Craig Silverman

My latest Indicator post is an #OSINT case study of how to uncover a large-scale ecommerce scam operation via a single ad placed on Meta. Let's dig into domain-generating algorithms and connecting websites via shared URLs, HTML titles & favicons: indicator.media/p/osint-case-s…

The new Indicator Briefing (which is free to subscribe to) has: 📍 A new tool for detecting AI images, OSINT approaches for Reddit 📍 Research on chatbots, Russian military insignias, YouTube 📍 Must reads about disinfo, platforms, OSINT, media literacy indicator.media/p/detecting-ai…

A nice thing: @Mantzarlis and I were named to Project C's Top 50 Creator-Model Journalists list. We're in some amazing company. Read the full list: projectc.biz/top50creatorjo… And subscribe Indicator for free to see what we're doing: indicator.media

YouTube channels are often sold and completely rebranded by a new owner, which can have big implications for platform integrity. I've got new data from the biggest study of sold/repurposed channels, and tips for how to ID repurposed YouTube channels: indicator.media/p/buy-sell-you…

For the first time in this war, I wrote in the first person. Here is what it's like to experience an air raid in Kyiv, to negotiate between bombs and normality, and to come out of shelter into the smoky aftermath. Free to read: wsj.com/world/gaming-t…

For the last few days, online content farms on X, Facebook and Instagram have taken our original fact-based reporting and turned it into viral content without attribution. A thread on why that sucks and why it matters for small independent media organizations.

The new Indicator Briefing has what you need to know about digital deception & OSINT: 🧢 How X verification changed 📛 Meta’s broken account recovery system 🔎 A new tool for monitoring breaking news 🗑️ Trustpilot’s failure to remove suspicious reviews indicator.media/p/x-verificati…

Meta has sued the maker of a "nudifier" app that turns a photo into an explicit image or video. The suit is a result of sustained reporting by my partner at Indicator. Story: indicator.media/p/meta-lawsuit… Please become a member to support reporting like this: indicator.media/upgrade

It’s Friday evening. You’ve been drowning in news all week. Here’s some things you may have missed in the federal courts. Link to the documents at end of thread

Fascinating piece from @stuartathompson on @dom_lucre and how he works to post engagement farming tweets all day, everyday for what is a pretty minuscule return -- about $55k/year (less, really). It confirms everything you suspected about how this works. nytimes.com/2025/06/06/tec…

The free Indicator Briefing has the info you need about digital deception: 📍 Viral vid of Chinese paraglider appears to have AI-generated images 📍 Nudifier app settled w/ the SF City Attorney 📍 New data about effectiveness labeling AI-generated content indicator.media/p/viral-paragl…

I found companies that rent out ID-verified LinkedIn profiles — often of "attractive women" — in order to send thousands of DMs a day. One firm promised 10,000 messages per account, per month. Inside the black market for fake-authentic outreach: indicator.media/p/id-verified-…

The deepfake nudes epidemic is getting worse. Our latest at Indicator reveals nudifier apps can take a single photo of a person and turn it into a pic of them in a sex pose or an explicit video. And the apps are still advertising on platforms like Meta: indicator.media/p/ai-nudifiers…

Our @BigIfTrueTVO season finale airs tonight at 8 PM ET with insights from @CraigSilverman @patrickdell @valeriekindarji 21 episodes down - season 2 in the works! #journolife

Ad libraries from Meta, Google and other platforms can be incredibly useful for reporting and investigations. Track campaigns and narratives, hunt for disinfo & scams, and more. Here's the Indicator guide to using and investigating ad libraries: indicator.media/p/a-guide-to-i… #OSINT

Our free Friday Briefing has: 📍 Exclusive data about the recent Community Notes outage 📍 OSINT tools & tips for Discord, investigating companies, prompting LLMs 📍 New research on AI, scams, fake accounts on X 📍 Lots more! Read it: indicator.media/p/x-community-… #OSINT

There are more web-based facial recognition tools than ever. But what do we know about them? I uncovered surprising info about 9 services: 🔎 One is run from Iran 🔎 One uses pics of fake customers 🔎 Some won't say who owns them More: indicator.media/p/facial-recog… #OSINT

The Wayback Machine is an indispensable tool for archiving web content. It's also a powerful search engine that can dig up deleted webpages and social media posts. Here's the Indicator guide to getting the most out of the Wayback machine: indicator.media/p/getting-the-…