Maarten Schenk

Maarten Schenk

@mschenk.bsky.social

Fact checker. Co-founder of leadstories.com.

7.7K followers5.3K following910 posts

Maarten Schenk reposted

Lead Stories
@leadstories.com

Fact Check: Toronto Sun Did NOT Report That Zelenskyy Bought '$42M Underground Nuclear Bunker' In Canada -- Story Is From Impostor Site

leadstories.comFact Check: Toronto Sun Did NOT Report That Zelenskyy Bought '$42M Underground Nuclear Bunker' In Canada -- Story Is From Impostor SiteDid the Toronto Sun publish an article reporting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy purchased a nuclear bunker in Canada in September 2026? No, that's not true: When contacted by Lead Stories, the outlet's deputy editor denied the claim. The article...
Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

Wait, so now he does support fact-checking?

Kevin Collier @kevincollier.bsky.social

In any other admin, this would probably be the most outrageous official statement ever made by a sitting FCC director: Strongly implying that the government forbids broadcast networks from reporting on the president's falling poll numbers. (Sorry to paste from twitter but that's where he posts.)

Maarten Schenk reposted

Lead Stories
@leadstories.com

Prebunk: AI-Generated Old-Price Supermarket Comparisons To Prove Inflation Do Not Add Up -- We Brought Receipts

leadstories.comPrebunk: AI-Generated Old-Price Supermarket Comparisons To Prove Inflation Do Not Add Up -- We Brought ReceiptsHave you seen viral videos showing Walmart receipts compared, one old and one new? Lead Stories has spotted a number of such images recently and has found that many of them were created using artificial intelligence. They do not show...

Maarten Schenk reposted

Alexios Mantzarlis
@mantzarlis.com

Big, with @noupside.bsky.social: It turns out that the majority of Community Notes published on X aren’t just AI-generated, they’re AI-generated by X itself! Renée and I discuss how this happened and what it might take to course correct a program we — despite everything — continue to see value in.

indicator.mediaBriefing: X handed fact-checking to the crowd. Then it became the crowd.Plus: A new image analysis tool and a list of companies selling AI training data.

Maarten Schenk reposted

Kate Starbird
@katestarbird.bsky.social

Y’all, I hate to rain on the dead bot parade, but the Yandex data center destruction doesn’t seem to have significantly impacted social media bots. I made temporal graphs of X posts about AfD around the time of the attack and there’s no sign of a sudden dip or residual impact on that conversation.

Maarten Schenk reposted

Nathalie Van Raemdonck
@nathalievanraemdonck.com

Not saying Russia doesn’t have massive troll and bot infrastructure but it’s hopium (and factually inaccurate) to believe that the yandex datacenter bombing is wiped all their bots and shows that most far-right supporters are Russian FIMI bots. it’s also dangerous for the below reason 👇

Boo!-per Lund@cooperlund.online

I am very frustrated by the way that people dismiss everything they don’t like as a bot. It feels like a way to dismiss the idea that people with these beliefs exist and are closely held. Blaming foreign intelligence for it is just a way to wash your hands of the harder questions to answer.

Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

I was just interviewed on the radio by the public broadcaster in Belgium (VRT) about the FIMI diplomatic debacle at #Disinfo2026 ... and after the interview they played "Barbra Streisand" by Duck Sauce (I mentioned the conference organizers played it as one of the first songs at the social event) 🙂

Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

More on the #disinfo2026 diplomatic debacle...

Oliver Grimm@grimmse.bsky.social

It was really, really painful today to watch the spokespersons of the @ec.europa.eu refuse to answer two simple questions: Which content at #Disinfo2026 @disinfo.eu was so problematic that the EEAS withdrew its support? And who precisely took this decision audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/media/vid...

audiovisual.ec.europa.euAudiovisual Service - EC Midday press briefing of 08/10/2026MEMBER STATES / DISINFORMATION - EEAS decision to withdraw his logo to the #Disinfo2026 Conference in Lithuania: Q&A

Maarten Schenk reposted

Mike Masnick
@masnick.com

Guess what? I had some *thoughts* on Michael Shellenberger & the State Dept's Sarah Rogers losing their minds about a disinfo conference in Lithuania having a panel exploring if the US interferes in foreign information systems... and then interfering to get the conference sponsors to pull out.

