Katie Paul
@anthropaulicy.bsky.social
Anthropologist researching extremism, Big Tech harms, digital black markets and online crime.
Reposted by Katie Paul
Deepfake political scam ads surge on Meta platforms, watchdog says.
The Tech Transparency Project identified 63 scam advertisers that collectively spent $49 million on Facebook and Instagram, often targeting seniors with scams promoting fake stimulus checks and healthcare payments
u.afp.com/SWtg
The Tech Transparency Project identified 63 scam advertisers that collectively spent $49 million on Facebook and Instagram, often targeting seniors with scams promoting fake stimulus checks and healthcare payments
u.afp.com/SWtg
October 2, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Deepfake political scam ads surge on Meta platforms, watchdog says.
The Tech Transparency Project identified 63 scam advertisers that collectively spent $49 million on Facebook and Instagram, often targeting seniors with scams promoting fake stimulus checks and healthcare payments
u.afp.com/SWtg
The Tech Transparency Project identified 63 scam advertisers that collectively spent $49 million on Facebook and Instagram, often targeting seniors with scams promoting fake stimulus checks and healthcare payments
u.afp.com/SWtg
Reposted by Katie Paul
Episode 1: Trafficking through the Metaverse: The Antiquities Trade in the Internet Age with Katie Paul @anthropaulicy.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/peop...
The #PeoplingPodcast is BACK! Today, to kick off Season 4, we are joined by Katie Paul to discuss the role of Facebook in the illicit antiquities trade, and how the company has been complicit in the sale and destruction of cultural heritage. Listen here: peoplingthepast.com/2025/04/29/p...
July 22, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Episode 1: Trafficking through the Metaverse: The Antiquities Trade in the Internet Age with Katie Paul @anthropaulicy.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/peop...
Reposted by Katie Paul
“It's basically turning ideology into influencer culture,” said @anthropaulicy.bsky.social of @ttp-updates.bsky.social.
“Instagram is the best platform for that. It’s one of the platforms that influencers have broadly flocked to because they can monetize it easily."
“Instagram is the best platform for that. It’s one of the platforms that influencers have broadly flocked to because they can monetize it easily."
Wrote for @wired.com about a new generation of paramilitary activists, whose edgy aesthetics, embrace of Christian nationalism, youthful membership, and use of Instagram to self-promote sets them apart from the traditional militia movement.
www.wired.com/story/christ...
www.wired.com/story/christ...
Christian Militants Are Using Instagram to Recruit—and Becoming Influencers in the Process
There's a new guard of paramilitary activists, whose youthful membership, edgy aesthetics, use of Instagram, and, in many cases, overt nods to religion points to a new brand of anti-government Christi...
www.wired.com
August 14, 2025 at 3:28 PM
“It's basically turning ideology into influencer culture,” said @anthropaulicy.bsky.social of @ttp-updates.bsky.social.
“Instagram is the best platform for that. It’s one of the platforms that influencers have broadly flocked to because they can monetize it easily."
“Instagram is the best platform for that. It’s one of the platforms that influencers have broadly flocked to because they can monetize it easily."
Reposted by Katie Paul
GWU is investigating this student for her grad speech—
"I cannot celebrate my own graduation without a heavy heart knowing how many students in Palestine have been forced to stop their studies, expelled from their homes, and killed for simply remaining in the country of their ancestors."
Excerpt:
"I cannot celebrate my own graduation without a heavy heart knowing how many students in Palestine have been forced to stop their studies, expelled from their homes, and killed for simply remaining in the country of their ancestors."
Excerpt:
May 18, 2025 at 11:08 PM
GWU is investigating this student for her grad speech—
"I cannot celebrate my own graduation without a heavy heart knowing how many students in Palestine have been forced to stop their studies, expelled from their homes, and killed for simply remaining in the country of their ancestors."
Excerpt:
"I cannot celebrate my own graduation without a heavy heart knowing how many students in Palestine have been forced to stop their studies, expelled from their homes, and killed for simply remaining in the country of their ancestors."
