Eoghan
@eoghanmacguire.bsky.social
Journalist. Editor @Bellingcat.com. @jskstanford.bsky.social alum
Reposted by Eoghan
“The account MAGANationX—with nearly 400,000 followers and a bio reading ‘Patriot Voice for We The People’—is actually based in Eastern Europe.”
X's new About This Account feature reveals that some top accounts, including many MAGA influencers, are based in countries like Russia, India, and Nigeria (Jack Revell/The Daily Beast)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
November 23, 2025 at 4:02 PM
“The account MAGANationX—with nearly 400,000 followers and a bio reading ‘Patriot Voice for We The People’—is actually based in Eastern Europe.”
Thinking back to how Musk tried to get out of buying Twitter as it had a spam/fake account/bot problem
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
November 23, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Thinking back to how Musk tried to get out of buying Twitter as it had a spam/fake account/bot problem
Reposted by Eoghan
X rolled out a new feature overnight showing where accounts are based. This network of “Trump-supporting independent women” that claimed to be “real Americans” are based in Thailand.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
November 23, 2025 at 12:55 PM
X rolled out a new feature overnight showing where accounts are based. This network of “Trump-supporting independent women” that claimed to be “real Americans” are based in Thailand.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
Reposted by Eoghan
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
November 23, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
Reposted by Eoghan
Children tear-gassed. Teenagers tackled to the ground. Bellingcat analysed footage of clashes between federal officers and civilians after a judge issued a restraining order on crowd-control tactics in Illinois: www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/10...
Tear Gas, Pepper Balls Among Weapons Deployed Against Illinois Protesters
A judge issued a restraining order on crowd-control tactics by federal agents, including those involved in Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago region.
www.bellingcat.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Children tear-gassed. Teenagers tackled to the ground. Bellingcat analysed footage of clashes between federal officers and civilians after a judge issued a restraining order on crowd-control tactics in Illinois: www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/10...
This is really cool. Including a couple of Bellingcat stories where this method has been used below.
It’s exciting to see people like @trbrtc.bsky.social @mabl2k.bsky.social @nickwaters.bsky.social (& others in the open source investigative community) bring these methods to their work
It’s exciting to see people like @trbrtc.bsky.social @mabl2k.bsky.social @nickwaters.bsky.social (& others in the open source investigative community) bring these methods to their work
The forensic audio analysis by Rob C. Maher of the 2024 Trump assassination attempt has been peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society. This is great news for visual and audio investigations! aes2.org/publications...
November 23, 2025 at 9:50 AM
This is really cool. Including a couple of Bellingcat stories where this method has been used below.
It’s exciting to see people like @trbrtc.bsky.social @mabl2k.bsky.social @nickwaters.bsky.social (& others in the open source investigative community) bring these methods to their work
It’s exciting to see people like @trbrtc.bsky.social @mabl2k.bsky.social @nickwaters.bsky.social (& others in the open source investigative community) bring these methods to their work
There is no greater game than football
Kenny McLean sends Scotland to the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1998. I love sports. This is what it’s all about.
November 19, 2025 at 12:11 PM
There is no greater game than football
Reposted by Eoghan
Editors have a really hard job, and the good ones can make something unreadable readable, and the great ones can make something unreadable into something good. But they're basically invisible, until someone tries to write without one.
November 17, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Editors have a really hard job, and the good ones can make something unreadable readable, and the great ones can make something unreadable into something good. But they're basically invisible, until someone tries to write without one.
There’s no way Paul goes through with this fight www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing...
Anthony Joshua v Jake Paul fight scheduled for 19 December
YouTuber Jake Paul will fight ex-world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in a professional bout in December.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 5:17 PM
There’s no way Paul goes through with this fight www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing...
Reposted by Eoghan
Recent GPS interference near Venezuela and Trinidad, per GPSJAM, as noticed by a Bellingcat workshop participant. I believe this is a recent development for the area. CC @lemonodor.bsky.social
October 31, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Recent GPS interference near Venezuela and Trinidad, per GPSJAM, as noticed by a Bellingcat workshop participant. I believe this is a recent development for the area. CC @lemonodor.bsky.social
I went to the opening of this exhibition last week
It features a cool Bellingcat display, showing the work we (primarily Ollie Ballinger @yoruk.bsky.social, Bridget Diakun @godin.bsky.social & Youri van der Weide) produced to track Russian ships surreptitiously exporting grain from occupied Crimea
It features a cool Bellingcat display, showing the work we (primarily Ollie Ballinger @yoruk.bsky.social, Bridget Diakun @godin.bsky.social & Youri van der Weide) produced to track Russian ships surreptitiously exporting grain from occupied Crimea
Secret Maps opens today! 🤫 🗺️
From medieval manuscripts to Cold War espionage, our new exhibition explores how maps have hidden as much as they revealed for over 600 years.
