A self-described FBI profiler (and I see no reason to doubt that that is indeed her profession) who provides commentary on TikTok as “FriendlyHoneyBadger” and YouTube as “Cult College,” sheds light on why some far-right Groypers (led by Nick Fuentes) choose or groom trans partners, countering the assumption that if Tyler Robinson (Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer) had a trans partner then he must be a leftist.
Tim Miller speaks with Ryan Broderick about the extremist internet culture connected to the Charlie Kirk assassination. They examine how meme language, online subcultures, and accelerationist networks are radicalizing young men and driving political violence.
Ryan Broderick & Adam Bumas write: In 2017, [Tyler] Robinson [Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer] appears to have dressed up in a costume of President Donald Trump, with the Trump’s face painted green. A possible reference to the Pepe the Frog edit of Trump that the president first shared in 2015. And in 2018, Robinson appears to have dressed up as a “squatting slav” Pepe meme. As easy as it is to point to these costumes as proof that Robinson was…
Wired reports: Far-right influencers and violent extremists are posting identifying details about people they view as celebrating or glorifying the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. The campaign has been swift and widespread and has already led to at least one person losing their job and others receiving death threats. The people posting the identifying information include Chaya Raichik, who runs the hugely influential, hate-filled LibsofTikTok account on X, Trump-whisperer Laura Loomer, and former Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio. A…
Kyle Chayka writes: On September 1st, the author and statistician Nate Silver wrote a post on X diagnosing a new condition: “Blueskyism,” so named for the decentralized social network that has emerged as a competitor to what used to be Twitter. According to Silver, Blueskyism embodies a newfangled ideology comprising “all the characteristics that make progressivism unappealing to normal people”—the same qualities, Silver argues, that prevent Democrats from recouping electoral favor. As with any good social-media bit, Silver later doubled…
The New York Times reports: Since returning to the White House in January, President Trump has dismantled the American government’s efforts to combat foreign disinformation. The problem is that Russia has not stopped spreading it. How much that matters can now be seen in Moldova, a small but strategic European nation that has since the end of the Cold War looked to Europe and the United States to extract itself from Moscow’s shadow. The Trump administration has slashed diplomatic and…
Wired reports: Marine biologist and conservationist David Shiffman was an early power user and evangelist for science engagement on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Over the years, he trained more than 2,000 early career scientists on how to best use the platform for professional goals: networking with colleagues, sharing new scientific papers, and communicating with interested members of the public. But when Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022, renaming it X, changes to both the platform’s algorithm…
Wired reports: In the months leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot, a now deleted Twitter account bearing the full name of E. J. Antoni, President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), betrayed a seeming obsession with promoting election denial conspiracy theories while talking about violent threats to those who stood in Trump’s way. The account, which used “Dr. Erwin J. Antoni III” as its screen name for a time, was linked by the…
Rolling Stone reports: Donald Trump’s administration stopped all visitor visas from Gaza — including those for humanitarian and medical aid — on Saturday after far-right provocateur and Trump friend Laura Loomer posted about several Palestinian children being allowed into the U.S. for medical care amid Israel’s relentless siege and blockade. The State Department said it will “conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days,”…
The New York Times reports: For decades, the Crescent Park neighborhood of Palo Alto represented the dream of California living. Doctors, lawyers, business executives and Stanford University professors lived in charming homes under oak, redwood and magnolia trees. The houses, an eclectic mix including Craftsman homes and bungalows, were filled with families who became fast friends. The annual block parties heaved with people. Daily life was tranquil, and the soundtrack was one of children laughing as they rode their bicycles…
Caroline Orr Bueno writes: A sophisticated strategy is playing out in plain sight that few outside of digital war rooms truly understand or even notice. It doesn’t require hacking servers or bribing tech executives. It doesn’t even break any rules. It simply requires understanding exactly how algorithms work — and turning them into accomplices. I call this tactic the Feedback Loop Coup. Last week, I introduced the concept of Reverse Algorithmic Capture — a tactic used to force platforms to rewrite their…
Gizmodo reports: Elon Musk has long shared extremist views on X, the social media platform he purchased in late 2022. But every once in a while, his activity on the platform is so extreme that it can still manage to shock even the most jaded Musk observer. That’s what happened Wednesday when the billionaire Tesla CEO retweeted an account that insisted women are “built to be traded” and are “anti-white” because they’re physically weak. The social media exchange started on…
Greg Sargent writes: Despite being mired in a cutthroat New York mayoral campaign, Zohran Mamdani recently released a video announcing that he was taking a vacation. A vacation, that is, in his childhood home of Uganda. In the video, he mocked right-wing trolls for telling him to go back to Africa and joked that his return there showed that he’s “listening” to those “critics.” He offered New York tabloids suggestions for headlines mocking his African heritage—one read “MIA? MAMDANI IN…
Brennan Center for Justice reports: Reviewing individuals’ social media to conduct ideological vetting has been a defining initiative of President Trump’s second term. As part of that effort, the administration has proposed expanding the mandatory collection of social media identifiers. The proposal would widen the government’s social media surveillance dragnet to include not only travelers, visa applicants, and visa holders, but also their U.S. citizen contacts. By linking individuals’ online presence to government databases, officials could more easily identify, monitor,…
Politico reports: The Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy saga is blowing up in the White House’s face — and social-media experts say that Elon Musk’s remake of X helped light the fuse. Conspiracy theories about Epstein, and the Trump administration’s supposed complicity in silencing them, are starting to split MAGA’s unruly factions and turn part of the movement against the president. (For those not following closely: The Department of Justice and FBI issued a joint report last week claiming that Epstein did…
TechCrunch reports: During xAI’s launch of Grok 4 on Wednesday night, Elon Musk said — while livestreaming the event on his social media platform, X — that his AI company’s ultimate goal was to develop a “maximally truth-seeking AI.” But where exactly does Grok 4 seek out the truth when trying to answer controversial questions? The newest AI model from xAI seems to consult social media posts from Musk’s X account when answering questions about the Israel and Palestine conflict,…