Techdirt@techdirt.com

US Gov’t Interferes To Get Foreign Sponsors To Drop Conference Because A Panel Asks If The US... @eudiplomacy.bsky.social https://www.techdirt.com/2026/10/08/us-govt-interferes-to-get-foreign-sponsors-to-drop-conference-because-a-panel-asks-if-the-us-engages-in-foreign-information-interference/

techdirt.comUS Gov’t Interferes To Get Foreign Sponsors To Drop Conference Because A Panel Asks If The US Engages In Foreign Information InterferenceOne of the most bizarre things over the last few years is how two guys, Michael Shellenberger and Matt Taibbi, bumbling around cosplaying as "free speech" experts, have done tremendous damage to free speech. After Elon Musk brought them in to report on the so-called "Twitter Files," the two of them spun up nonsense tales...
Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

An example of FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference) in action at the @disinfo.eu conference? Apparently someone in the U.S. did not agree with the topic of a session named "USA as a FIMI threat: acknowledge, adapt, push back" and applied pressure on the sponsors...

View full thread
Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

U.S. government interferes with the speech of U.S. citizens in Europe for saying the U.S. government interferes with speech in Europe. Did The Onion write this?

Maarten Schenk@mschenk.bsky.social

So it *was* the U.S. government... www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

theguardian.comEU drops sponsorship of disinformation conference at Trump officials’ requestLithuania and Canada were also pressured to withdraw, and days before #Disinfo2026, logos were wiped off website
Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

An example of FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference) in action at the @disinfo.eu conference? Apparently someone in the U.S. did not agree with the topic of a session named "USA as a FIMI threat: acknowledge, adapt, push back" and applied pressure on the sponsors...

View full thread
Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

Relevant thread: bsky.app/profile/nina...

Nina Jankowicz@ninajankowicz.com

Shellenberger is seemingly preparing to smear a bunch of people attending a conference on disinformation this week. Ten bucks says he’s gonna claim the researchers there are cEnSoRiNg yOu!!!1 In reality they’re presenting their ideas. Talking. Debating. You know, using their speech rights.

Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

Context: bsky.app/profile/msch...

Maarten Schenk@mschenk.bsky.social

An example of FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference) in action at the @disinfo.eu conference? Apparently someone in the U.S. did not agree with the topic of a session named "USA as a FIMI threat: acknowledge, adapt, push back" and applied pressure on the sponsors...

Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

An example of FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference) in action at the @disinfo.eu conference? Apparently someone in the U.S. did not agree with the topic of a session named "USA as a FIMI threat: acknowledge, adapt, push back" and applied pressure on the sponsors...

View full thread
Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

An example of FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference) in action at the @disinfo.eu conference? Apparently someone in the U.S. did not agree with the topic of a session named "USA as a FIMI threat: acknowledge, adapt, push back" and applied pressure on the sponsors...

View full thread
Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

An example of FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference) in action at the @disinfo.eu conference? Apparently someone in the U.S. did not agree with the topic of a session named "USA as a FIMI threat: acknowledge, adapt, push back" and applied pressure on the sponsors...

View full thread
Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

An example of FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference) in action at the @disinfo.eu conference? Apparently someone in the U.S. did not agree with the topic of a session named "USA as a FIMI threat: acknowledge, adapt, push back" and applied pressure on the sponsors...

Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

New on X: the "@Grok-is-This-Jew?" trick...

Lead Stories@leadstories.com

Prebunk: Fake New York Post Headlines From Parody Rabbi Account Used To Bait Chatbot -- The '@Grok-Is-This-Jew?' Trick

leadstories.comPrebunk: Fake New York Post Headlines From Parody Rabbi Account Used To Bait Chatbot -- The '@Grok-Is-This-Jew?' TrickHave you seen posts on X that look like screenshots of New York Post headlines, which have a caption asking the xAI chatbot Grok to determine if the story is real or not? Lead Stories has spotted a number of...
Maarten Schenk
@mschenk.bsky.social

Beware of the inevitable "AI Enhanced" pictures that circulate after every major event...

Lead Stories@leadstories.com

Fact Check: AI Enhanced Picture of Fairford Suspects NOT An Original Photograph -- Based On Blurry Viral Photo

leadstories.comFact Check: AI Enhanced Picture of Fairford Suspects NOT An Original Photograph -- Based On Blurry Viral PhotoIs this an actual, sharp photograph of suspects arrested near RAF Fairford Airbase in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2026? No, that's not true: According to an AI-detection tool, the image contained a SynthID watermark indicating it had been...