Sohan Dsouza
@sohandsouza.info
🥼 @MPIB-Berlin.bsky.social;
📚 computational social science, disinformation/polarization, crowdsourcing, OSINT;
🎓 @MIT.edu @MediaLab.bsky.social, @DFRLab.bsky.social #DigitalSherlocks;
📍 London, England;
https://www.sohandsouza.info
📚 computational social science, disinformation/polarization, crowdsourcing, OSINT;
🎓 @MIT.edu @MediaLab.bsky.social, @DFRLab.bsky.social #DigitalSherlocks;
📍 London, England;
https://www.sohandsouza.info
Pinned
Sohan Dsouza
@sohandsouza.info
· Sep 26
🇬🇧🕵️🧑💻🧑🏫 The British Computer Society has published my recent presentation for them in London, on my investigations of international influence operations and misinformation spread affecting the UK, and OSINT/SOCMINT basics.
▶️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBhH...
#disinfo #misinfo #infops #OSINT #SOCMINT #UK
▶️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBhH...
#disinfo #misinfo #infops #OSINT #SOCMINT #UK
«This is exactly the kind of coordinated inauthentic behavior that trust & safety teams were built to identify and address. Not to “censor” ideological viewpoints, but to surface when what looks like organic American political discourse is actually foreign actors gaming the system for profit.»
X’s New Feature Reveals Why Trust & Safety Work Was Never About The ‘Censorship Industrial Complex’
For the last few years, Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger, and their allies have spent considerable energy attacking both academic researchers studying disinformation and the trust & safety teams…
For the last few years, Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger, and their allies have spent considerable energy attacking both academic researchers studying disinformation and the trust & safety teams…
X’s New Feature Reveals Why Trust & Safety Work Was Never About The ‘Censorship Industrial Complex’
For the last few years, Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger, and their allies have spent considerable energy attacking both academic researchers studying disinformation and the trust & safety teams at social media platforms working to identify and remove coordinated inauthentic behavior—particularly foreign influence operations. They've insisted that any attempt to study and limit such operations is actually just "censorship" with various forms of cover, whether academic or operational.
www.techdirt.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:38 AM
«This is exactly the kind of coordinated inauthentic behavior that trust & safety teams were built to identify and address. Not to “censor” ideological viewpoints, but to surface when what looks like organic American political discourse is actually foreign actors gaming the system for profit.»
Reposted by Sohan Dsouza
X now reveals the locations of user accounts, pulling back the curtain on the scale and scope of manipulation and “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” on the platform. At the least, I hope it helps us reevaluate platforms as “neutral” infrastructure.
www.businessinsider.com/x-shows-loca...
www.businessinsider.com/x-shows-loca...
X erupts after the platform reveals the locations where accounts are based
X, formerly Twitter, launched a feature that shows accounts' locations, in an effort to promote transparency.
www.businessinsider.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:25 PM
X now reveals the locations of user accounts, pulling back the curtain on the scale and scope of manipulation and “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” on the platform. At the least, I hope it helps us reevaluate platforms as “neutral” infrastructure.
www.businessinsider.com/x-shows-loca...
www.businessinsider.com/x-shows-loca...
Reposted by Sohan Dsouza
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Want to make a difference & contribute to high-impact projects? Join our team as:
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Start your career at the Nuffield Foundation in research, programme management, communications and more. Search Nuffield Foundation job vacancies.
www.nuffieldfoundation.org
November 21, 2025 at 11:51 AM
🚀 We’re hiring!
Want to make a difference & contribute to high-impact projects? Join our team as:
🔹 Research Portfolio Lead
🔹 Researcher
🔹 Senior Policy Officer or
🔹 Communications & Public Affairs Coordinator
Learn more about all available roles: www.nuffieldfoundation.org/about/careers
Want to make a difference & contribute to high-impact projects? Join our team as:
🔹 Research Portfolio Lead
🔹 Researcher
🔹 Senior Policy Officer or
🔹 Communications & Public Affairs Coordinator
Learn more about all available roles: www.nuffieldfoundation.org/about/careers
Reposted by Sohan Dsouza
New from 404 Media: X has shown where accounts are actually being run from, revealing many MAGA accounts are actually grifters in Eastern Europe, Asia, etc. But the situation is much, much worse. Entire guides specifically on how to squeeze US audiences with AI.
www.404media.co/americas-pol...
www.404media.co/americas-pol...