Excerpt:
Reposted by Katie Paul
"Crypto has not just facilitated fraud, money-laundering and other flavours of financial crime on a gargantuan scale. The industry has also developed a grubby relationship with the executive branch of America’s government that outstrips that of Wall Street or any other industry."
Crypto has become the ultimate swamp asset
An industry that dreamed of being above politics has become synonymous with self-dealing
www.economist.com
May 17, 2025 at 12:53 PM
"Crypto has not just facilitated fraud, money-laundering and other flavours of financial crime on a gargantuan scale. The industry has also developed a grubby relationship with the executive branch of America’s government that outstrips that of Wall Street or any other industry."
Reposted by Katie Paul
Sources: Facebook and Instagram face scam ad surge from Asia and Meta is reluctant to add hurdles for ad buyers; Meta says it's tackling an "epidemic of scams" (Wall Street Journal)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
May 16, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Sources: Facebook and Instagram face scam ad surge from Asia and Meta is reluctant to add hurdles for ad buyers; Meta says it's tackling an "epidemic of scams" (Wall Street Journal)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Reposted by Katie Paul
X’s ongoing dealings with U.S.-sanctioned terrorists are all the more striking given that Musk chastised Treasury lacking “basic controls” to track payments and ensure they don’t end up going to terrorist orgs.
Musk said such controls are “in place in any company.” www.c-span.org/clip/white-h...
Musk said such controls are “in place in any company.” www.c-span.org/clip/white-h...
User Clip: Elon Treasury Controls
Comments on Treasury.
www.c-span.org
May 15, 2025 at 4:39 PM
X’s ongoing dealings with U.S.-sanctioned terrorists are all the more striking given that Musk chastised Treasury lacking “basic controls” to track payments and ensure they don’t end up going to terrorist orgs.
Musk said such controls are “in place in any company.” www.c-span.org/clip/white-h...
Musk said such controls are “in place in any company.” www.c-span.org/clip/white-h...
Reposted by Katie Paul
NEW: TTP found premium blue checkmark accounts for multiple terrorists and others under OFAC-enforced sanctions. Some of these accounts even had an “ID verified” badge, requested tips, and offered subscriptions. 🧵 www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/u.s...
TTP - U.S.-Sanctioned Terrorists Enjoy Premium Boost on X
Accounts for sanctioned terrorists deemed a threat to U.S. national security are getting special service on X.
www.techtransparencyproject.org
May 15, 2025 at 4:33 PM
NEW: TTP found premium blue checkmark accounts for multiple terrorists and others under OFAC-enforced sanctions. Some of these accounts even had an “ID verified” badge, requested tips, and offered subscriptions. 🧵 www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/u.s...
Reposted by Katie Paul
During the defence’s opening statement, Meta displayed a chart showing that the “per cent of time spent viewing content posted by ‘friends’ has declined over the past two years, from 22 per cent to 17 per cent on Facebook and from 11 per cent to 7 per cent on Instagram”.
Social media is no longer social
Everyone is on social media, and yet these apps are less and less about socialising. Is it time to rethink how and why we’re online?
www.dazeddigital.com
May 5, 2025 at 11:06 AM
During the defence’s opening statement, Meta displayed a chart showing that the “per cent of time spent viewing content posted by ‘friends’ has declined over the past two years, from 22 per cent to 17 per cent on Facebook and from 11 per cent to 7 per cent on Instagram”.
Reposted by Katie Paul
🔥 Powerful talk by Katie Paul on the key role of Facebook as facilitator in antiquities, human remains, drug etc. trafficking and war crimes. I especially agree on policies "just window dressing for PR" @peoplingthepast.bsky.social @atharproject.bsky.social @anthropaulicy.bsky.social
The #PeoplingPodcast is BACK! Today, to kick off Season 4, we are joined by Katie Paul to discuss the role of Facebook in the illicit antiquities trade, and how the company has been complicit in the sale and destruction of cultural heritage. Listen here: peoplingthepast.com/2025/04/29/p...
