Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Foeke Postma

Jack Sapoch @jacksapoch.bsky.social · 11h

Many of these “illustrations” aren’t based on verified intelligence at all.

Our analysis of 43 official IDF videos found recycled 3D environments, spatial inaccuracies, and assets lifted from unrelated artists and institutions.

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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 12h

Our New York Times Visual Investigations team is hiring a reporter. It's the same job I have -- use visual investigation/OSINT/etc. skills to report on the world.

You'll need to be based in/near NYC. Pay range is ~110-130k.

www.nytco.com/careers/job-...

Open-Source Reporter (Video Journalist), Visual Investigations | The New York Times Company

www.nytco.com

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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 1d

Satellite analysis by Bellingcat found that wildfires destroyed over a third of Namibia’s most visited wildlife reserve last month, impacting crucial grazing lands for endangered species, including black rhinos and elephants. www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/10...

Wildfires Ravage One of Africa’s Largest Nature Reserves - bellingcat

Satellite analysis of the Etosha wildfires in Namibia has found that more than a third of the nature reserve was burned.

www.bellingcat.com

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Het Financieele Dagblad @fd.nl · 3d

Bellingcat-oprichter: ‘Verbied algoritmes bij sociale media, ze vergiftigen onze democratie’

Eliot Higgins verwierf faam met zijn onderzoeksplatform Bellingcat. Hij duikt nu in online misinformatie en desinformatie, zoals van de Russen. Maar concludeert dat we zelf onze democratie uithollen.

fd.nl

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SourceMaterial @source-material.org · 2d

The Shadow Fleet shipping Russia's oil is already leaving trails of oil in its wake, raising the question of who will pay up if the worst is to happen.

Our latest investigation with @victorjack.bsky.social of @politico.eu, using data from @skytruth.org.
www.source-material.org/shadow-fleet...

Shadow fleet slicks test limits of EU sanctions – SourceMaterial

As the West continues to blacklist ship carrying Russian oil, new slicks near Europe’s shores test the limits of Western sanctions

www.source-material.org

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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 5d

Have we passed peak social media? @jburnmurdoch.ft.com here www.ft.com/content/a072...

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DrDinD.bsky.social @drdind.bsky.social · 7d

Of all the best and kindest humans to ever live, Jane Goodall is near the top of my list.

Rest in Peace, you beautiful soul.

On behalf of the earth, I thank you

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91

www.nytimes.com

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dan @danabra.mov · 12d

i wrote about atproto and why it matters

Open Social — overreacted

The protocol is the API.

overreacted.io

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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 12d

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Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · 14d

hate to say i told you so

share.google/4FfpeWYJ8kEF...

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Foeke Postma @foeke.bsky.social · 13d

300h in and I'm not finished. 😔 Build for efficiency > realize a better layout later on > rebuild from scratch. Then there's building for beauty on top.

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Michael Colborne @colborne.bsky.social · 14d

So what was one of the main motivators behind the far-right violence in The Hague last weekend? A fake antifa page that’s thought to be linked to the far right that claimed there’d be a counterdemo that no Dutch antifascists actually knew about

archive.ph/2025.09.24-0...

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Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 24d

In 1999, he wrote the book on it—well, the academic journal entry on it—that has grown prescient in the age of the crisis actor. At their core, he says, people like Thom fail to grasp a simple idea: Sometimes things just happen, often for no discernible reason whatsoever.

“Just as with the physical world, where hurricanes, tornadoes, and other ‘acts of God’ just happen, the same is true of the social world,” he wrote. “Some people just do things. They assassinate world leaders, act on poorly thought out ideologies, and leave clues at the scene of the crime. Too strong a belief in the rationality of people in general, or of the world, will lead us to seek purposive explanations where none exists.”

He says conspiracy theorists rely on what he calls “errant data,” or random minutiae within a terror attack or major event that can—and maybe should—go unexplained in reality. Those pushing conspiracies, however, seize on that unexplained info and attempt to explain it in full.

It is an effort to connect every dot on the map—every blade of grass on the Grassy Knoll—even if some dots have nothing to with the larger event at all.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 22d

this from my piece on charlie kirk is probably the most important takeaway if you want to know why bad faith, right-wing voices in media are treated as just another set of peers

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Giancarlo Fiorella @giancarlofiorella.bsky.social · Sep 3

I'm re-starting my charity Twitch streams starting tonight at 7:00 PM EST via @extralife4kids.bsky.social! Come hang out in the chat, and if you've got a dollar, donate it to Toronto's SickKids Hospital.

