Sam Gregory
@samgregory.bsky.social
Executive Director http://witness.org : video + tech + human rights; 'Prepare, Don't Panic' initiative on media manipulation/generative AI. TED speaker on deepfakes https://gen-ai.witness.org, @samgregory on Twitter/X. PhD Westminster.
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Sam Gregory
@samgregory.bsky.social
· Dec 16
A.I. Videos Have Flooded Social Media. No One Was Ready.
www.nytimes.com
I spoke recently to the New York Times about AI videos - how the platforms could do more and why individual vigilance is not the solution: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/t...
Reposted by Sam Gregory
2025 saw the most AI child sex abuse in history—and likely the least amount of it for years to come:
Tech firms have pledged to combat AI-generated child pornography—but new data shows the problem is exploding beyond control, @matteowong.bsky.social reports:
A Tipping Point in Online Child Abuse
Thousands of abusive videos were produced last year—that researchers know of.
bit.ly
January 16, 2026 at 1:11 AM
2025 saw the most AI child sex abuse in history—and likely the least amount of it for years to come:
Reposted by Sam Gregory
Turns out we invaded to protect indigenous communities in Venezuela. Who knew?
January 14, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Turns out we invaded to protect indigenous communities in Venezuela. Who knew?
Reposted by Sam Gregory
I wrote about Iran's protests for @theatlantic.com: how AI manipulation and the suspicion of it is being weaponised to dismiss real footage of protests.
This piece draws on work from my stellar team at WITNESS and years of studying information controls in Iran and beyond.
This piece draws on work from my stellar team at WITNESS and years of studying information controls in Iran and beyond.
Doubt has become a weapon in Iran as AI manipulation—and the very suspicion of it—serves those who have the most to hide, Mahsa Alimardani argues:
How Doubt Became a Weapon in Iran
AI manipulation, and the very suspicion of it, serves those who have the most to hide.
bit.ly
January 14, 2026 at 5:47 PM
I wrote about Iran's protests for @theatlantic.com: how AI manipulation and the suspicion of it is being weaponised to dismiss real footage of protests.
This piece draws on work from my stellar team at WITNESS and years of studying information controls in Iran and beyond.
This piece draws on work from my stellar team at WITNESS and years of studying information controls in Iran and beyond.
Reposted by Sam Gregory
If you want to know about the future of AI, take a look at the kaleidoscope of disinfo and psychological operations underway in Iran 🇮🇷
This excellent piece by @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social in @theatlantic.com is a great start
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
This excellent piece by @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social in @theatlantic.com is a great start
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
How Doubt Became a Weapon in Iran
AI manipulation, and the very suspicion of it, serves those who have the most to hide.
www.theatlantic.com
January 14, 2026 at 7:23 PM
If you want to know about the future of AI, take a look at the kaleidoscope of disinfo and psychological operations underway in Iran 🇮🇷
This excellent piece by @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social in @theatlantic.com is a great start
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
This excellent piece by @mahsaalimardani.bsky.social in @theatlantic.com is a great start
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
Reposted by Sam Gregory
I'm just sitting here, trying to figure out how to threat model for armed, masked thugs who may kidnap you off the street, then steal, and possibly sell your phone.
Yes, immigration agents not only took Arnoldo's phone, the 10th grader had to use Find My Phone to locate it — in a vending machine for used electronics, close to an ICE detention center.
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
January 14, 2026 at 12:55 AM
I'm just sitting here, trying to figure out how to threat model for armed, masked thugs who may kidnap you off the street, then steal, and possibly sell your phone.
Reposted by Sam Gregory
I have an op-ed in the NYT today about the Grok scandal, sharing my research from last year finding that legal risk hinders AI companies from making their models safer against CSAM - an echo of the years where white-hat hackers were chilled from good-faith research. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/o...
Opinion | There’s One Easy Solution to the A.I. Porn Problem
www.nytimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 4:34 PM
I have an op-ed in the NYT today about the Grok scandal, sharing my research from last year finding that legal risk hinders AI companies from making their models safer against CSAM - an echo of the years where white-hat hackers were chilled from good-faith research. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/o...
Reposted by Sam Gregory
Cell phone footage shows that Renee Good tried to drive away from the ICE agent who shot her. But an AI video shows Good pledging allegiance to ISIS before plowing her car into a crowd of blonde Christian children. For busy presidents of the United States, it can be hard to know what to trust.
January 10, 2026 at 6:14 PM
Cell phone footage shows that Renee Good tried to drive away from the ICE agent who shot her. But an AI video shows Good pledging allegiance to ISIS before plowing her car into a crowd of blonde Christian children. For busy presidents of the United States, it can be hard to know what to trust.
Reposted by Sam Gregory
Consensus reality has been under assault by Trumpism and by tech for years now. But it's important to underline that people are still putting their lives on the line because they believe it matters. www.theverge.com/policy/85905...
