about news literacy:
- ✅We've put together a starter pack with News Literacy Project experts. go.bsky.app/KBV4mYE Follow along for all things media literacy education, fact-checking, misinfo and free resources.
- This is happening next week! Sign up below:
- 🚨 Top Tools for Journalists in 2024 🚨 bit.ly/3V4dTj5 Join @craigsilverman.bsky.social, award-winning journalist and digital investigations expert, for a 60-minute workshop on Dec. 3 at 12 pm CT/1 pm ET! ✅ Register today: bit.ly/3V4dTj5
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanThe Open Source Munitions Portal is on BlueSky, an excellent resource for those of us who investigate conflict incidents. As some who has spent hours looking for a single reference image of an at-the-time obscure missile, I know it'll save people a lot of time. bsky.app/profile/muni...
- Here's my latest (free!) Digital Investigations newsletter. It's got: 📍 Useful Bluesky tools & tips 📍 New tools for YouTube, AI prompts, username search & more! 📍 Webinars and articles to help with research and reporting Read/subscribe: digitalinvestigation...
- Reposted by Craig Silverman
- “Drake has initiated legal action against Universal Music Group and Spotify over allegations that the two companies conspired to artificially inflate the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us.’” www.billboard.com/pro/drake-um...
- This is a great new weekly show from TVO that aims to help people navigate our chaotic information environment. You can watch full episodes for free on YouTube. See below.
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanTrump has vowed to crack down on universities involved in misinformation research, or what he dubs the "censorship cartel" - e.g. by curbing funds to those that have "flagged content for removal”, or legal threats “I'm pretty fucking scared," one professor tells me. www.ft.com/content/bfb4...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanNEW: Porsha Ngumezi is the fifth case we've reported on in which a woman died after not receiving a D&C or its second-trimester equivalent in time, or at all. Her case raises questions about how abortion bans are pressuring doctors to avoid standard care even in straightforward miscarriages.
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanWe're all inclined to affirm our existing beliefs & ideas about the world, & to avoid the cognitive dissonance caused by information that complicates them. This infographic from @newslitproject.bsky.social lays out the basics about these tendencies. newslit.org/educators/re...
- I'm sending out the latest edition of my free Digital Investigations newsletter early tomorrow morning. Sign up to receive a rundown of new and updated tools that can help your reporting, research, and investigations: digitalinvestigation...
- I'm sure this will work out well! restofworld.org/2024/buenos-...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanACLU is hiring an Algorithmic Justice Fellow to work on cutting edge projects focused on digital rights — the work will interrogate how automated systems are being used in high stakes areas. www.aclu.org/careers/appl...
- Big [If True] is a new weekly show from TVO. It helps viewers navigate the false narratives & fake news bombarding our feeds. The first episode is tonight at 8 pm ET! You can also watch clips/full episodes on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@BigIfTrueTVO More info here: www.tvo.org/big-if-true
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanPut together a starter pack of folks who research and write about historical and contemporary issues related to science and technology in China. Please let me know if you have suggestions to add to this list or want to be a part of it, too. go.bsky.app/LCxEqEy #histstm #science #technology #Chinaat://did:plc:mlt3yo2haaqoi5s4gcd343zi/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3lbn77uhtem2m
- A good starter pack:
- I dreamt I made a starter pack of tech journalists, so after I woke up I took a first stab at it. go.bsky.app/9SRbdqyat://did:plc:xpu5e52rhk6a3efljymgnmz4/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3lbpq5dooda2k
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanIt should be obvious this matters for how information is presented. Leading people down the garden path to the false claims gets people to more readily adopt those claims -- even if you don't state them yourself (maybe even more effective if you let them generate the false info themselves). 8/
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanNew investigation with my @financialtimes.com colleagues: Russia recruits Yemeni mercenaries to fight in Ukraine on.ft.com/3CIJP6p
- Reposted by Craig Silvermana year ago, @knguyen.bsky.social, @sarahjeong.bsky.social, and i nearly lost our minds reading through tens of thousands of tweets in an effort to preserve and compile the funniest, weirdest, and most memorable ones for a package called “the year twitter died” www.theverge.com/c/23972308/t...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanLet's make a more diverse osint starter pack - a 50/50 m/f split and a move away from westerners would be great. I've made a start (and yes, it's currently lots of men/westerners - help me shift the balance!) Can the community help me crowd source this? go.bsky.app/36JpUBiat://did:plc:anssft5emdfb2sjnjyeqnprh/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3lbml3eudi22x
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanFascinating that experts in extremism (which Marc is, btw) now see X as their core platform for research. (For over a decade, you had to delve into small telegram groups and other networks to track what extremists were saying.)
- X is now one of the core platform for research, with regards to terrorism and violent extremism. X faciliates TVE content and activity, in as much as Telegram. I honestly feel less trepidation logging into Gab or Truthsocial or the chans for research than than I do X, due to how vile the content is.
- I’m giving a webinar that will provide a lightning round rundown of new and updated free and paid tools to analyze documents, verify images and videos, background individuals, and more. 🗓️ Dec. 3 at 12 pm CT/1 pm ET Sign up here: journalismcourses.org/product/top-...
- A unique and amusing way to run a website contact page:
- Our contact page doubles as an IQ test at @leadstories.com We're amazed how well it has worked to deal with harrasment over the years. Fact checkers are used to criticism: people really don't like being told the thing they believe is not real. Sometimes they'll even email us... Story time!
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanNew investigation from me 👩💻 Google, Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo are listing websites, tutorials and software to make and view deepfake "porn", highlighting gaps in solutions to combat the abuse. www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/deep...
- “… my 13-year-old mind was too simple to make sense of him. Here was some strange chimera who seemed ancient yet terribly modern. Almost feral, but also quite polite. Long hair, long shorts, no sleeves. Big muscles, high shots, slow serve.” defector.com/rafael-nadal...
- Reposted by Craig SilvermanAfter @propublica.org reported on the cases of two women — Amber Thurman and Candi Miller — who died after they couldn’t obtain timely reproductive care in Georgia, the state has dismissed the entire maternal mortality board. www.propublica.org/article/geor...
- This is a good starter pack of media folks:
- I made a starter pack for journalism thinkers on Bluesky. Let me know who I've missed! go.bsky.app/aWdSPbat://did:plc:fzb6ssbptvrx7oaeq5mnebhh/app.bsky.graph.starterpack/3lb2novbdde2t
- Reposted by Craig Silverman"The army... targets young IT professionals who may be open to lower wages for greater job security and the pride of working for the nation." Fascinating story here restofworld.org/2024/philipp...
- Had no idea something like this is possible with Bluesky. Really interesting to think about how it could be applied to fact checking, adding context etc.
- Absolutely INCREDIBLE demonstration of what this platform can do: subscribe to this labeler and see which fancy private school different UK public figures on here went to, and how much those schools cost. bsky.app/profile/dadd...
- Maltego is my passion lol
- So...the @nytimes.com got ahold of some Gaetz documents, including this chart of payments: www.nytimes.com/2024/11/20/u...
- Leon spoke to my class and it was fantastic!
- Professors and researchers: are you booking speakers for the Spring semester? I have talks and workshops on data-driven investigations using crowdsourcing with WhatsApp, auditing black box AI systems and advanced web scraping. inspectelement.org/apis.html gist.github.com/yinleon/4e39...
- A great collection of case studies for teachers:
- We teamed up with @seanadavis.bsky.social of @logicallyfacts.bsky.social on this recap of 6️⃣ viral falsehoods about the presidential election that focuses on these specific types of #misinformation: - fabricated content - manipulated content - tricks of context Check it out bit.ly/Election24Fa...