100% of proceeds go directly to the hospital!

www.twitch.tv/gianfiorel

gianfiorel - Twitch

Hi! I live in Toronto and I stream to raise funds for SickKids via ExtraLife! Here is my ExtraLife page: https://www.extra-life.org/participant/548667

www.twitch.tv

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Sophie Labelle @assignedmale.bsky.social · 26d

The Groyper Wars

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Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · 26d

the groypers sure seem to think Charlie Kirk was killed by a groyper

onion person @junlper.beer · 26d

incredible stuff happening

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Jake Godin @godin.bsky.social · Sep 3

On-the-ground view of an IDF forward operating base located at the Al-Furqan Primary School. SkySat imagery from @planet.com shows the IDF first appeared in the vicinity of the school mid-August. Still there as of September 1 imagery.

An August 1 2025 image from Planet Labs SkySat showing an area south of Gaza City near the Al-Furqan School. There is heavy destruction visible in the entire area with many buildings having already been destroyed by the IDF.

An August 16 2025 image from Planet Labs SkySat showing an area south of Gaza City near the Al-Furqan School. There is heavy destruction visible in the entire area with many buildings having already been destroyed by the IDF. The mid-August imagery shows a large amount of IDF vehicles present near the school as well as among a cluster of buildings to the northeast. New earthworks are visible with dirt berms around the areas.

An September 1 2025 image from Planet Labs SkySat showing an area south of Gaza City near the Al-Furqan School. There is heavy destruction visible in the entire area with many buildings having already been destroyed by the IDF. The IDF vehicles are still present in the area and there's been some new earthworks with a square dirt berm area set up.

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Global Investigative Journalism Network @gijn.org · Sep 3

🛰️ New! @bellingcat.com’s @foeke.bsky.social tested 24 versions of popular AI platforms on geolocation challenges — with surprising results.

Read the findings here 👉

gijn.org

Updated Test of 24 LLMs for Geolocation

twp.ai

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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · Aug 29

We're very pleased to announce Bellingcat and @texasobserver.org won this award- congratulations to @tristanl.ee and @stevanzetti.bsky.social for their hard work on this series of reporting.
The winners of the category 'general excellence in an online newsroom' will be announced in September.

Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · Aug 22

Finally @tristanl.ee and @stevanzetti.bsky.social's work identifying white extremist networks in Texas and online has been nominated for the Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award awards.journalists.org/entries/open...

Open-Source Extremist Identifications - Online Journalism Awards

awards.journalists.org

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Jake Godin @godin.bsky.social · Aug 29

Something to note on the Nasser Hospital attack — there's a direct line of sight to the Reuters livestream position to a large IDF excavation northeast of the hospital. The livestream had even filmed what appear to be two IDF tanks moving in the area on Aug 21: www.youtube.com/live/uN78d9M...

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Foeke Postma @foeke.bsky.social · Aug 28

More testing of LLMs for journalism, this time on identifying image location, date, and source.
By @aisvarya17.bsky.social and @klaudia.bsky.social with some of my own commentary.
www.cjr.org/tow_center/w... @columjournreview.bsky.social

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Michael Colborne @colborne.bsky.social · Aug 15

In the Netherlands, a 24-year-old man from Erp was arrested yesterday in Badhoevedorp, near Amsterdam, on suspicion of preparing a terrorist offense. The suspect is believed to be a member of Geuzenbond, a far-right group we wrote about last year @bellingcat.com

www.rtl.nl/nieuws/binne...

Lid extreemrechtse Geuzenbond (24) aangehouden om voorbereiden terreurdaad

In Badhoevedorp is gisteren een 24-jarige man uit Erp aanhouden die wordt verdacht van het voorbereiden van een terroristisch misdrijf. De verdachte zou lid zijn van de Geuzenbond, een organisatie die...

www.rtl.nl

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Foeke Postma @foeke.bsky.social · Aug 15

Ideally, but during research a confident wrong answer can still be useful if it is not on the spot, but close. And trying to measure confidence across different models becomes messy really fast.

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Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · Aug 14

In May, we, alongside CBC's Visual Investigation Unit, @tjekdet.dk and @politiken.dk revealed the identity of the key administrator behind one of the largest AI porn sites. Dutch politicians across political parties are now calling for the Canadian to be extradited. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

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