People are fighting for the truth in Minneapolis
Ordinary civilians aren’t playing along with Trump
www.theverge.com
January 9, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Consensus reality has been under assault by Trumpism and by tech for years now. But it's important to underline that people are still putting their lives on the line because they believe it matters. www.theverge.com/policy/85905...
Reposted by Sam Gregory
For those keeping score, Bellingcat, The New York Times Visual Investigation Team, & Washington Post's Visual Forensic team have all published analysis showing the ICE shooter wasn't in the path of Renee Nicole Good’s vehicle when he shot her, contradicting statements by the President & his cronies
January 8, 2026 at 3:35 PM
For those keeping score, Bellingcat, The New York Times Visual Investigation Team, & Washington Post's Visual Forensic team have all published analysis showing the ICE shooter wasn't in the path of Renee Nicole Good’s vehicle when he shot her, contradicting statements by the President & his cronies
Reposted by Sam Gregory
Forensic analysis of objective video evidence. This is how you serve readers searching for clarity.
January 8, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Forensic analysis of objective video evidence. This is how you serve readers searching for clarity.
Reposted by Sam Gregory
Must-read - I've long thought the effects of social media on the mass public are likely overrated but their effects on elites are underrated
New, from me: The Trump administration isn’t just using social media to shape a narrative. They view the world through a social media lens in a way that is plausibly corrupting their judgment and undermining their performance.
Welcome to the clicktatorship. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/life-under...
Welcome to the clicktatorship. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/life-under...
Life Under a Clicktatorship
What happens to government when everything is content?
donmoynihan.substack.com
January 8, 2026 at 12:45 PM
Must-read - I've long thought the effects of social media on the mass public are likely overrated but their effects on elites are underrated
Reposted by Sam Gregory
X basically industrialized the creation of fake porn of women who don't consent. Others did it first, but Grok made it normalized and centralized: publicly visible, instantly creatable by anyone, regardless of who's being targeted and dehumanized. Only question now is will X suffer any consequences
January 7, 2026 at 12:45 PM
X basically industrialized the creation of fake porn of women who don't consent. Others did it first, but Grok made it normalized and centralized: publicly visible, instantly creatable by anyone, regardless of who's being targeted and dehumanized. Only question now is will X suffer any consequences
Reposted by Sam Gregory
Come for the perfect @financialtimes.com headline and stay for the images created by Grok of the X leaders dressed up as clowns.
www.ft.com/content/ad94...
www.ft.com/content/ad94...
January 6, 2026 at 2:39 PM
Come for the perfect @financialtimes.com headline and stay for the images created by Grok of the X leaders dressed up as clowns.
www.ft.com/content/ad94...
www.ft.com/content/ad94...
Reposted by Sam Gregory
Happy new year! My favourite fact so far of 2026 is that "for reasons that remain unclear", Robbie Williams was last year's best-selling artist on cassette www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
January 1, 2026 at 8:24 AM
Happy new year! My favourite fact so far of 2026 is that "for reasons that remain unclear", Robbie Williams was last year's best-selling artist on cassette www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Sam Gregory
“BBC Verify has found multiple instances from Florida to Oregon of CrimeRadar sending misleading and inaccurate alerts about serious crime to local residents”
🤦🤦🤦
🤦🤦🤦
AI app causes distress across US with false crime alerts
An AI-powered app called CrimeRadar has apologised for the distress caused by false crime alerts issued to local US communities after a BBC Verify investigation.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 23, 2025 at 4:29 PM
“BBC Verify has found multiple instances from Florida to Oregon of CrimeRadar sending misleading and inaccurate alerts about serious crime to local residents”
🤦🤦🤦
🤦🤦🤦
Reposted by Sam Gregory
A tribute to Rob Reiner after a horrific news weekend
December 16, 2025 at 12:14 AM
A tribute to Rob Reiner after a horrific news weekend
I spoke recently to the New York Times about AI videos - how the platforms could do more and why individual vigilance is not the solution: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/t...
A.I. Videos Have Flooded Social Media. No One Was Ready.
www.nytimes.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:17 AM
I spoke recently to the New York Times about AI videos - how the platforms could do more and why individual vigilance is not the solution: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/t...
The Guardian has been my mainstay for news all my life, and plays a critical role globally with its independent, high-quality journalism. I'm so delighted to have joined the Scott Trust board, which is the sole shareholder of Guardian Media Group.
www.theguardian.com/gnm-press-of...
www.theguardian.com/gnm-press-of...
Sam Gregory joins the Scott Trust board
The Scott Trust, sole shareholder of Guardian Media Group, is pleased to announce the appointment of internationally recognised technologist, researcher and human rights advocate Sam Gregory to its bo...
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:56 PM
The Guardian has been my mainstay for news all my life, and plays a critical role globally with its independent, high-quality journalism. I'm so delighted to have joined the Scott Trust board, which is the sole shareholder of Guardian Media Group.
www.theguardian.com/gnm-press-of...
www.theguardian.com/gnm-press-of...
