Open Measures

Our research ahead of US midterms got a shout in @indicator.media's newsletter this morning. Check it out here, alongside the other great resources Craig and Alexios compiled: indicator.media/p/briefing-p...

Leading election denialist figures have called on Trump to declare a "national emergency" during midterms and take control over voting. But while key figures have been pushing the idea directly the White House, the idea has failed to catch on in Trump's online base. openmeasures.io/trump-nation...

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Want daily monitoring updates from the @openmeasures.io research desk in the weeks surrounding Election Day? Here's how. We'll be watching for notable narratives as they're emerging, calls to disrupt elections, extremist activity, and others threats to voting. blog.openmeasures.io/p/sign-up-fo...

In Telegram channels associated with the "Yahoo Boys," a cybercriminal network in West Africa known for targeting US and European web users with impersonation and romance scams, users have been discussing how to use AI tools to carry out more sophisticated schemes openmeasures.io/yahoo-boys-a...

When Ukraine hit Russian data centers earlier this month, some suspected it disrupted Russian bot networks on social media. A review of our data found no evidence that's actually the case. We spoke to @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social about what we're (not) seeing: thedispatch.com/article/ukra...

HuffPost and The Washington Post spoke with Open Measures senior researcher Jared Holt about the viral spread of easily debunked conspiracy theories about Senate candidate James Talarico and what the episode signals ahead of 2026 midterms. blog.openmeasures.io/p/huffpost-a...

Our researchers will be monitoring and investigating potential risks surrounding US midterms in the weeks surrounding Election Day. Less than a month out, here's a breakdown of what they've been seeing so far. blog.openmeasures.io/p/2026-midte...

The @openmeasures.io crew is lining up for a heavy monitoring/research blitz in the weeks surrounding US midterm elections. There's no better time to make sure you're in the loop with us. Sign up for our free newsletter to get the latest from us in your email inbox: blog.openmeasures.io

The Gateway Pundit is one of the internet's top "junk news" sites, putting out an endless stream of articles bashing the MAGA movement's enemies, including public officials. In its comments section, we saw readers openly fantasizing about harming and killing individuals who were featured on the site

Does banning, or even criminalizing, AI-generated "deepfake porn" actually make it stop? Or does it just drive that activity into places that are harder to see? @jaredlholt.bsky.social talks about what some our research w/ @americansunlight.org found. Read it here: openmeasures.io/4chan-ai-dee...

In addition to their administrative roles, election officials across the US are preparing to respond to online narratives around 2026 midterm elections. We’ve partnered with SOE Software to offer those offices tools to spot and understand concerns early. Read more: soesoftware.com/soe-software...

New intelligence from the Graphika Platform identifies a Russia-aligned influence operation targeting U.S. midterm candidates and German politicians with fabricated videos, manipulated news content and unverified claims of electoral fraud and corruption.

As legal consequences for distributing nonconsensual deepfake porn have grown, users on 4chan's Technology board are taking interest in homebrewing their own, often by using tweaked AI models on their personal devices. w/ @benmshultz.net of @americansunlight.org openmeasures.io/4chan-ai-dee...

After the TAKE IT DOWN Act took effect in May, 4chan's Adult Requests board disappeared, but demand for deepfake porn didn't. Our new research with American Sunlight Project found users on /g/ trading guides on how to run local AI image models – helping synthetic NCII production continue offline.

DDIA used Open Measures to collect raw data for their research examining how bad actors leveraged the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks to push hate and misinformation. Check it out here: ddia.org/en/911-midte...

Some of the internet's most serious threats emerge from its fringes. Most monitoring and research tools aren't built to cover niche platforms well, but Open Measures is. Here's a rundown of the most pressing threats we're seeing on niche platforms right now:

NEW: In what’s likely the biggest action against deepfake abuse websites so far, the Manhattan District Attorney has seized 12 domains hosting and sharing fake videos of celebrities. More than 1,200 people appeared across the site, with the owners and video creators under investigation

After Charlie Kirk died last year, many questioned who in the MAGA movement could fill his shoes. Some looked to white nationalist podcaster Nick Fuentes as a potential candidate. But our research has raised doubts about the actual extent of his online popularity. openmeasures.io/nick-fuentes...

