App Stores Push Users Toward Nudify Apps, New Research Shows
Findings from the Tech Transparency Project claim that Google and Apple’s app stores not only host harmful apps that can undress images of women, but encourage users to find them.
I Almost Lost My Mind in the Bridal Algorithm
As a #2026Bride, the constant, aggressive content started to make me feel like I was losing sight of what mattered. And I'm far from alone.
Thomson Reuters Shareholders Demand Investigation into ICE Contracts
The shareholders explicitly cited multiple 404 Media investigations, including one that showed Thomson Reuters' CLEAR is integrated with a tool ICE uses to find neighborhoods to…
Thomson Reuters Fired Worker For Speaking Out About ICE, Former Employee Says
“When I saw evidence that our products were being used to harm people and undermine the law, I did what anyone should do—I raised the alarm. Thomson Reuters’ response was to fire…
Emails Reveal Space Force’s Hardest Mission Is Writing a Song
Internal Space Force emails obtained by 404 Media show the work it takes to have a government agency make a new theme song. A general even wanted to start the whole thing over…
Google, Microsoft, Meta All Tracking You Even When You Opt Out, According to an Independent Audit
“This is the Strait of Hormuz in the data economy. If you want to make a change, this is where you cut it off. Anything short of that is theatrical political posture.”
How the Internet Became Hell (with Whitney Phillips)
‘The Ambivalent Internet’ and ‘The Shadow Gospel’ author Whitney Phillips on how online got so bad.
The Oldest Octopus Fossil Ever Isn’t An Octopus At All, Scientists Discover
A re-examination of a 300-million-year-old fossil that was long thought to be the earliest octopus revealed that the animal was actually part of the nautilus family.
Podcast: How the FBI Extracted Deleted Signal Messages
How a phone's notification database can store messages deleted elsewhere; the continued data center pushback; and Marathon, Marathon, Marathon.
Behind the Blog: Smoking the Whole Carton
This week, we discuss gun violence and chatbots and acceptance of depravity.
A Secure Chat App’s Encryption Is So Bad It Is ‘Meaningless’
TeleGuard is an app downloaded more a million times that markets itself as a secure way to chat. The app uploads users’ private keys to the company’s server, and makes decryption…
Journalist Sues FAA Over Drone No Fly Zone Designed to Prevent Filming ICE
A Minnesota journalist is challenging a 3,000 foot restriction on flying near DHS assets on First Amendment grounds.
Microsoft Abruptly Terminates VeraCrypt Account, Halting Windows Updates
Updates to VeraCrypt, a popular and long-running piece of encryption, are now thrown into doubt because of a seemingly unexplained Microsoft decision.
Wisconsinites Can Keep Watching Porn After Governor Vetoes Age Verification Bill
“I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to this bill's intrusion into the personal privacy of Wisconsin residents,” Governor Tony Evers wrote.
Wildlife Conservation Police Are Searching Thousands of Flock Cameras for ICE
Ron DeSantis has empowered hundreds of Florida conservation police to work directly with ICE.
Farmer Arrested for Speaking Too Long at Datacenter Town Hall Vows to Fight
Darren Blanchard went a few seconds over his three minute time limit and found himself in handcuffs.
Maine Is Close to Passing a Moratorium on New Datacenters
The proposed legislation would be the first of its kind passed in the country, but there are similar bills popping up everywhere this year.
Scientists Create Plant That Produces Ayahuasca, Shrooms, and Toad Psychedelics All At Once
The proof-of-concept system produces psilocybin, DMT, and other compounds in leaves of the tobacco plant, potentially easing pressure on wild species and preserving Indigenous…
Multiple Hackers Warned Anti-Porn App Quittr About Security Issue for Months
At least three different people notified the popular app that wants to help men stop watching porn that it was jeopardizing user data.
A 'Self-Doxing' Rave Helps Trans People Stay Safe Online
At a New York party, attendees spent Trans Day of Visibility dancing, DJing, and learning how to become less visible online.
Gambling Is Thousands of Years Older Than We Thought, Rewriting Human Evolution
Native Americans were playing dice and other games of chance many millennia before any known cultures elsewhere.
Artemis II Astronauts Have ‘Two Microsoft Outlooks’ and Neither Work
In space, no one can hear you scream at Microsoft’s legacy software.
Data Center Tech Lobbyists Fearmonger in Attempt to Retroactively Roll Back Right to Repair Law
Cisco, IBM, and major lobbying groups are trying to exempt "critical infrastructure" from an existing Colorado law.
Podcast: Wildlife Cops Are Searching AI Cameras for ICE
How Florida conservation police are tapping into Flock for ICE; Wikipedia's AI ban; and how the app TeleGuard uploads users' private keys.
I Wish I Didn’t Care About 'Marathon' Player Numbers, But I Do
Marathon is a great game for uncs. As signs of a crash change the video game industry, there might not be a lot of those left.
World’s Largest Group of Chimps Waging Deadly ‘Civil War,’ Scientists Discover
At least 24 chimpanzees have been killed in a war that has split the Ngogo group of wild chimpanzees in two, turning former kin into enemies.
Hacker Compromises a16z-Backed Phone Farm, Tries to Post Memes Calling a16z the ‘Antichrist’
Doublespeed uses a phone farm to flood social media with AI-generated influencers. A hacker managed to get into a backend system of the company.
Behind the Blog: Systems As Designed
This week, we discuss crypto, journalists using AI, and a cool photo of Earth.
Ukraine Says Russians are Surrendering to Robots
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pitching his country as a global leader in robots for war and defense. Will the world listen?
Airbnb Hosts Don't Want to Talk to Guests Anymore, Are Outsourcing Messages to AI
An entire industry of companies offers Airbnb hosts AI to speak to guests on their behalf. 404 Media poked around the industry after one AI tool offered a guest a recipe for…
WebinarTV Secretly Scraped Zoom Meetings of Anonymous Recovery Programs
WebinarTV scraped and shared 12 steps-based anonymous meetings for people recovering from addiction and other private support groups.