America’s Polarization Has Become the World's Side Hustle
The 'psyops' revealed by X are entirely the fault of the perverse incentives created by social media monetization programs.
www.404media.co
November 24, 2025 at 6:52 PM
New from 404 Media: X has shown where accounts are actually being run from, revealing many MAGA accounts are actually grifters in Eastern Europe, Asia, etc. But the situation is much, much worse. Entire guides specifically on how to squeeze US audiences with AI.
www.404media.co/americas-pol...
www.404media.co/americas-pol...
«The Macedonian teenagers didn’t care about the politics. The American right, especially the emerging MAGA ecosystem, was simply a dream customer: highly engaged, highly inflamed, and extremely willing to click through to garbage sites that paid out ad revenue.»
By me: a brief history of foreign agitators pretending to be Americans over the last decade, with most out to make a buck monetizing the culture war 💸(politics matter less than you think), and what X’s new feature shows…
open.substack.com/pub/agentsof...
open.substack.com/pub/agentsof...
On the Internet No One Knows You’re a “MAGA patriot” in Lagos
On X's new location feature...
open.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:01 PM
«The Macedonian teenagers didn’t care about the politics. The American right, especially the emerging MAGA ecosystem, was simply a dream customer: highly engaged, highly inflamed, and extremely willing to click through to garbage sites that paid out ad revenue.»
«This is X in 2025: Potentially fake accounts crying at other potentially fake accounts that they aren’t real, all while refusing to acknowledge that they themselves aren’t who they say they are—a Russian nesting doll of bullshit.»
#Xitter #transparency #circus #inauthentic #platforms
#Xitter #transparency #circus #inauthentic #platforms
I wrote about the fake account blowup on X this weekend. A genuine post-truth nightmare and proof that these companies have polluted their platforms so thoroughly and traded reality for profit that they've undermined the very idea of what the internet is supposed to be.
That MAGA Account Might Be a Troll From Pakistan
How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature
www.theatlantic.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:45 PM
«This is X in 2025: Potentially fake accounts crying at other potentially fake accounts that they aren’t real, all while refusing to acknowledge that they themselves aren’t who they say they are—a Russian nesting doll of bullshit.»
#Xitter #transparency #circus #inauthentic #platforms
#Xitter #transparency #circus #inauthentic #platforms
Reposted by Sohan Dsouza
Reposted by Sohan Dsouza
It doesn’t need conspiracy or coordination. The incentives alone are sufficient. The platform pays the public to perform, and the performance produces the disorder.
November 23, 2025 at 8:15 PM
It doesn’t need conspiracy or coordination. The incentives alone are sufficient. The platform pays the public to perform, and the performance produces the disorder.
Reposted by Sohan Dsouza
Even sincere actors get pulled into the same incentive field. Their beliefs may be genuine, but the attention economy doesn’t distinguish. To be heard, they must compete with the grifters on the grifters’ terms.
November 23, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Even sincere actors get pulled into the same incentive field. Their beliefs may be genuine, but the attention economy doesn’t distinguish. To be heard, they must compete with the grifters on the grifters’ terms.
Reposted by Sohan Dsouza
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:
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 7:38 PM
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:
This impacts elections. This impacts discourse. This is major. Subscribe to support my work:
Reposted by Sohan Dsouza
It produces a performative ecosystem. Actors aren’t communicating; they’re staging provocations for yield. The result is disordered discourse: signals detached from truth, identity shaped by escalation, and a feedback loop where the performance eclipses reality itself.
November 23, 2025 at 8:06 PM
It produces a performative ecosystem. Actors aren’t communicating; they’re staging provocations for yield. The result is disordered discourse: signals detached from truth, identity shaped by escalation, and a feedback loop where the performance eclipses reality itself.
Turns out this is another replycator grifter account, also based in India.
The original post, from a day earlier, content of which they copied and posted to boost engagement is at [ x.com/EricLDaugh/s... ].
More about replycators on X at my Substack at [ sohandsouza.substack.com/p/spammy-vib... ].
The original post, from a day earlier, content of which they copied and posted to boost engagement is at [ x.com/EricLDaugh/s... ].
More about replycators on X at my Substack at [ sohandsouza.substack.com/p/spammy-vib... ].
November 24, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Turns out this is another replycator grifter account, also based in India.
The original post, from a day earlier, content of which they copied and posted to boost engagement is at [ x.com/EricLDaugh/s... ].
More about replycators on X at my Substack at [ sohandsouza.substack.com/p/spammy-vib... ].
The original post, from a day earlier, content of which they copied and posted to boost engagement is at [ x.com/EricLDaugh/s... ].