NEW A year on, conspiracy theories about the assassination of Charlie Kirk show no sign of slowing down. I spoke to @noupside.bsky.social @bostonjoan.bsky.social @jaredlholt.bsky.social and Joseph Uscniski to find out why they persist... www.wired.com/story/charli...

Very cool to see our platform shouted out by @eff.org in their new online safety guides for protecting organizations and individuals against the threat of doxxing. (That’s exactly the sort of thing we built Open Measures to help out people with!) Get in touch with us if you’d like to learn more.

Great analysis by Jared Holt (@jaredlholt.bsky.social) of social media discourse around the WNBA — revealing how right wing media have converged onto the league, bringing their culture wars with them: blog.openmeasures.io/p/sophie-cun...

Open Measures has joined Everbridge, marking the start of an exciting new chapter for our company. Read more info here: blog.openmeasures.io/p/open-measu...

New: Right-wing media wanted a "culture war" with the WNBA. Sophie Cunningham gave it to them on a silver platter. Our latest looks at hyperpartisan media's summer-long attack on women's basketball. openmeasures.io/sophie-cunni...

NEW from Jennefer Harper @jennefer.bsky.social & Wiley D. Cope @wileycope.bsky.social! The rise and fall of Automata: The inside story of how a pastor’s son started a neo-Nazi militia and got arrested by the FBI. decoherence.media/the-rise-and...

Disqus is the the web's most-popular third party commenting and discussion platform, seen on countless online publishers. Open Measures' collections include Disqus comments data, allowing for historical analysis and monitoring of activity across thousands of sites. openmeasures.io/open-measure...

A new feature in NPR exploring Andrew Tate's influence in MAGA politics and how his extradition battle is testing the limits of those relationships includes insights from Open Measures senior researcher @jaredlholt.bsky.social Check it out here:

Trump endorsed "pillow man" Mike Lindell and his Minnesota gubernatorial campaign in four Truth Social posts since July 15. But the president's attempt to hype Lindell didn't stick with MAGA supporters, who turned on Lindell after he proposed a six-month "amnesty" plan for undocumented immigrants.

4chan abruptly shut down its "Adult Requests" board in May amid increased scrutiny on its role in the production of AI deepfake porn. The site gave no warning or explanation for its removal, leaving its former users suddenly stranded. Where did they go? Our latest: openmeasures.io/4chan-modera...

If you've gotten value from our research, we'd love to show you the platform behind it. We help threat intel, trust & safety, and research teams track extremism, disinformation, and online harms across corners of the internet that other tools often miss. Schedule a demo: openmeasures.io/demo

We’re still trying to figure out what was going on with this Cybertruck, but in the meantime here’s a recap of the research we published this month blog.openmeasures.io/p/icymi-july...

NEW: Our researchers have discovered that users of a far-right imageboard notorious for coordinated harassment campaigns have developed at least three custom AI tools meant to help them "dox" their targets. openmeasures.io/soyjak-ai-do...

Open Measures senior researcher Jared Holt is quoted in a new article from WIRED that unpacks far-right internet pundit Laura Loomer's abrupt reversal on Ukraine. Jared has followed Loomer's rise in MAGA media for 10+ yrs and gave context to understand her pivot blog.openmeasures.io/p/new-wired-...

Once again here to remind you that not even MAGA audiences like what Bari Weiss is doing to CBS News openmeasures.io/cbs-news-bar...

We covered the online outrage campaign directed at Cracker Barrel and its now-former CEO after its short-lived logo change last year, noting how the backlash was actually based in broader "anti-DEI" political narratives openmeasures.io/cracker-barr...

Trump news is a main driver of activity on Truth Social, the microblogging platform Trump owns. But users on the site have largely avoided talking about this story. We found only a couple dozen posts that mentioned the story at all this week, mostly from users in groups for company shareholders.