Alex Boyd
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alexboyd.bsky.social
Alex Boyd
@alexboyd.bsky.social
National misinformation + politics reporter.
Toronto Star, but in Alberta.
Signal: alexboyd.56
Pinned
Hello new followers! I'm a Canadian reporter focused on politics and misinformation. I define this as "why our info ecosystem is so messy," and have written about an Olympic star radicalized online, a beach-pooping rumour exploited by the far right and an online scam job I once had for several days.
Reposted by Alex Boyd
November 26, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Reposted by Alex Boyd
WTF, @theatlanticpr.bsky.social ?

Why give this anti-science, lying, grifter this kinda positive framing?

He is a disaster. Period.

False balance disaster👇
Over many interviews, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Michael Scherer about how he plans to remake America’s public-health system. Can he lead the scientific establishment he’s spent much of his life crusading against?

Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
November 24, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by Alex Boyd
Although the scale of this is still to be assessed, this is the inevitable outcome of the monetization of the algorithm. Rage-bait becomes a personal revenue model. Nothing about this should be a surprise.
NEWS: I spent the past 24 hours going through major MAGA accounts on Twitter, and a bombshell development has become clear: most of the right-wing ecosphere is being fed propaganda from foreign actors.

This impacts elections. This impacts discourse. This is major. Subscribe to support my work:
NEWS: Major MAGA Accounts on Twitter Exposed as Foreign Actors
A stunning development over the past 24 hours.
open.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Alex Boyd
Nearly one-fifth of United Conservative MLAs are now subject to recall drives. Including the speaker and six cabinet ministers.
And then there were 9.

6 new recall petitions have been approved against UCP MLAs, with the information now posted to the Elections Alberta website

Joining the mix are MLAs Myles McDougall, Ric McIver, Muhammad Yaseen, Rajan Sawhney, RJ Sigurdson +
Dale Nally.

www.elections.ab.ca/recall-initi...
Current Recall Petitions - Elections Alberta
Recall is a process to remove a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from office between elections by collecting sufficient signatures in the Member’s electoral division. The following recall peti...
www.elections.ab.ca
November 24, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Alex Boyd
Meta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...
Meta halted internal research suggesting social media harm, court filing alleges
Meta is alleged to have halted internal research suggesting social media harm, according to court documents.
www.cnbc.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Reposted by Alex Boyd
Social media could work differently. We teach digital literacy, but ppl often can’t apply those lessons w/in systems that obscure where info comes from & how it gets to them. What might social media look like if users had better signals of information provenance? www.rawstory.com/maga-foreign...
Internet erupts as MAGA influencers exposed for being based in other countries
A large number of MAGA social media influencers were exposed over the weekend as being being based in other countries.Podcaster Matt Binder posted screenshots showing that Charlie’s Voice Rising, a po...
www.rawstory.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Help me, fellow Canadians: do you know what it means to be "laughed out of court"? 👍👎
November 20, 2025 at 7:22 PM
November 19, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Reposted by Alex Boyd
Bellingcat’s contact email has always been a magnet for people with fairly unusual views; paranoid delusions, sprawling conspiracies, the works. But recently, the pattern has shifted, we’re seeing more and more emails clearly written with ChatGPT.
November 19, 2025 at 2:18 PM
A note on the BTS on this: the province "embargoed" this and held an info session and press conference Monday morning but made media sign a thing promising not to publish until it was tabled that afternoon. Then we were told it was embargoed until Wednesday, then it's released today w/ no notice.
Uh... so we're talking about this now?
November 18, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Uh... so we're talking about this now?
November 18, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Reposted by Alex Boyd
A lot of people didn’t like the Washington Post journalist who was tortured and dismembered with a bone saw for writing critically about the man sitting next to me
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
November 18, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Alex Boyd
The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation
www.propublica.org/article/andr...
The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation
Federal authorities were chided for seizing electronic devices from Tate and his brother, and told to return them, records and interviews show. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate.
www.propublica.org
November 18, 2025 at 1:24 PM
This is a fascinating take on the differences between how millennials and gen Zs process information, as a product of the very different internets they were raised on. www.thecut.com/article/how-...
How I’ve Learned to Talk Kids Through Their Brain-Rotting Hot Takes
First Rule: Don’t Panic.
www.thecut.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:54 PM
I would read an update on big bear drama every day if someone would only write one.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
The Boss vs. Split Lip: Big bears battle it out to rule Banff | CBC News
Bears No. 122 and 136, known as The Boss and Split Lip respectively, are arguably two of the most famous grizzlies in Canada. The Boss is currently considered Banff National Park's dominant grizzly be...
www.cbc.ca
November 17, 2025 at 4:42 AM
This was a fun (and informative, for me) one.
November 14, 2025 at 11:46 PM
So I complained about this on the West of Centre podcast this morning and @duanebratt.bsky.social explained that it is a common term in central banking. So this is Carney's fault!
Pedantic journalist alert, but why have we all accepted that 'tranche' is a normal word we should all use.
November 14, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Reposted by Alex Boyd
On measles and vaccines, Canada can’t keep ignoring the elephant in the room: Political identity is now the driving force behind vaccine hesitancy, by @caulfieldtim.bsky.social www.thestar.com/opinion/cont... via @thestar.com
On measles and vaccines, Canada can’t keep ignoring the elephant in the room
Study after study has shown that political affiliation is one of the single strongest predictors of vaccination status.
www.thestar.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Breaking news someone in my neighbourhood has a new business and is about to be a millionaire
November 14, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Reposted by Alex Boyd
Influencers are the internet's new information brokers, setting the pace for political conversation that traditional outlets and organizations struggle to match. Our latest brief maps these creators' role in Canada's digital landscape between Jan. 2024–July 2025. 🧵

#cdnpoli
November 13, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Alex Boyd
I spent some in Texas recently, looking at Trump's America a year(ish) after his election last year.
www.thestar.com/opinion/igno...
November 13, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Pedantic journalist alert, but why have we all accepted that 'tranche' is a normal word we should all use.
November 13, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Reposted by Alex Boyd
So many questions
November 13, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Help me prep for an upcoming panel! What would you say was the biggest misinformation story of the last year? (I need to come prepped with an example, and while I do have thoughts this year has been a blur and I feel like I'm probably missing something!)
November 12, 2025 at 7:06 PM