More about replycators on X at my Substack at [ sohandsouza.substack.com/p/spammy-vib... ].
Not just more effective, but legitimate.
Free societies penalise harmful *conduct*, not wrongthink, as seen in the existing MB bans coming almost solely from autocratic regimes that suppress all dissent.
Then again, given the sweeping ban on "antifa", I don't have high hopes for nuance from the US.
Free societies penalise harmful *conduct*, not wrongthink, as seen in the existing MB bans coming almost solely from autocratic regimes that suppress all dissent.
Then again, given the sweeping ban on "antifa", I don't have high hopes for nuance from the US.
A More Effective Approach to Countering the Muslim Brotherhood. The Trump administration should focus more narrowly on the national security threats presented by individual Brotherhood branches and organizations, especially those funding Hamas
www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analy...
www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analy...
A More Effective Approach to Countering the Muslim Brotherhood
Instead of pinning a terrorist designation on the entire group, the Trump administration should focus more narrowly on the national security threats presented by individual Brotherhood branches and or...
www.washingtoninstitute.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Not just more effective, but legitimate.
Free societies penalise harmful *conduct*, not wrongthink, as seen in the existing MB bans coming almost solely from autocratic regimes that suppress all dissent.
Then again, given the sweeping ban on "antifa", I don't have high hopes for nuance from the US.
Free societies penalise harmful *conduct*, not wrongthink, as seen in the existing MB bans coming almost solely from autocratic regimes that suppress all dissent.
Then again, given the sweeping ban on "antifa", I don't have high hopes for nuance from the US.
Reposted by Sohan Dsouza
Russia has declared CORRECTIV an "undesirable organization" correctiv.org/in-eigener-s...
Russland erklärt CORRECTIV zur „unerwünschten Organisation“
Der russische Staat stellt die journalistische Arbeit von CORRECTIV pauschal unter Strafandrohung. Unabhängige Recherche soll verunmöglicht werden.
correctiv.org
November 24, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Russia has declared CORRECTIV an "undesirable organization" correctiv.org/in-eigener-s...
«For the cluster UKDJ we followed, the transparency panels list the accounts as connected via the Iranian App Store and simultaneously routing through VPN servers in the Netherlands. […] Their creation details follow the same formula, each with a single username change completed at registration.»
Proof from X/Twitter now confirms that prominent independence campaigners, shared widely by unsuspecting users, were in fact operated from inside Iran while posing as Scottish accounts.
ukdefencejournal.org.uk/proof-scotti...
ukdefencejournal.org.uk/proof-scotti...
November 24, 2025 at 8:43 AM
«For the cluster UKDJ we followed, the transparency panels list the accounts as connected via the Iranian App Store and simultaneously routing through VPN servers in the Netherlands. […] Their creation details follow the same formula, each with a single username change completed at registration.»
🔔 UPDATE: I just tacked on an addendum with information from Xitter's new "About this Account" panel for these accounts, confirming they are indeed operated from "South Asia", while cynically boosting Euronationalist content for monetisation.
🕵️🗯🔁🧑💻 "Replycator" accounts rip content off other accounts to reply-spam as their own, attempting to farm/agitate Western right-wing audiences, including in the UK, from places like India. Here's an OSINT analysis of three.
#OSINT #SOCMINT #platforms #socialMedia #inauthentic #India #UK #grifters
#OSINT #SOCMINT #platforms #socialMedia #inauthentic #India #UK #grifters
Spammy Vibes and Monetized Jibes
Opacity and incentives converge to drive a thriving grift industry on the socials
sohandsouza.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:17 PM
🔔 UPDATE: I just tacked on an addendum with information from Xitter's new "About this Account" panel for these accounts, confirming they are indeed operated from "South Asia", while cynically boosting Euronationalist content for monetisation.
Reposted by Sohan Dsouza
X’s new “About this account” tool reveals that dozens of pro-Russian and MAGA accounts with tens of thousands of followers, long posing as American or Russian, are actually created and run from India, Bangladesh, and other South Asian countries.
November 22, 2025 at 1:35 PM
X’s new “About this account” tool reveals that dozens of pro-Russian and MAGA accounts with tens of thousands of followers, long posing as American or Russian, are actually created and run from India, Bangladesh, and other South Asian countries.
