Jen Golbeck
@jengolbeck.bsky.social
5.5K followers 510 following 260 posts
Computer scientist, psychologist, journalist. Professor at UMD On the dystopia beat- AI, social media, extremism, radicalization, privacy, information warfare, and bad stuff people do on the internet she/her
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jengolbeck.bsky.social
Please do! You can include my email [email protected]
jengolbeck.bsky.social
It's unclear if it's even necessary for visa holders to return today nor if this will have an impact, but it's an interesting look at what happens with far-right trolling manifests offline. More on this & all things MAGA in my (free) MAGAReport magareport.news/p/4chan-trie...
4Chan tries to block Indians from returning to the US - MAGAReport 9/20/25
4Chan and MAGA are trying to book up the flights to H1-B visa holders cannot return, calling it "Operation CLOG THE TOILET"
magareport.news
jengolbeck.bsky.social
Their goal is to hold as many plane tickets as possible from India to the US today to prevent H1-B visa holders who are out of the country from returning. They aren't buying the tickets - they are going to airline websites, searching for seats triggering a 15-minute hold, blocking other bookings
jengolbeck.bsky.social

The project, dubbed “Operation CLOG THE TOILET" began on 4Chan’s /pol board, a mostly unmoderated discussion board that is known for its racist, far-right, white supremacist, and otherwise unsavory content. It was picked up on patriots dot win, a hard core MAGA board.
Indians are just waking up after Trump nuked the H1B program. Want to keep them in India? Clog the flight reservation systems!
https://www.google.com/travel/flights

The setup:
>Jeets have <24 hours to re-enter the US, otherwise must pay $100k H1B fee
>Tens of thousands of Jeets abroad are now scrambling to get last-second flights back to the US.
>The solution? Operation CLOG THE TOILET
The plan:
>Go on Google Flights, search common India-US flights (e.g. Mumbai to San Francisco)
>Initiate the checkout process.
>Most airlines will hold your tickets for 15 minutes during the checkout, thus locking out Jeets
>Don't checkout. Leave window open for full 15 minutes
>Repeat
tl;dr Open common India-US flights, initiate checkout holds, repeat.

If enough autists do this, the whole flight reservation system will get clogged and H1B Jeets will be stuck in India.
jengolbeck.bsky.social
On Friday, Trump signed a proclamation raising fees for H1B visas to $100K. It takes effect tomorrow. H1B workers who are out of the country have been told to return to the US immediately lest they be denied entry. 4Chan & MAGA is trying to block them🧵 magareport.news/p/4chan-trie...
4Chan tries to block Indians from returning to the US - MAGAReport 9/20/25
4Chan and MAGA are trying to book up the flights to H1-B visa holders cannot return, calling it "Operation CLOG THE TOILET"
magareport.news
jengolbeck.bsky.social
I found this birding book along the side of the road on the Tamiami trail in the Everglades on 8/25/25. It is so well loved with sightings going back decades. If you're a birder (I am not) please spread the word and hep me find the owner so they can be reunited
jengolbeck.bsky.social
Trump's idea to ban trans people from owning guns tests the MAGA faithful who have been 2nd amendment absolutists but who also hate trans people. Today, we learned that humiliating trans people is more important. 2A be damned! Today's MAGAReport: magareport.news/p/maga-finds...
MAGA Finds the Limits to their 2nd Amendment Support: MAGAReport 9/4/25
Banning trans people from owning guns seems like a fine idea
magareport.news
jengolbeck.bsky.social
I asked for more detail and more labels
jengolbeck.bsky.social
Me to ChatGPT: give me a diagram of my body when i have a kidney stone and am pregnant. in the style of a school textbook