May 2, 2025 at 2:22 PM
🔥 Powerful talk by Katie Paul on the key role of Facebook as facilitator in antiquities, human remains, drug etc. trafficking and war crimes. I especially agree on policies "just window dressing for PR" @peoplingthepast.bsky.social @atharproject.bsky.social @anthropaulicy.bsky.social
Reposted by Katie Paul
"The newest and most powerful technologies — so-called reasoning systems from companies like OpenAI, Google and the Chinese start-up DeepSeek — are generating more errors, not fewer. As their math skills have notably improved, their handle on facts has gotten shakier. It is not entirely clear why."
A.I. Hallucinations Are Getting Worse, Even as New Systems Become More Powerful
A new wave of “reasoning” systems from companies like OpenAI is producing incorrect information more often. Even the companies don’t know why.
www.nytimes.com
May 5, 2025 at 11:32 AM
"The newest and most powerful technologies — so-called reasoning systems from companies like OpenAI, Google and the Chinese start-up DeepSeek — are generating more errors, not fewer. As their math skills have notably improved, their handle on facts has gotten shakier. It is not entirely clear why."
Reposted by Katie Paul
The #PeoplingPodcast is BACK! Today, to kick off Season 4, we are joined by Katie Paul to discuss the role of Facebook in the illicit antiquities trade, and how the company has been complicit in the sale and destruction of cultural heritage. Listen here: peoplingthepast.com/2025/04/29/p...
April 29, 2025 at 3:21 PM
The #PeoplingPodcast is BACK! Today, to kick off Season 4, we are joined by Katie Paul to discuss the role of Facebook in the illicit antiquities trade, and how the company has been complicit in the sale and destruction of cultural heritage. Listen here: peoplingthepast.com/2025/04/29/p...
Reposted by Katie Paul
If you loved the episode, make sure to follow Katie @anthropaulicy.bsky.social and the @atharproject.bsky.social!
The #PeoplingPodcast is BACK! Today, to kick off Season 4, we are joined by Katie Paul to discuss the role of Facebook in the illicit antiquities trade, and how the company has been complicit in the sale and destruction of cultural heritage. Listen here: peoplingthepast.com/2025/04/29/p...
May 2, 2025 at 2:26 PM
If you loved the episode, make sure to follow Katie @anthropaulicy.bsky.social and the @atharproject.bsky.social!
Reposted by Katie Paul
Bam. As expected, Apple has immediately changed its App Store rules to exclude the US so that only the rest of the world has to pay its ransom after US district Court sanctioned the company and referred it to the US Attorney for criminal contempt investigation. developer.apple.com/app-store/re...
May 2, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Bam. As expected, Apple has immediately changed its App Store rules to exclude the US so that only the rest of the world has to pay its ransom after US district Court sanctioned the company and referred it to the US Attorney for criminal contempt investigation. developer.apple.com/app-store/re...
Reposted by Katie Paul
Here's a great new pod with @anthropaulicy.bsky.social talking about her work tracking the online trade in looted antiquities with Amr al Azm @atharproject.bsky.social
peoplingthepast.com/2025/04/29/p...
peoplingthepast.com/2025/04/29/p...
Podcast Season 4, Episode 1: Trafficking through the Metaverse: The Antiquities Trade in the Internet Age with Katie Paul
Today, we kick off the fourth season of the Peopling the Past podcast, which focuses on cultural heritage and legacies of colonialism. In our first episode, we are joined by Katie Paul, an anthropo…
peoplingthepast.com
April 29, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Here's a great new pod with @anthropaulicy.bsky.social talking about her work tracking the online trade in looted antiquities with Amr al Azm @atharproject.bsky.social
peoplingthepast.com/2025/04/29/p...
peoplingthepast.com/2025/04/29/p...
