Caroline Orr Bueno

Nick Shirley’s Somali Daycare Fraud Video Is Bullsh*t. Here’s Why It Worked Anyway. A breakdown of the disinformation tactics used in the viral video.

similar to the qanon pizzagate style not surprisingly the so called Somali daycare videos took a very similar approach and push a lot of the same buttons. this named the themes involved
weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/nick-shirl...
@rvawonk.bsky.social

Thank you for reading and sharing it. Nice to see you on here :)

I actually don’t work at Simon Fraser! I have worked with some good people there, though!

Nick Shirley’s Somali Daycare Fraud Video Is Bullsh*t. Here’s Why It Worked Anyway. A breakdown of the disinformation tactics used in the viral video.

Amazing breakdown by @rvawonk.bsky.social of the disinformation tactics used:

Thank you so much!

On a brighter note, good to see you here! It’s been a while!

A screenshot of a Byline Times article by Caroline Orr Bueno about how Elon Musk is weaponizing and monetizing a global disinformation network on X.

Elon Musk has weaponized and monetized a global disinformation network on X, which he is using to help him fight his new war against the EU. My latest for @bylinetimes.bsky.social:

bylinetimes.com/2025/12/08/e...

X Just Accidentally Exposed A Vast Covert Influence Network Targeting Americans How a new X feature led to the most sweeping public exposure of covert foreign activity on a major platform since 2016.

X rolled out a new feature that accidentally exposed a massive covert foreign influence operation — more than one, actually — that is currently live on the platform. It’s a huge story and I wrote about it — and what it means for America — here:

open.substack.com/pub/weaponiz...

Also on Hannity tonight: Citing Putin’s concerns about the security of US elections (pardon me while I die real quickly), Trump calls for “election reform” including getting rid of mail-in voting because Putin says it’s not secure.

On Hannity tonight, Trump says Putin told him that the US elections were “rigged” and that he had won the 2020 election “by so much”. Trump is absolutely eating this up with seemingly no consideration of the source.

Thanks so much for your post. I really appreciate it :)

@rvawonk.bsky.social, a key resistance leader during Trump1, is doing great work on Big Tech & MAGA's takeover of our info space for brainwashing & behavior mod - & how we can protect ourselves. See below &
weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/silent-cou...
weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/revealed-h...

Per CNN, police believe the Emory shooter targeted the CDC because he was sick or thought he was sick “and blamed the illness on the Covid-19 vaccine.”

And this is why we keep telling you that anti-vax conspiracy theories are dangerous.
www.cnn.com/us/live-news...

It’s the difference in info environments. When we had a media that could cover a story w/ few distractions, democracy couldn’t have died in daylight. Now, democracy can be slaughtered at high noon because 90% of the country will be scrolling through reels and looking for something to be angry about.

That’s interesting about TikTok. Whenever I see an explosion of AI content like that I always wonder if someone is trying to either manipulate a trending algorithm or, even more seriously, manipulate something like a stock market or other financial market.

Surviving the Tyranny of the Algorithm A 10-point guide to taking back your reality.

Here’s the full post. Please read and share widely.

This is a fight we can’t afford to lose.

open.substack.com/pub/weaponiz...

Algorithms are not inherently good or bad; they take on the properties of the code that humans write, but apply it at a scale that humans are not capable of.

We won’t win this game. And when we lose, the cost will be control over our own minds.

There are many ways to destroy a life. Being high on drugs is one way. Wasting your youth with your head plastered to a screen watching two minute video clips because that’s all your brain can process is another way to ruin a life. Please understand the gravity of this situation.

Algorithms serve up content you like b/c they know that’s how they can hook you and get you to keep clicking, keep scrolling, and keep making them more money. They’re like digital drug dealers — and I’d argue that the effects are more insidious and corrosive than actual drugs.

This is the first piece of advice I offer in the survival guide for resisting algorithmic tyranny. Until you learn the difference between entertainment and education vs covert psychological manipulation, you will remain a slave to the algorithm.

Learn the difference. Act on it.

Surviving the Tyranny of the Algorithm A 10-point guide to taking back your reality.

To follow up on my recent article about Trump’s covert manipulation of the algorithms that curate our reality, I published a 10-step guide for resisting the tyranny of the algorithm.

You have a lot of power here, but you have to learn to use it.

weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/surviving-...

👇A similar but related example of outsourcing the regime’s dirty work, much like the Trump administration is doing with algorithmic manipulation. Here, we see it being done with harassment of a private citizen.

bsky.app/profile/anna...

REVEALED: How the Trump admin is covertly reconfiguring online algorithms For the first time, here’s a look at the administration’s playbook for reverse algorithmic capture.

When governments can shape what you see w/out saying what they’ve done, democracy becomes a puppet show lit by a carefully engineered spotlight.

And if the algorithm is the gatekeeper, then who holds the keys?

Fight back. Starting now. Starting here. weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/revealed-h...

Let’s be clear: Reverse algorithmic capture isn’t a policy debate about platform bias. It’s a strategy designed & rolled out by the Trump admin to realign the rules of information visibility in favor of those in power, using regulatory levers to reprogram epistemic systems.

We are witnessing the emergence of a privatized information infrastructure that serves public ideological aims without invoking the First Amendment—or admitting the state’s hand. It’s being done by rebranding algorithmic power as populist reform.

Hi, Bannon.

In the name of fighting censorship, the Trump administration is shaping digital ecosystems to favor its preferred narratives while chilling dissent. It is a form of soft epistemic authoritarianism—and we all (I hope) know what comes next.

Interestingly (to me at least), this set of tactics actually mirrors in some ways a Russian disinfo tactic called reflexive control. Though there are some key differences, what Trump is doing is basically forcing platform decisions by manipulating the choice architecture.

That’s not even close to all of it. We have also seen companies like YouTube & Facebook respond to the Trump admin’s false claims of censorship by scrapping their own content moderation practices, which almost always benefits right wing media outlets & commentators.

In a new EO, Trump codified this process of reverse algorithmic capture by forcing any company that wants to do business now or in the future with the federal government to implement standards to reduce “bias“ — which includes not mentioning things like diversity and equity.

Description of how algorithmic gatekeeping curates the content you see

A quote about algorithms as the unseen curators of reality

These algorithms are essentially unseen curators of reality. They decide what content you see or don’t see; what creators you see or don’t see; what ads you get served; what your Google results look like when you search for anything from restaurants to personal health questions.