(NB: I am neither pregnant nor do I have a kidney stone)
jengolbeck.bsky.social
Today's MAGAReport is about how the hard core MAGAs are so so mad about tweets like this from Gov. Newsom's office
open.substack.com/pub/jengolbe...
TRUMP JUST FLED THE PODIUM WITH PUTIN — NO QUESTIONS, NOTHING! TOTAL LOW ENERGY. THE MAN LOOKED LIKE HE’D JUST EATEN 3 BUCKETS OF KFC WITH VLAD. IS HE AFRAID THE PRESS WILL ASK ABOUT ME??? (AMERICA’S FAVORITE GOVERNOR) AND THE FACT I "STOLE THE CAMERAS" THIS WEEK WITH “THE MAPS”? MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING HE BEGGED PUTIN TO HOLD HIS HANDS (TINY) ON THE WAY OUT.  ADMIT IT, DONNIE J… YOU’RE TERRIFIED BECAUSE THIS WAS THE WORST WEEK OF YOUR LIFE BECAUSE OF ME, GAVIN C. NEWSOM. “THE MAPS” WILL END YOUR PRESIDENCY, RETAKE CONGRESS FOR THE PEOPLE, AND EXPOSE YOUR RIGGED "LITTLE GAME." MY "PERFECT MAPS" ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN ANYTHING IN TRUMP TOWER (WHICH MANY SAY SMELLS WEIRD). @STEVENCHUENG47 — EXPLAIN THIS DISASTER!!! ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT HOME, DONALD — YOU’RE PUTIN’S PROBLEM NOW. I’M AMERICA’S SOLUTION. —  GCN
jengolbeck.bsky.social
If you couldn't reach me in the last couple weeks, it's because I've been with @v0max.bsky.social in California in federal court... www.courthousenews.com/meta-violate...
Reposted by Jen Golbeck
v0max.bsky.social
Apropos, jury trial in SF kicks off tomorrow against Flo Health (and Meta) for sharing this type of data with advertisers.
eerkeboiten.bsky.social
Paper hasn't been peer reviewed yet, but at this point in time (especially in US, but bodily autonomy under threat elsewhere too) I would argue doing any ML research into pregnancy detection is unethical full stop. appleinsider.com/articles/25/...
Apple Watch sensors are so good, it could provide the first pregnancy indicators
Apple's latest research shows that using a combination of Apple Watch sensors and all Apple Health data, results in a remarkably accurate pregnancy detector.
appleinsider.com
jengolbeck.bsky.social
I was reading a patent years back and fell in love with its illustrations of men looking anguished at computers. Now, I share them with you
jengolbeck.bsky.social
MAGA is not buying Trump's line that Dems are creating a "Jeffrey Epstein Hoax". I wrote about the MAGA take in today's MAGA report
magareport.news/p/they-think...
jengolbeck.bsky.social
It's such a textbook exercise in resolving cognitive dissonance that I'm collecting data to write a paper about it. Anyway, subscribe to the MAGAReport (for free!) if you want more updates on insider MAGA goings-on magareport.news
MAGAReport | Jen Golbeck | Substack
A report on what's going on in extreme MAGA spaces and the psychology of fascism. Click to read MAGAReport, by Jen Golbeck, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
magareport.news
jengolbeck.bsky.social
It's a brilliant solution to the current conundrum. No one has to reject the Epstein conspiracy theory; they can instead believe the conspiracy goes even deeper and their known enemies are behind it (and also they can give Trump a pass)
jengolbeck.bsky.social
In the last 24 hours, a new Epstein narrative has taken hold in the MAGA forums: since the Biden FBI had the files, they probably corrupted them, deleting Dems and adding Trump, so they can't be trusted.
magareport.news/p/the-new-ma...
The New MAGA-Epstein Narrative: Biden Corrupted the Files- MAGAReport 7/15/25
In the last couple days, the MAGAs are finding a way out of the Epstein bind with a new conspiracy theory
magareport.news
jengolbeck.bsky.social
KW is one of the only cities to opt out which brought threats from the state immediately following vote. Regardless of what happens, Gwen has shown the power of local independent journalism. It's inspiring!
Support her by signing up for her substack or buy her a coffee - her venmo is @gwen-filosa
jengolbeck.bsky.social
Interesting app - does not collect device ID or IP address, doesn't save your location
www.cnn.com/2025/06/30/t...