Reposted by Katie Paul
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
April 28, 2025 at 1:33 AM
❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️
Reposted by Katie Paul
"Even if Wikipedia’s content was biased (it isn’t), even if every editor was actively trying to push an anti-Israel narrative (they aren’t), that would still be protected by the First Amendment."
www.techdirt.com/2025/04/28/g...
www.techdirt.com/2025/04/28/g...
Government Actually Threatens Wikipedia’s Editorial Freedom; Self-Proclaimed Free Speech Warriors Suddenly Have Other Plans
When Trump officials want to censor speech, they don’t quite say “we want to censor speech” (after all, they pretend to be the party that “brought free speech back.”) Instead, the…
www.techdirt.com
April 28, 2025 at 7:23 PM
"Even if Wikipedia’s content was biased (it isn’t), even if every editor was actively trying to push an anti-Israel narrative (they aren’t), that would still be protected by the First Amendment."
www.techdirt.com/2025/04/28/g...
www.techdirt.com/2025/04/28/g...
Reposted by Katie Paul
In today's election, many Canadian voters feel stuck between Trump-lite Conservatives and a Liberal Party complicit in the destruction of Gaza, writes Canadian journalist Ginella Massa.
Read the full article: zeteo.com/p/gaza-genoc...
Read the full article: zeteo.com/p/gaza-genoc...
April 28, 2025 at 4:17 PM
In today's election, many Canadian voters feel stuck between Trump-lite Conservatives and a Liberal Party complicit in the destruction of Gaza, writes Canadian journalist Ginella Massa.
Read the full article: zeteo.com/p/gaza-genoc...
Read the full article: zeteo.com/p/gaza-genoc...
Reposted by Katie Paul
this is precisely how twitter would have been in germany in the 1940s
April 27, 2025 at 2:31 PM
this is precisely how twitter would have been in germany in the 1940s
Reposted by Katie Paul
Abolish ICE and arrest its agents. It is irredeemable.
April 27, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Abolish ICE and arrest its agents. It is irredeemable.
Reposted by Katie Paul
Stephen Fry's argument against God and His morals.
April 27, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Stephen Fry's argument against God and His morals.
Reposted by Katie Paul
"Inside Meta... staffers across multiple departments have raised concerns that the company’s rush to popularize these bots may have crossed ethical lines, including by quietly endowing AI personas with the capacity for fantasy sex, according to people who worked on them." - @jeffhorwitz.bsky.social
Meta’s ‘Digital Companions’ Will Talk Sex With Users—Even Children
Chatbots on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp are empowered to engage in ‘romantic role-play’ that can turn explicit. Some people inside the company are concerned.
www.wsj.com
April 27, 2025 at 3:16 PM
"Inside Meta... staffers across multiple departments have raised concerns that the company’s rush to popularize these bots may have crossed ethical lines, including by quietly endowing AI personas with the capacity for fantasy sex, according to people who worked on them." - @jeffhorwitz.bsky.social
Reposted by Katie Paul
We have another unhinged email to Michigan Law students from FASORP, the anti-racism-against-white-men org that threatened to doxx minority students last month. This one sarcastically urges law review applicants to pretend to be gay or trans to boost their odds. One-joke theory remains undefeated.
April 25, 2025 at 8:22 PM
We have another unhinged email to Michigan Law students from FASORP, the anti-racism-against-white-men org that threatened to doxx minority students last month. This one sarcastically urges law review applicants to pretend to be gay or trans to boost their odds. One-joke theory remains undefeated.
Reposted by Katie Paul
BUT THERE'S MORE: After declaring that both the wife and husband are not in Tren de Aragua and must be released, Judge Briones SPONTANEOUSLY (without being asked) issued an injunction blocking the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport anyone in the Western District of Texas without 21 days notice!
April 26, 2025 at 1:44 AM
BUT THERE'S MORE: After declaring that both the wife and husband are not in Tren de Aragua and must be released, Judge Briones SPONTANEOUSLY (without being asked) issued an injunction blocking the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport anyone in the Western District of Texas without 21 days notice!