Book now: bit.ly/BLSecretMaps
From medieval manuscripts to Cold War espionage, our new exhibition explores how maps have hidden as much as they revealed for over 600 years.
Book now: bit.ly/BLSecretMaps
October 25, 2025 at 5:21 PM
I went to the opening of this exhibition last week
It features a cool Bellingcat display, showing the work we (primarily Ollie Ballinger @yoruk.bsky.social, Bridget Diakun @godin.bsky.social & Youri van der Weide) produced to track Russian ships surreptitiously exporting grain from occupied Crimea
It features a cool Bellingcat display, showing the work we (primarily Ollie Ballinger @yoruk.bsky.social, Bridget Diakun @godin.bsky.social & Youri van der Weide) produced to track Russian ships surreptitiously exporting grain from occupied Crimea
Reposted by Eoghan
New satellite images show the scale of demolition that has occurred on the East Wing of the White House in less than a month.
October 23, 2025 at 7:02 PM
New satellite images show the scale of demolition that has occurred on the East Wing of the White House in less than a month.
Reposted by Eoghan
Another Russian ship has been added to the grain smuggling fleet, captured on camera and on satellite imagery, evading sanctions to deliver grain from occupied Crimea to Houthi-controlled Yemen. Follow its covert journey here: www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/10...
Russia’s Grain Smuggling Fleet Continues Undeterred - bellingcat
Bellingcat has identified yet another Russian-flagged vessel exporting grain from occupied Crimea to Houthi-controlled Yemen.
www.bellingcat.com
October 23, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Another Russian ship has been added to the grain smuggling fleet, captured on camera and on satellite imagery, evading sanctions to deliver grain from occupied Crimea to Houthi-controlled Yemen. Follow its covert journey here: www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Eoghan
When Bashar al-Assad’s regime collapsed in Syria, many of the officials who enabled and enforced his brutal regime disappeared. Our reporting uncovers who they are, what they did and where they fled. nyti.ms/3J1W5Cs
The Vanishing Act: How Assad’s Top Henchmen Fled Syria, and Justice
www.nytimes.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:06 PM
When Bashar al-Assad’s regime collapsed in Syria, many of the officials who enabled and enforced his brutal regime disappeared. Our reporting uncovers who they are, what they did and where they fled. nyti.ms/3J1W5Cs
Reposted by Eoghan
Apply now for the JSK Journalism Fellowships and join a network of journalists shaping what’s next. Deadline: Dec 3. buff.ly/a2mE59q
October 15, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Apply now for the JSK Journalism Fellowships and join a network of journalists shaping what’s next. Deadline: Dec 3. buff.ly/a2mE59q
Reposted by Eoghan
A small plane crashed in Brazil recently; amongst the wreckage was the body of a former Melbourne stockbroker and 200kg of cocaine. Bellingcat and @thetimes.com reveal how the deceased Australian pilot was linked to an associate of the notorious Kinahan cartel: www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/09...
Australian Cocaine Pilot Killed in Brazil Plane Crash Linked to Kinahan Drug Cartel - bellingcat
An Australian pilot who died when his plane crashed in Brazil during a failed drug run has links to an alleged Kinahan cartel associate who is facing drugs charges in Western Australia.
www.bellingcat.com
September 27, 2025 at 4:17 PM
A small plane crashed in Brazil recently; amongst the wreckage was the body of a former Melbourne stockbroker and 200kg of cocaine. Bellingcat and @thetimes.com reveal how the deceased Australian pilot was linked to an associate of the notorious Kinahan cartel: www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/09...
Reposted by Eoghan
AI mode within regular Google search, available outside the EU, is the best of these at geolocation now, barely beating GPT o4-mini-high and way, way faster. Will test GPT-5 when I can
We ran 500 tests and: LLMs are quickly passing the threshold of being the most useful tool out there, if you're looking for the location of a photo from scratch.
August 8, 2025 at 10:19 AM
AI mode within regular Google search, available outside the EU, is the best of these at geolocation now, barely beating GPT o4-mini-high and way, way faster. Will test GPT-5 when I can
Reposted by Eoghan
These are the top replies, being financially rewarded for posting this stuff, and the explanation offered by the site’s own AI for why it’s like that.
Anyway just flicking through the Sunday newspapers reading about some minor content infractions that Ofcom might look into at the BBC/Channel 4.
Anyway just flicking through the Sunday newspapers reading about some minor content infractions that Ofcom might look into at the BBC/Channel 4.
August 3, 2025 at 6:34 AM
These are the top replies, being financially rewarded for posting this stuff, and the explanation offered by the site’s own AI for why it’s like that.