Reposted by Sam Gregory
All the rape, torture, and murder will be brushed under the carpet, a great lesson for any future war criminals.
November 21, 2025 at 7:08 AM
All the rape, torture, and murder will be brushed under the carpet, a great lesson for any future war criminals.
Reposted by Sam Gregory
How Gemini 3 transforms video into structured, searchable datasets: Implications for human rights, and digital forensics
www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-ge... (LinkedIn)
sanjanah.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/h... (WordPress)
@samgregory.bsky.social
www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-ge... (LinkedIn)
sanjanah.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/h... (WordPress)
@samgregory.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 8:25 AM
How Gemini 3 transforms video into structured, searchable datasets: Implications for human rights, and digital forensics
www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-ge... (LinkedIn)
sanjanah.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/h... (WordPress)
@samgregory.bsky.social
www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-ge... (LinkedIn)
sanjanah.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/h... (WordPress)
@samgregory.bsky.social
Great @themaybe.org podcast with the inimitable @alixdunn.com diving into AI, video, trust and human rights. Loved deep diving into how what we've learned at @witnessorg.bsky.social over decades of video activism drives our work to defend visual truth in age of Sora www.themaybe.org/podcast/stra...
The Maybe
www.themaybe.org
November 15, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Great @themaybe.org podcast with the inimitable @alixdunn.com diving into AI, video, trust and human rights. Loved deep diving into how what we've learned at @witnessorg.bsky.social over decades of video activism drives our work to defend visual truth in age of Sora www.themaybe.org/podcast/stra...
Reposted by Sam Gregory
#mustread Every day I wish there was a way to keep all the AI generated content out of my IG feed. So tired of seeing 'people' who don't actually exist.
"How we choose to act now will determine whether our shared basis for reality — what we see and hear — remains trustworthy."
Generative video's threat to visual truth and what we can do about it, and why concerted action matters now, in @transformernews.ai
www.transformernews.ai/p/sora-is-he...
Generative video's threat to visual truth and what we can do about it, and why concerted action matters now, in @transformernews.ai
www.transformernews.ai/p/sora-is-he...
Sora Is Here. The window to save visual truth is closing
Opinion: Sam Gregory argues that generative video is undermining the notion of a shared reality, and that we need to act before it’s lost forever
www.transformernews.ai
November 6, 2025 at 9:26 AM
#mustread Every day I wish there was a way to keep all the AI generated content out of my IG feed. So tired of seeing 'people' who don't actually exist.
Reposted by Sam Gregory
“the weaponization of doubt”
"How we choose to act now will determine whether our shared basis for reality — what we see and hear — remains trustworthy."
Generative video's threat to visual truth and what we can do about it, and why concerted action matters now, in @transformernews.ai
www.transformernews.ai/p/sora-is-he...
Generative video's threat to visual truth and what we can do about it, and why concerted action matters now, in @transformernews.ai
www.transformernews.ai/p/sora-is-he...
Sora Is Here. The window to save visual truth is closing
Opinion: Sam Gregory argues that generative video is undermining the notion of a shared reality, and that we need to act before it’s lost forever
www.transformernews.ai
November 6, 2025 at 9:40 AM
“the weaponization of doubt”
Reposted by Sam Gregory
“the deeper damage is a fog of doubt settling over everything we see”
@samgregory.bsky.social urges us to consider that soon our shared basis of reality will no longer be trustworthy and risks being undermined by generative video... and offers how to fight that.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOBA...
@samgregory.bsky.social urges us to consider that soon our shared basis of reality will no longer be trustworthy and risks being undermined by generative video... and offers how to fight that.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOBA...
When 'Seeing is Believing' Falters: AI, Visual Truth and Epistemic Fracture | Sam Gregory
YouTube video by All Tech Is Human
www.youtube.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:20 PM
“the deeper damage is a fog of doubt settling over everything we see”
@samgregory.bsky.social urges us to consider that soon our shared basis of reality will no longer be trustworthy and risks being undermined by generative video... and offers how to fight that.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOBA...
@samgregory.bsky.social urges us to consider that soon our shared basis of reality will no longer be trustworthy and risks being undermined by generative video... and offers how to fight that.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOBA...
Reposted by Sam Gregory
"Research shows that features like Face ID and fingerprints enable violent, forced phone access by police and authorities" the-decenter.ghost.io/the-body-as-... by Afsaneh Rigot
The Body as a Password: The Cost of Face ID
Convenience is costing people their freedom. Research shows that features like Face ID and fingerprints enable violent, forced phone access by police and authorities, writes Afsaneh Rigot.
the-decenter.ghost.io
November 6, 2025 at 4:53 PM
"Research shows that features like Face ID and fingerprints enable violent, forced phone access by police and authorities" the-decenter.ghost.io/the-body-as-... by Afsaneh Rigot