Reposted by Sohan Dsouza
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 Sohan Dsouza
New from me: “working the refs” has come for Wikipedia. The same type of attacks alleging anti-conservative bias that right wing politicians have make about social media are coming for the encyclopedia — because of its critical role in shaping AI answer engines.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
The Right-Wing Attack on Wikipedia
The free internet encyclopedia is widely used to train AI. That’s why conservatives are trying to dethrone it.
www.theatlantic.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:41 PM
New from me: “working the refs” has come for Wikipedia. The same type of attacks alleging anti-conservative bias that right wing politicians have make about social media are coming for the encyclopedia — because of its critical role in shaping AI answer engines.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Sohan Dsouza
Jos vaikuttaa siltä, että Trumpin ns. rauhansuunnitelma on venäläisten kirjoittama, se voi johtua siitä, että se on sitä.
Trump’s Ukraine Peace Deal Appears to Be Translated From Russian
Certain phrases in Trump’s proposed deal seem to be using Russian language.
newrepublic.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Jos vaikuttaa siltä, että Trumpin ns. rauhansuunnitelma on venäläisten kirjoittama, se voi johtua siitä, että se on sitä.
Attacking using Wikimedia properties is low, but it is not the first time this has happened. I and @marcowenjones.bsky.social observed a similar Wikimedia-hacking source-legitimising tactic by the perpetrators of the "Qatar Plot" influence operation.
#Kremlin #Russia #PravdaNetwork #Wikipedia
#Kremlin #Russia #PravdaNetwork #Wikipedia
Exposing Pravda: How pro-Kremlin forces are poisoning AI models and rewriting Wikipedia
Our investigation explores how Russia is weaponizing Wikipedia and AI chatbots to expand its global malign influence campaign.
www.atlanticcouncil.org
November 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Attacking using Wikimedia properties is low, but it is not the first time this has happened. I and @marcowenjones.bsky.social observed a similar Wikimedia-hacking source-legitimising tactic by the perpetrators of the "Qatar Plot" influence operation.
#Kremlin #Russia #PravdaNetwork #Wikipedia
#Kremlin #Russia #PravdaNetwork #Wikipedia
Cranks in Europe keep getting yanked by amoral types perched in low-PPP countries, with the social media platforms incentivising them through monetisation programs to produce crank-yanking content at industrial scale.
#slopaganda #Europe #AI #grifters #platforms #monetization #farRight #rageBait
#slopaganda #Europe #AI #grifters #platforms #monetization #farRight #rageBait
Islamophobic and racist AI-generated posts aimed at Brits helped make one Sri Lankan influencer rich – and now he’s sharing his formula
How racist AI Facebook posts made one Sri Lankan influencer rich
The content creator made his fortune from racist Facebook groups aimed at Brits; now he’s sharing his formula
www.thebureauinvestigates.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Cranks in Europe keep getting yanked by amoral types perched in low-PPP countries, with the social media platforms incentivising them through monetisation programs to produce crank-yanking content at industrial scale.
#slopaganda #Europe #AI #grifters #platforms #monetization #farRight #rageBait
#slopaganda #Europe #AI #grifters #platforms #monetization #farRight #rageBait
Anti-Muslim bigotry drinking game: one shot for each latmiya clip encountered, two if such is encountered in a specifically Sunni context.
November 19, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Anti-Muslim bigotry drinking game: one shot for each latmiya clip encountered, two if such is encountered in a specifically Sunni context.
Very concerning, especially if the network credibility snowballs up and its narrative origins are further obscured.
#PravdaNetwork #infOps #disinfo #infoWar #Kremlin #Russia #Wikipedia
#PravdaNetwork #infOps #disinfo #infoWar #Kremlin #Russia #Wikipedia
There's been a lot of talk about how the Pravda network impacts LLMs. But real people are finding, reading, and citing it.
Our latest piece shows that Pravda network links have appeared in reporting from reputable outlets and in commentary from high-traffic sites. www.isdglobal.org/digital_disp...
Our latest piece shows that Pravda network links have appeared in reporting from reputable outlets and in commentary from high-traffic sites. www.isdglobal.org/digital_disp...
Link by link: Hundreds of webpages cite pro-Russia Pravda network
ISD has built a free browser extension to help individuals recognise Pravda network sites, which hundreds of media outlets still treat as credible.
www.isdglobal.org
November 18, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Very concerning, especially if the network credibility snowballs up and its narrative origins are further obscured.
#PravdaNetwork #infOps #disinfo #infoWar #Kremlin #Russia #Wikipedia
#PravdaNetwork #infOps #disinfo #infoWar #Kremlin #Russia #Wikipedia