Anyway just flicking through the Sunday newspapers reading about some minor content infractions that Ofcom might look into at the BBC/Channel 4.
Anyway just flicking through the Sunday newspapers reading about some minor content infractions that Ofcom might look into at the BBC/Channel 4.
Reposted by Eoghan
Together with partners at @bellingcat.com and @calmatters.org we collected videos of over 100 incidents of DHS operations between June 6 and June 30, picking out what appear to be recurring trends and tactics used by officers in and around Los Angeles.
youtu.be/6BuxaVdv7po?...
youtu.be/6BuxaVdv7po?...
Masked, Armed, Forceful: Finding Patterns in California Immigration Raids
YouTube video by Evident Media
youtu.be
July 8, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Together with partners at @bellingcat.com and @calmatters.org we collected videos of over 100 incidents of DHS operations between June 6 and June 30, picking out what appear to be recurring trends and tactics used by officers in and around Los Angeles.
youtu.be/6BuxaVdv7po?...
youtu.be/6BuxaVdv7po?...
We published this story yesterday looking at the ongoing LA immigration raids. Working with @evidentmedia.org and @calmatters.org we collected over 100 videos and images, mapped incidents and picked out key trends from the data
Armed officers, frequent use of force and people grabbed on the street or at their places of work. Working with @evidentmedia.org and @calmatters.org we have monitored the LA raids, discovering recurring trends and tactics used by officers. www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/07...
Masked, Armed and Forceful: Finding Patterns in Los Angeles Immigration Raids - bellingcat
Bellingcat collected videos and images from recent immigration raids in Los Angeles, analysing trends and apparent tactics used by law enforcement.
www.bellingcat.com
July 9, 2025 at 11:32 AM
We published this story yesterday looking at the ongoing LA immigration raids. Working with @evidentmedia.org and @calmatters.org we collected over 100 videos and images, mapped incidents and picked out key trends from the data
Reposted by Eoghan
⚽️🧨💰Fit and proper person?
Profile of Manchester City owner, coddler of warlords and named co-conspirator in US’s ‘largest kleptocracy’ case Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan
Months long investigation with @declanwalsh.bsky.social
Free to read on link below:
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/w...
Profile of Manchester City owner, coddler of warlords and named co-conspirator in US’s ‘largest kleptocracy’ case Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan
Months long investigation with @declanwalsh.bsky.social
Free to read on link below:
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/w...
The Sheikh Who Conquered Soccer and Coddles Warlords
www.nytimes.com
June 29, 2025 at 10:06 AM
⚽️🧨💰Fit and proper person?
Profile of Manchester City owner, coddler of warlords and named co-conspirator in US’s ‘largest kleptocracy’ case Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan
Months long investigation with @declanwalsh.bsky.social
Free to read on link below:
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/w...
Profile of Manchester City owner, coddler of warlords and named co-conspirator in US’s ‘largest kleptocracy’ case Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan
Months long investigation with @declanwalsh.bsky.social
Free to read on link below:
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/w...
Reposted by Eoghan
The Ferret is delighted to join the Global Investigative Journalism Network @gijn.org – Scotland's first and only member!
bit.ly/3IcWW28
bit.ly/3IcWW28
GIJN Welcomes 12 New Members, from Cyprus to Eswatini
New members include organizations probing cross-border abuses or promoting civic engagement, as well as digging into environmental and human rights violations.
bit.ly
June 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
The Ferret is delighted to join the Global Investigative Journalism Network @gijn.org – Scotland's first and only member!
bit.ly/3IcWW28
bit.ly/3IcWW28
Reposted by Eoghan
Social media displaces TV as the top way Americans get news. www.niemanlab.org/2025/06/for-...
For the first time, social media overtakes TV as Americans’ top news source
Plus: The pivot to video is really happening, digital subscriptions may have peaked, and other findings from RISJ's 2025 Digital News Report.
www.niemanlab.org
June 16, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Social media displaces TV as the top way Americans get news. www.niemanlab.org/2025/06/for-...
Reposted by Eoghan
“AI is not what its developers are selling it as,” Tyler Austin Harper writes, suggesting that the abundance of pure hype and total doom that dominate the discourse are contributing to a dangerous AI illiteracy among the general public. www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...
What Happens When People Don’t Understand How AI Works
Despite what tech CEOs might say, large language models are not smart in any recognizably human sense of the word.
www.theatlantic.com
June 16, 2025 at 5:55 PM
“AI is not what its developers are selling it as,” Tyler Austin Harper writes, suggesting that the abundance of pure hype and total doom that dominate the discourse are contributing to a dangerous AI illiteracy among the general public. www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...
Poor Federico Dimarco. Worst performance in a #ChampionsLeague final since Linkin Park
May 31, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Poor Federico Dimarco. Worst performance in a #ChampionsLeague final since Linkin Park